Associate Program Director, Learning Through Drama

Research Foundation of The City University of New York•New York, NY

2d•$58,000 - $63,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The CUNY Creative Arts Team (CAT) is an arts-in-education program at the City University of New York (CUNY), serving more than 9,000 people annually in New York City. CAT uses theatre strategies to engage, inspire and educate in a variety of settings, including schools, after-school programs, college campuses, community-based organizations, and government facilities. The Learning Through Drama (LTD) program provides in-school workshops for middle and high school students in public schools around New York City. In duos, LTD Actor Teachers create drama-based sessions whose learning objectives include social emotional, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills. They develop curriculum weekly in conversation with the school community and in response to the interests and needs of the young people. The Associate Program Director (APD) will report to the Program Director (PD) and be responsible for assisting the PD in executing the full scope of the Learning Through Drama program. This responsibility includes assisting in the management and training of eight to ten Actor Teachers and eighteen MSW apprentices, maintaining relationships with school communities, and assuring curriculum quality. The APD will be chiefly responsible for creating and maintaining administrative systems to support CAT's compliance with multiple government funders (including the Department of Youth and Community Development). They will lead communication with school administration and teachers around scheduling and programming. They will assist in creating and implementing Professional Developments with school staff and possible school events. The APD will be expected to be on-site at CAT and at all schools regularly throughout the year.

Requirements

5+ years experience creating and implementing original drama-in-education work with young people is required
A minimum of one year in administration or education is required
Expertise in, and ability to communicate about, drama education is required
Excellent administrative capabilities are required
Previous work with young people is required

Nice To Haves

Undergraduate or graduate degree in applied theatre, arts education, arts administration, or education is highly valued
Local knowledge of NYC communities is highly valued
Multilingualism, particularly an ability to facilitate in multiple languages, is highly valued

Responsibilities

Understanding, maintaining, developing, and representing Creative Arts Team/Learning Through Drama pedagogy
Assisting Program Director in planning and steering Learning Through Drama programming
Assisting Program Director in hiring, training, and managing about eight to ten Actor Teachers, whose responsibilities include creating weekly curriculum to be implemented in schools
Assisting Program Director in establishing and maintaining relationships and regular communication with administrators and teachers at 12 to 15 NYC public high schools and middle schools, including in-person meetings in The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Assisting Program Director in creating and maintaining systems to collect program data, including evaluations
Assisting Program Director in managing up to eighteen MSW interns, whose responsibilities will include case management
Securing workshop schedules at each school that fulfill contractual requirements, educational goals, and programmatic needs
Having an on-site presence in schools in Queens, The Bronx, and Brooklyn to facilitate new program-to-school relationships, fulfill funder requirements, and support other administrative programmatic needs. In-school presence will be as-needed but may be required up to five days per week
Communicating schedules, including last-minute changes to Actor Teachers, school staff, and funders
Interfacing with DYCD Connect and AirTable to ensure data is entered accurately and on time
Preparing internal files for periodic funder audits
Attending weekly team meetings at CAT and participating in weekly Curriculum Lab with Actor Teachers
Attending periodic meetings with fulltime CAT staff and contributing to strategic planning
Representing CAT (along with other FT staff) at K-16 Initiatives staff meetings (the unit within CUNY where CAT is based)
Co-facilitating curriculum training as needed with the Program Director for Actor Teachers during September curriculum intensive, and weekly Monday meetings
Co-facilitating weekly sessions with Program Director for MSW student apprentices
Correspond and have weekly check-ins with MSW candidate Field Supervisors
Facilitating relationships between MSW Student Apprentices and school staff
Along with PD, creating and maintaining digital and physical systems to document curriculum
Scheduling short-term residencies as they arise throughout the school year
Filling in for Program Director in their absence
Implementing periodic short-term residencies as they arise during the school year, to be negotiated with PD and CAT leadership
Occasionally facilitating workshops in schools as a substitute for Actor Teachers
Representing LTD at conferences as appropriate and needed
Other duties as assigned