Program Support Specialist - Adventure WV

West Virginia University • West Virginia, WV

8d • Onsite

About The Position

The Adventure WV Program Support Specialist (PSS) oversees the various critical support functions that enable the operation of all Adventure WV programs—First Year Trips, Outdoor Education Center, and all other trips, clinics, and rental operations. The PSS has direct policy making responsibility at the department level that includes rental operations, equipment maintenance and inventory, and proper outfitting of trips with food and equipment. The PSS creates policy and systems that ensures that all programs have appropriate access to and support with necessary equipment, food, transportation, and provides oversight of quality and consistency in these processes. The PSS, working with the Associate Director, manages and schedules the AWV vehicle and trailer fleet. The PSS creates and monitors policy regarding AWV trip program equipment, maintaining accurate inventories, managing rental processes, purchasing equipment, and equipment repair and maintenance. The PSS also serves as a contributing member of the AWV team, working on program priority projects (i.e., First Year Trips, Welcome Week, Fall Adventure Activities) and serving as On-Call personnel.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• A minimum of two (2) years experience in the following:
• Professional experience in outdoor education, outdoor recreation, and/or experiential education, preferably within higher education
• Experience in group outdoor trip planning/leading
• Experience in facilitating, teaching, and debriefing
• Experience in programmatic risk management
• Experience in supervision of student staff
• Experience in outdoor equipment purchasing, inventory, and maintenance
• Any equivalent combination of related education and/or experience will be considered
• All qualification must be met by the time of employment
• Experience in a diversity of programmatic settings providing outcomes related to recreation, education, skill development, and personal development—with a special emphasis on the higher education setting
• Experience with many types of outdoor equipment
• Working knowledge of vehicle fleet management and maintenance
• Ability to design effective trainings for student staff
• Ability to forecast, monitor, and interpret financial reports and budgets
• Ability to address issues faced by college students and to counsel students
• Familiarity with proper use and care of many types of outdoor recreation equipment
• Knowledge of Wilderness First Aid protocols and industry standards
• Demonstrated skills in facilitating, debriefing, counseling, and group dynamics and other essential foundations of outdoor education, experiential education theory, leadership theory, and risk management theory.
• Ability to operate a personal computer with knowledge of basic office software
• Ability to use computer systems for registrations, budgets, etc.
• Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively as a member of a goal-oriented team

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in related field preferred

Responsibilities

• Creates procedures and manages a team of student staff, including Graduate Assistant, to provide equipment, food, transportation, and other needs for all AWV trips and programs.
• Creates and monitors processes to ensure equipment is appropriate for the trip, is properly maintained, and properly tested prior to programs.
• Works with Associate Director on proper management of the AWV footprint in the Student Recreation Center.
• Works with other AWV professionals to create menus, purchase food, and properly store food for AWV programs, considering various dietary restriction and allergies, along with relevant regulations.
• Schedules AWV fleet vehicles and/or rental vehicles for programs.
• At the conclusion of programs, creates procedures to ensure all equipment is returned, food is properly managed, and proper vehicle tracking and documentation have been completed.
• Works with AWV staff to find creative and cost-effective solutions for program support needs.
• During the summer months, provides significant support to the operations of the First Year Trips program, which requires attention to detail and problem solving.
• Hires, schedules, and provides management and supervision for all student staff in this program area, including one Graduate Assistant.
• Responsible for the overall maintenance and scheduling of the vehicle fleet, working with the Associate Director.
• Fleet management tasks include projecting vehicle needs, managing vehicle requests, scheduling vehicles, arranging for rental vehicles, monitoring and completing regularly scheduled maintenance/insurance/registration and other tasks, proper documentation of use and incidents, coordinating repairs as needed, assistance with vehicle driver training, ensuring compliance with WVU and other relevant regulations, the research and purchasing of vehicles and related equipment (trailers, repair kits, etc.), and the management of Adventure WV’s vehicle operations budget.
• Responsible for creating policy and procedure to ensure proper maintenance of AWV equipment (trip and rental equipment).
• Works with a team of Student Staff and Graduate Assistants to ensure compliance with policy and procedure regarding AWV’s equipment.
• Processes include space management, organization, check in/check out, inventory, cleaning, maintenance, repair, forecasting of needs, purchasing, retirement, managing appropriate levels of loss/theft/breakage, and budgeting.
• Responsible for the policy and operations of the Rental Center, providing year-round gear rentals and information to the WVU and surrounding community.
• Creates and manages the processes of the center, including hiring/scheduling/management of student staff and a Graduate Assistant, front-line customer service, program registration, rental system processes, equipment maintenance, managing staff requests, sale of AWV merchandise, and decision-making regarding equipment offerings, pricing, etc.
• Ensures that Rental Center operations are in line with the goals and expectations of the Director and are in line with AWV policy and industry best practices.
• Serves as a member of the Adventure WV professional staff team.
• Responsible for contributing to various AWV priority projects and initiatives and is responsible for always adhering to relevant AWV and WVU policies.
• Program design and leadership, teaching, grading, and programming associated with FYT credits, FYT programming, Welcome Week programs management, NSO Basecamp, Fall Family Weekend programming, intake and custom program design, van driver training, involvement with WVU Student Life initiatives, and other special projects and duties as they arise.

Benefits

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year (employee leave)
• 18 sick days per year (for when you’re ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family’s, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6%25 employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks.
• Wellness programs

What This Job Offers

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