Managing Director Buckeye Commons

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Job Title:

Managing Director Buckeye Commons

Department:

Student Life Academic Partnerships and Career Success

The Managing Director of the Buckeye Commons is a senior leadership role in the Office of Student Life, reporting to the Associate Vice President for Strategy, Impact and Academic Partnership. The Managing Director sets the vision, strategic direction, internal and external partnership building and management of programs and services for university-wide student success efforts within the Buckeye Commons. Buckeye Commons is a new center within Student Life that will be an open, inviting and multi-purpose space to connect, build community and network while providing students with resources, support and programming to promote their ability to engage, learn and thrive. This includes a variety of student success and development programs, including mentoring and networking programs as well as student intervention and success efforts and other strategic student initiatives. Additional areas of support and direction are likely to emerge as the Buckeye Commons evolves. The Managing Director sets the strategy for and develops programs and services within the Buckeye Commons that have university-wide impact on student retention, persistence, graduation and overall success.

The Managing Director is an innovative, collaborative partner within Student Life and across the campus and community with substantive knowledge and expertise in applying student success and development theories and best practices to inform curricular and co-curricular programs, services and initiatives. Develops strong relationships with senior leaders across the university, the Managing Director creates a vision and executes tailored intervention strategies and campaigns with actionable outreach and engagement to ensure Student Life and other university support areas are meeting student needs. Proactively works to understand the depth and complexity of student success work across Student Life and the university in order to ensure appropriate partnership and long-term, university-wide impact of the Buckeye Commons. The Managing Director proactively partners with Student Life departments, including but not limited to, Buckeye Careers, Ohio Union and Student Activities, Student Wellness Center, Second-year Transformational Experience Program, and Leadership and Community Engagement, to create and provide educational offerings within the Commons. The Managing Director will collaborate with the Center for the Study of Student Life to evaluate program outcomes and make data-informed decisions on future actions. The Managing Director will develop and monitor key performance indicators to evaluate the work of the Buckeye Commons and report out to the campus community.

The Managing Director will champion the idea that student success is multi-faceted and works to create programs or provide opportunities for students to improve their academic performance, career and post-graduate outcomes, engagement, health and well-being, learning, growth and development, sense of belonging and mattering, and retention, persistence and growth while not duplicating efforts. Will possess an extensive background in budget and people management, operational excellence, strategic planning, fundraising and assessment. The Managing Director is a forward-facing role, meaningfully engaging with students, faculty and senior leaders at the university. The Managing Director leads cross-functional teams and collaborates with academic and administrative units to create a student-centered environment that fosters student’s overall ability to engage, learn and thrive while at Ohio State and beyond. Successful completion of a background check.

Key Responsibilities:

Sets strategic vision and direction for Buckeye Commons with regular input from students, faculty, staff and other key stakeholders

Ensures alignment of Commons’ work with Student Life and institution’s mission and goals

Oversees a variety of student success and development programs, including mentoring and networking programs as well as student intervention and success efforts and other strategic student initiatives as they develop.

Ability to be active, engaged member of the campus community, including attending events and programming on nights and weekends

Keep abreast of innovative and promising practice in student development and student success

Serve as key campus partner with extensive knowledge and experience in applying student success and development theories and best practices to inform curricular and co-curricular programs, services and initiatives

Develop intervention strategies and campaigns with actionable outreach and engagement to ensure Student Life and other university support areas are meeting student needs

Collaborate with the Center for the Study of Student Life to evaluate program outcomes and make data-informed decisions on future actions

Champion the idea that student success is multi-faceted and works to create programs or provide opportunities for students to engage, learn and thrive

Strong budgeting and finance skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with the Student Life Financial Management team and be strategic in all budgetary decisions and forecasting

Solutions-oriented leader who is collaborative in approach and spirit

Experience or willingness to learn operational excellence philosophy to approaching resources

Experience in strategic planning, fundraising and assessment

Strong leadership abilities that inspire staff and promote unity and teamwork, as well as human relations skills to deal effectively with personnel issues when necessary

Demonstrated experience with organizational development, leadership and management, with the ability to motivate, inspire, support and develop a team of committed professionals

Qualifications:

Required:

Terminal degree required (PhD, EdD) in Higher Education, Educational Leadership, Student Affairs, or a related field.

10 years of relevant work experience.

At least 12+ years of demonstrated experience in student success initiatives, including curricular and co-curricular programming, mentoring and support

Proven track record of designing and implementing holistic student success programs in the curricular and co-curricular space that have long-term, university-wide impact

Extensive knowledge of student development theories and student higher education trends

Demonstrated ability to work in partnership across the university enterprise and influence senior leaders’ decisions on how to improve the student experience

Excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across departments.

Substantive experience providing leadership for staff and budgets in a higher education setting.

Expert at leveraging data for decision-making, continuous improvement and strategic planning

Experience working in a fast-paced work environment, is adaptable to large changes on the spur of the moment, is not reactive and can address situations with a cool and collected demeanor.

Successful completion of a background check.

Desired:

15+ years or more of demonstrated experience in student success initiatives, including curricular and co-curricular programming, mentoring and support

Experience with student success platforms and technologies (e.g., CRM, retention software).

Grant writing or fundraising experience.

Substantive knowledge and expertise of current research and best practices in student retention and success.

Additional Information:

Application review will begin on May 30th.

Targeted hiring range is $110,000 to $144,700. The offer for this position will fall within this range based on internal equity, the unit’s available budget, and the selected candidate’s qualifications.

Career Roadmap Designation

Function: Academic Administration

Sub function: Academic Program Services

Career Level: M4

Office of Student Life Mission Statement:

The Office of Student Life fosters students’ development, learning, well-being and sense of belonging; empowers students to achieve their academic, personal and professional goals; and prepares students to be engaged in a global society.

Location:

Ohio Union (0161)

Position Type:

Regular

Scheduled Hours:

40

Shift:Varying Shifts

Final candidates are subject to successful completion of a background check. A drug screen or physical may be required during the post offer process.

Thank you for your interest in positions at The Ohio State University and Wexner Medical Center. Once you have applied, the most updated information on the status of your application can be found by visiting the Candidate Home section of this site. Please view your submitted applications by logging in and reviewing your status. For answers to additional questions please review the frequently asked questions.

The university is an equal opportunity employer, including veterans and disability.

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