Director of New Student and Family Experiences

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL•Urbana, IL

56d•$95,000 - $105,000

About The Position

Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success, Inclusion and Belonging (SSIB), the Director of New Student and Family Experiences (NSFE) provides visionary leadership and strategic direction for the comprehensive development, engagement, and success of new first year and transfer undergraduate students. This senior leadership position is responsible for designing and implementing evidence-based programs and services that support a successful transition to university life, foster a strong sense of belonging, and enhance student achievement and familial engagement.

Requirements

Master's degree in higher education administration, college student personnel, counseling, or related field.
Five (5) years of professional experience in collegiate student affairs or a similar administrative role in higher education.
Demonstrated success designing and implementing effective, identity-conscious orientation/transitional programming and support services for new undergraduate first-year and transfer students.
Demonstrated success engaging the parents and families of new undergraduate first year and transfer students.
Demonstrated success creating, implementing, and administering large, complex, and comprehensive programmatic events.
Experience developing successful retention and student success services for new undergraduate first year and transfer students.
Experience supervising full time professionals and student staff.
Experience working in complex, fast-paced, and political environments.
Experience with strategic planning, problem solving, and assessment.
Leadership ability and excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Strong problem solving skills.
Ability to work autonomously and in a highly collaborative team setting.
Ability to think independently and creatively, and to manage multiple tasks efficiently.
Ability to take appropriate initiative and responsibility.
Capable of establishing and maintaining effective, cooperative working relationships with diverse stakeholders, including students, colleagues, alumni, volunteer advisors, faculty, and community partners.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in New Student, Family, and/or First Year Experiences at a large, public college or university.
Experience working with diverse students and families including international students, first-generation students, and students from populations historically underrepresented in higher education.
Experience with crisis management and diplomatic communication with parents and families.
Demonstrated experience using theoretical frameworks under-girding student identity development, social location, sense of belonging, and high impact practices for first year student success in developing student experiences.
Experience in fundraising and collaborating with alumni/diverse constituents.
Experience in facilitating policy review, reform, and development; and
Experience in marketing and communication strategies (e.g., electronic newsletters, websites, social media).
Demonstrated commitment to fairness and inclusion.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and implementation of a university-wide strategy to support first-year student success including academic support, co-curricular, social, and wellness initiatives.
Create and coordinate programs serving undergraduate first-year students, transfer students, and their parents such as new student registration programs, new student and parent orientation programs, new student welcome programs, and other activities that facilitate a successful transition for new students and their families.
Collaborate with academic affairs, the colleges, student affairs, enrollment management, intercollegiate athletics, special events, diversity, equity and inclusion offices, and other stakeholders to provide cohesive and integrated first-year experience for move-in, living-learning communities, first year experience seminars, and other critical first year student services
Partner with enrollment management/admissions to ensure alignment between recruitment, onboarding, and first-year engagement strategies.
Support initiatives that increase first-year and transfer student retention, engagement, academic performance, and progression toward degree completion.
Assist with policy development to support student orientation, transition and first-year experiences.
Foster an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive environment for a diverse population of students.
Ensure integration of NSFE initiatives with university-wide student success platforms (e.g., IL App, Canvas, Slate, etc.) and communication systems to support a coordinated student lifecycle approach.
Evaluate and implement emerging technologies and innovative practices to improve program delivery, engagement, and operational efficiency.
Develop and implement enhanced risk mitigation and crisis response protocols for large-scale events such as registration and orientation and serve as a key contact for student and family concerns during onboarding, escalating issues to appropriate departments as needed.
Provide oversight for programs related to engaging parents and families of students to support student success including parent and family orientation/transition services, ongoing resources to help families support their student(s), communication strategies (e.g., newsletter, family connections portal, list-serv, social media, websites, Slate, etc.) and Moms and Dads Association events.
Representative of New Student and Family Experiences and/or Student Affairs on campus-wide and ad-hoc committees relating to new student and family experiences.
Lead all activities, operations, and services provided by NSFE.
Provide budget planning and oversight, day to day supervision, conflict management, and strategic planning for NSFE.
Oversee the hiring, onboarding, training, supervision, and evaluation for all NSFE professionals, support, and student staff.
Serve as the university's official liaison to the Mom's and Dad's Associations.
Partner with Student Affairs Advancement to develop fundraising and sponsorship opportunities.
In conjunction with Student Affairs and SSIB Assessment to implement an assessment and evaluation strategy which informs a culturally significant approach to data-driven co-curricular design.
Institute an outcomes-driven method to the development and implementation of educational programs.
Provide leadership in reviewing the mission and goals of the New Student and Family Experiences and creating a strategic plan consistent with the Student Affairs Strategic Plan.
Conduct regular program evaluations and coordinate objectives with Student Affairs and University goals.
Use data-informed practices to assess the effectiveness of first-year programs and initiatives, and implement improvements aligned with institutional goals.
Coordinate the production of reports for internal and external audiences.