Director or Senior Director of Learner Experience - Gies College of Business

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign•Urbana, IL

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director or Senior Director of Learner Experience guides the design and continuous improvement of the co-curricular undergraduate experience at Gies College of Business. This role leads the Purpose-Driven Leaders (PDL) experience, honors programming, leadership development, community building, and signature student experiences that promote belonging, purpose, and student success. The position coordinates with academic and student support partners to advance college priorities, supervises staff responsible for Student Engagement and Gies Honors, and ensures students have opportunities to develop leadership and professional readiness throughout their time at Gies. The Senior Director provides strategic and operational leadership for these areas, aligning academic, professional, and co-curricular experiences through cross-functional collaboration.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree.
Director: Five years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, learner experience, student success, or a related field.
Senior Director: Eight years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, learner experience, student success, or a related field.
Experience leading programs or initiatives and supervising professional staff.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in higher education, student affairs, educational leadership, business administration, or a related field.
Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and building collaborative partnerships.
Experience with student engagement, honors programs, leadership development, or experiential learning.
Experience using assessment or student data to improve programs and services.
Comparable combinations of education and significant, relevant experience will be considered (for Senior Director).

Responsibilities

Develop and implement a comprehensive learner experience strategy spanning orientation through graduation.
Provide strategic leadership and oversight for the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous evolution of the Purpose-Driven Leaders (PDL) experience.
Establish mechanisms to regularly gather, interpret, and respond to student feedback to inform strategic decisions regarding the learner experience.
Design and maintain the learner experience framework that ties honors, student engagement, leadership development, and signature initiatives to the College's Purpose, Edge, and Community pillars.
Identify emerging trends and best practices in student engagement, leadership development, and learner experience and recommend innovative approaches.
Develop and maintain a comprehensive learner experience assessment framework, utilizing participation data, student feedback, engagement metrics, retention indicators, and qualitative outcomes to guide continuous improvement.
Collaborate to develop new initiatives that enhance belonging, retention, leadership development, and student success.
Design, pilot, and scale innovative co-curricular experiences that strengthen belonging, leadership development, purpose exploration, and student success.
Collaborate with various Gies units to create an integrated student experience.
Partner with enrollment, academic, advising, and student success leaders to create seamless transitions across the undergraduate learner journey.
Ensure Honors, PDL, and Student Engagement programming can scale to serve a growing student population without diluting quality or belonging.
Provide strategic direction, assessment, and continuous improvement for signature college events, student leadership development, registered student organization strategy, community-building initiatives, student traditions and rituals, and student wellness and belonging efforts.
Ensure Honors programming complements and reinforces the broader learner experience strategy while continuing to provide distinctive experiences for high-achieving students.
Provide strategic oversight for Gies Honors, Gies Scholars, James Scholars, First-Year Experience programming, Honors recruitment, Honors curriculum and enrichment experiences, and leadership development opportunities.
Directly supervise professional staff responsible for Student Engagement and Honors.
Foster collaboration across learner experience functions.
Develop staff through coaching, mentoring, and professional development.
Establish goals and assessment metrics for the unit.
Manage budgets and personnel.
Serve on the Undergraduate Programs Leadership Team.
Represent Undergraduate Programs on college and campus committees.
Partner with senior leadership on strategic initiatives impacting undergraduate students.
Collaborate with Enrollment Management, Advising, and Student Success to improve the overall student experience.