Assistant Director, Student Center for Belonging & Communities

The Assistant Director for the Student Center for Belonging & Communities (SCBC) in Student Affairs at Vanderbilt University is a key contributor to serving, advising, and supporting international, multicultural, and underrepresented students through the student engagement and leadership model and structures relevant to the office’s mission and the University’s strategic plan. More specifically, the Assistant Director will work to develop strategic initiatives, programming, and support for multicultural, international, and underrepresented student leaders and organizations within the University’s student engagement and leadership model in support of the mission and strategic plan. Additional responsibilities include but are not limited to: program planning and execution, departmental assessment planning, development of social justice/intercultural competence trainings for the Vanderbilt community, large-scale co-curricular education development, student organization advising education plan, departmental collaborations, and the completion of administrative tasks.

This is a full-time, onsite position. Some evening and weekend hours may be required dependent upon SCBC, Student Affairs, and student organizations’ activities and events.

About the Work Unit
The Student Center for Belonging & Communities (SCBC) is an office within the Belonging and Community area of Student Affairs at Vanderbilt. The mission of SCBC is to promote an environment of cultural competency and awareness within the student population on the Vanderbilt campus. Its vision is to provide comprehensive advising and training services to ensure culturally engaged student leaders and organizations dedicated to all forms of self-expression. SCBC seeks to do this by equipping the Vanderbilt student community with the tools necessary to be to effective agents of social change in an increasingly varied world.

About Student Affairs at Vanderbilt
Student Affairs serves a central role in student learning and development at Vanderbilt, advancing the University’s mission of teaching, research, and service. Student Affairs at Vanderbilt cultivates vibrant communities that foster a student’s sense of belonging and wellbeing through collaborative partnerships, transformative learning experiences, and an accessible and holistic network of resources. We value connection, belonging, compassion, development, and innovation. Our staff are committed to continued growth in knowledge, awareness, skills, and experience engaging with these priorities in a higher education environment.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

Curriculum Development:

• Develop and/or support the development of training programs for student leaders and organizations that facilitate personal and organizational development around issues, including intercultural competence, social justice, social identities and creating welcoming group environments.
• Oversee the curation of culturally relevant educational and social programs to meet the needs and honor the experiences of international and multicultural students in the student leadership and organizational contexts.
• Collaborate on the development of signature programming and identity initiatives and planning for each academic year, including, but not limited to, support initiatives for various student groups and those who identify with visible and invisible disabilities.
• Assist the Director in the coordination and implementation of the Center’s large-scale cultural programming and identity initiatives, including, but not limited to, Heritage Months, Senior Week, Cultural Showcase Advising, Annual Summit and Graduation Recognition Celebrations
• Support the Director in developing and implementing an assessment plan, office review and annual reports for the Center.
• Develop pre- and post-assessments and reports for training and workshops.

Student Organizations:

• Assist the Director in approvals for new SCBC student organizations.
• Manage student organization transition documentation and advising pedagogy for SCBC advisers.
• Assist international and multicultural students with organizing and planning major student organization events to ensure the successful execution of events that support and celebrate student experiences and adhere to university policies.
• Advise international and multicultural student organizations using our advising pedagogy, creating more meaningful experiences for their members and leaders.
• Attend international and multicultural student organization executive board meetings and general body meetings, as needed, to demonstrate support for student leaders.
• Support student organization initiatives concerning advocacy education to improve the experience for international and multicultural students.
• Inform students of changes to student organization policies and procedures that enable them to manage their organization more effectively.
• Assist with maintaining SCBC and student organization records and documents on Anchor Link to support organizational continuity.
• Utilize budgeting skills to support successful financial management and use of Oracle by student leaders and organizations.

Administrative:

• Establish and maintain strategic relationships with campus partners across campus to support the SCBC mission, programming, and goals.
• Supervise one to two professional staff members and indirectly supervise up to 2 graduate assistants by providing clear performance expectations, effective and on-going feedback, regular and annual evaluations, and professional development opportunities.
• Assist with financial oversight for the office, including full responsibility for the preparation and management of relevant budgets.
• Serve on the Student Affairs Incident Response Team.
• Represent Student Affairs and Vanderbilt University on university, community, and national committees and boards.
• Work collaboratively with Student Affairs’ partners to infuse comprehensive programming throughout their operation.
• Serve on divisional committees and working groups to enrich the experience and resources available to staff across the division.
• Participate in division-wide events, as needed, to support colleagues and ensure these events run smoothly.
• Maintain an understanding of institutional and departmental financial policies related to travel, procurement, expense, and time reporting to ensure compliance and stewardship of university resources properly.
• Demonstrate a willingness to support colleagues across the division to encourage implementing or fulfilling divisional goals and strategic priorities.
• Create and maintain a marketing plan for SCBC to share relevant content with international and multicultural student organizations that informs more students about engagement opportunities.
• Manage changes and updates to the website as needed.
• Develop and support the Director in designing administrative processes to manage student organization needs and student and staff support.
• Performs other work-related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Relationships:

This position does have supervisory responsibilities for program coordinator(s) and/or graduate assistant(s). This position reports administratively and functionally to the Associate Director of the Student Center for Belonging & Communities (SCBC).

Education and Certifications:

• A Bachelor’s Degree is necessary.
• A Master’s Degree is strongly preferred.

Experience and Skills:

• At least two years of professionally relevant experience is necessary.
• At least four years of directly related experience is preferred.
• Experience with public speaking, and communicating with students, faculty and staff is necessary.
• Experience with event planning and event management skills are strongly preferred.
• Intercultural Development Inventory Certification is preferred.
• Experience with restorative practices is preferred.
• Experience with college students overseas or with international student populations at U.S. colleges and universities is preferred.
• Experience with AAPIDA, Native Indigenous, Latinx, Military, Students with Disabilities, International Students, and FGLI (first-generation, low income) at U.S. colleges and universities is preferred.
• Experience with curriculum development and leading culturally relevant training and workshops is preferred.
• Excellent decision-making and time-management skills are preferred.
• A strong interest in mentoring and developing students is preferred.
• Ability to work effectively with students from varied backgrounds attending a highly selective institution with a broad range of campus groups, departments and organizations is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal/human relations skills including ability to develop and cultivate professional relationships is preferred.