Associate Director for Student Culture and Engagement

University of Maryland•College Park, MD

17h•$145,000 - $165,000

About The Position

The Associate Director for Student Culture and Engagement reports to the Director of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union (STAMP), serves on STAMP’s senior leadership team, and provides strategic, administrative, and programmatic leadership for student connection, belonging, culture, transition, and success. The portfolio includes Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA), the Unity Center, Student Engagement programs serving graduate, transfer, off-campus/commuter, and veteran/military-connected students, and Graduate Legal Aid. The role establishes shared strategic direction across these distinct units while respecting their individual missions and expertise. It leads campus partnerships, serves as a primary relational responder for campus expressive activities, and oversees portfolio budgeting, assessment, and strategic alignment. The position directly supervises the Assistant Director for Student Engagement, Manager of the Unity Center, two MICA Program Coordinators, and Scholar in Residence, and provides indirect leadership to other staff, graduate assistants, interns, and student employees. The Associate Director leads programs, services, and space utilization; develops initiatives that promote belonging, leadership, and student transitions; identifies barriers to participation; and integrates scholarly work and academic partnerships into co-curricular programming. The position also oversees staff development, strategic planning, assessment, fiscal stewardship, and institutional representation. For expressive activities, the role supports communication, event planning, coordination, and relational de-escalation; Event and Guest Services retains primary responsibility for event operations, facility scheduling, and policy enforcement. Minimum qualifications include a bachelor’s degree, eight years of residence hall, student engagement, or student affairs management experience, and three years supervising or managing professional staff. Preferred qualifications include an advanced degree, at least 10 years of progressively responsible higher education or student affairs leadership, at least five years of direct professional staff supervision, and experience leading a multi-area portfolio. The position is a regular staff role with a stated salary range of $145,000–$165,000. Required application materials are a resume, cover letter, and list of references.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
Eight years of residence hall, student engagement, or student affairs management experience.
Three years of experience supervising or managing professional staff.
Knowledge of student affairs, resident life, program development and administration, and event planning.
Knowledge of undergraduate students’ needs and aspirations.
Oral and written communication skills.
Skill in using Microsoft Office and Google Workspace products.
Ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, regulations, and laws.
Ability to multitask while demonstrating a commitment to customer service.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, education, public administration, organizational leadership, social sciences, or a related field.
At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership and administrative experience in higher education or student affairs.
At least five years of direct professional staff supervision, including managers, supervisors, and multi-tiered teams.
Experience leading a department, center, or portfolio spanning multiple program areas, professional disciplines, and diverse student populations.
Ability to establish cohesive portfolio strategy while respecting the distinct identities, missions, histories, and expertise of individual units.
Experience leading organizational change, program realignment, and initiatives bridging academic and student affairs.
Ability to interpret and translate changing institutional, legal, and regulatory requirements into mission-aligned practice and policy.
Deep knowledge of student development, engagement, transition, belonging, community development, and co-curricular learning.
Advanced expertise in multicultural engagement, cultural centers, population-based student services, and community advocacy, using culturally responsive practices without treating groups as monolithic.
Demonstrated success advancing access, engagement, and success for graduate, transfer, off-campus/commuter, and veteran/military-connected students, and populations encountering institutional barriers.
Experience opening, operating, developing, leading, or assessing a student center, cultural center, or community-focused campus space.
Experience supervising or collaborating with faculty, scholars, and senior educators to align teaching, research, publication, grants, advising, and co-curricular programs.
Ability to maintain appropriate administrative, supervisory, and organizational boundaries when overseeing specialized professional services and high-expertise staff.
Demonstrated ability to lead relational responses during expressive activities, demonstrations, and sensitive campus events through communication, relationship-building, de-escalation, and coordination.
Ability to distinguish relational and educational responsibilities from operational compliance and enforcement functions and coordinate with institutional authorities.
Ability to manage competing priorities, emerging concerns, and sensitive matters with discretion and sound judgment.
Expertise in program development, learning outcomes, continuous improvement, and use of qualitative and quantitative data, research, and student feedback.
Experience managing complex budgets, student-fee allocations, and multiple funding streams.
Skill in securing and managing grants, sponsorships, fundraising initiatives, and external strategic partnerships.
Ability to build productive relationships across academic, administrative, and divisional boundaries and facilitate complex conversations involving differing perspectives.
Superior oral, written, interpersonal, and public communication skills with diverse constituencies.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office or comparable productivity, data, and collaboration platforms.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic, administrative, and programmatic leadership for the portfolio encompassing MICA, the Unity Center, Student Engagement programs, and Graduate Legal Aid.
Directly supervise portfolio leaders and the Scholar in Residence; provide indirect leadership to program coordinators, administrative staff, Graduate Legal Aid staff, graduate assistants, interns, and student employees.
Oversee recruitment, onboarding, coaching, performance evaluations, leave approvals, workload sustainability, succession planning, and professional development.
Set priorities and success measures for the Scholar in Residence, align scholarly and academic work with portfolio goals, and translate partnerships into co-curricular opportunities while respecting scholarly autonomy.
Foster a culture of trust, accountability, shared learning, and collaboration while preserving population-specific programs and service integrity.
Lead programs, services, and space utilization across portfolio units and student populations.
Design and evaluate initiatives that promote belonging, leadership, and smooth academic and social transitions.
Work with unit leaders to identify and remove systemic barriers to participation and develop outreach for historically underrepresented or less-engaged student groups.
Integrate scholarly work, faculty and staff learning communities, and interdisciplinary partnerships into Unity Center and MICA programming.
Support administration of Graduate Legal Aid, including staffing, fee-funding stewardship, utilization tracking, service continuity, and administrative boundaries.
Ensure Graduate Student Life appropriately supports Graduate Student Government while maintaining a broader focus on graduate student engagement.
Serve as a primary relational responder and co-facilitator for expressive-activity management, communicating with organizers and student leaders, sharing policy and resource information, supporting event planning, coordinating STAMP staff, and leading relational de-escalation.
Represent STAMP on university and divisional committees focused on student success, culture, access, and campus climate.
Convene academic departments, administrative units, the Graduate School, alumni, and community partners to coordinate resources and support emerging student needs.
Establish portfolio goals aligned with STAMP, divisional, and university priorities, and assess program reach, belonging, resource accessibility, and partnership impact.
Provide fiscal oversight for operating, programmatic, student-fee, grant, and donor funds, and pursue external funding opportunities.
Participate in STAMP-wide strategic planning, leadership decisions, policy formulation, critical-incident response, and interdepartmental collaboration.
Perform other assigned duties as needed.