Associate Director for American Indian and Indigenous Student Empowerment

Cornell University • Ithaca, NY

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director for American Indian and Indigenous Student Empowerment, reporting to the Associate Dean of Students and Director of the LGBT Resource Center within The Centers for Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging, serves as the primary point of contact for Indigenous and American Indian Students. This role advances the mission of the Office of the Dean of Students by fostering student belonging, engagement, leadership development, and holistic well-being among American Indian and Indigenous students. The Associate Director is instrumental in implementing educational programs to raise awareness and collaborating with campus partners to help mitigate the challenges that American Indian and Indigenous students may face in their transition to and navigation of Cornell. This position requires participation in an Administrator on-call rotation, responding to crisis-related situations after-hours, including navigating high-level issues of physical and psychological safety. This is a live-in optional position residing in Akwe:kon, Cornell’s Indigenous program house. The position requires occasional night and weekend hours.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 3 to 5 years of full-time professional experience, or equivalent combination of experience and education.
• Direct experience with and knowledge of American Indian and Indigenous students, communities, culture, and issues is essential.
• Ability for meaningful and appropriate interaction with people from a wide range of ethnic, social, and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to serve as an advocate for individuals of all ethnicities, genders, ages, and backgrounds.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills with the ability to multi-task under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with events planning and development of programs.
• Must exercise sound judgment and respect highly confidential information.
• Intercultural competency and experience advising diverse groups of students.
• Strong understanding of student issues, trends, and ability to proactively respond to a wide array of issues or emerging student needs.
• Experience advising or working closely with students from diverse and or historically marginalized populations.
• Ability to take initiative, follow directives, work independently, and contribute to a diverse team environment.
• Ability to advise students with sound judgment, including making appropriate referrals, setting boundaries, and empowering students with self-advocacy skills and strategies.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in College Student Development, Student Affairs Administration, Higher Education, Educational Administration or related field.
• 2-4 years full-time professional experience working with American Indian and Indigenous students in some capacity.
• Direct support of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Knowledge of indigenous, native and or first nations.
• Experience working with diverse college student populations in a student affairs setting.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the primary point of contact for Indigenous and American Indian Students.
• Advances the mission of the Office of the Dean of Students by fostering student belonging, engagement, leadership development, and holistic well-being among American Indian and Indigenous students.
• Implements educational programs to raise awareness.
• Collaborates with campus partners to help mitigate the challenges of American Indian and Indigenous students may face in their transition to and navigation of Cornell.
• Serves in an Administrator on-call rotation responding to crisis-related situations after-hours, including navigating high-level issues of physical and psychological safety.
• Cultivates an inclusive space where students can feel welcomed and able to engage and learn from others who have had life experiences and hold social identities that are similar and different from their own.
• Fosters a supportive and student-centered environment to empower and equip students with skills and strategies to engage in self-advocacy, coalition building and governance.
• Implements, assesses, and supports various programs and workshops for students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Fosters student leadership development through advising, training, guidance, and reflection opportunities for various student organizational leaders and student staff.
• Maintains a supportive and student-centered environment that empowers and equips students with skills and strategies to engage in self-advocacy, coalition building, and governance.
• Interacts collaboratively with diverse audiences to effectively affect change from within systems, build relationships, maintain trust, and identify and advocate for achievable solutions.
• Fosters a culture of belonging and a healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

Benefits

• Live-in optional position residing in Akwe:kon, Cornell’s Indigenous program house.
• If the live-in option is chosen, the anticipated salary of this position is $62,400.
• If the live-in option is not chosen, the anticipated salary range is $74,500 - $78,000.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level