Deputy Director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE)

Applications submitted by September 14th will be given priority review.

A cover letter is required to be considered for this position.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Deputy Director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) plays a critical role in connecting academic study and cross-campus programming at the University with community engagement in order to strengthen communities and support students in leading lives of purpose. The Deputy Director leads strategic coordination, alignment, and collaboration across the CCE’s stakeholder teams to further UR’s mission. The Deputy Director promotes cohesiveness and collaboration amongst CCE programs, guiding program evolution in alignment with the Center’s mission, vision, values and community-driven action plan. The Deputy Director will also lead the Center’s strategy for assessing the effectiveness of programs and initiatives and for assessing University-wide community engagement. The Deputy Director role will lead within the CCE’s values-driven culture in order to ensure that the CCE provides the highest quality support for community-engaged faculty and students across the University and for community partners.  

JOB DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership, Management, and Staff Culture (55%)

• Manages the CCE’s human resources, including: provide direct supervision for 3 Sr Associate Directors, each overseeing stakeholder-facing teams with responsibility for multiple programs across curricular and co-curricular domains; provide direct supervision for 1 Assocate Director of Community-Engaged Scholarship.

• Convenes and facilitates regular meetings and communication streams across programs and teams to align, coordinate, and resolve program challenges and to ensure staff culture reflects CCE values, including all-staff meetings, trainings, and retreats.

• Engages and promotes cohesiveness and alignment amongst CCE programs and campus and community partnerships that touch multiple university and external programs

• Leads and oversees the design, coordination, and implementation of ongoing, field-based training and development programs for CCE staff and offers learning opportunities to other University staff with community engagement responsibilities.

• Supports CCE’s culture of distributed and facilitative leadership by supporting working groups and other cross-CCE teams in reaching group goals and fostering transparent and inclusive decision-making.

• Cultivates and aligns collaborations with campus leaders and with faculty in order to support University goals related to community engagement.

• Serves as a representative of the Bonner Center with both internal and external audiences while exercising considerable judgment in articulating an ambitious vision, viewpoints and agendas on behalf of the Bonner Center.

• Serves as a thought leader; contributes to visibility of the Bonner Center at national meetings, and brings insights and new developments from the field to inform program development and vice versa.

• Represents the CCE and the University on relevant institutional and civic committees and working groups.

Strategy and Operations (25%)

• Provides guidance to the Executive Director of the CCE by helping shape the strategy for collaboration across the CCE and peer offices, including the establishment of short-term and long-range shared goals, objectives, policies, and operating procedures that align with a values-driven culture; prioritizes areas of improvement, aligning project scopes with available resources, and encouraging effective change management practices.

• Leads program teams in aligning and operationalizing specific annual plans that advance the CCE’s and University’s strategic priorities.

• Develops and implements strategic and tactical plans for the improvement of CCE programs and activities, in alignment with CCE’s community-driven action plan.

• Develops and launches strategic initiatives and special projects; incubates and determines ways to integrate into CCE structure if appropriate.

• Leads development of practices and policies for programs; supports strategic resource development and allocation.

• Shapes strategy, annual planning, use of internal resources, and performance of community-engaged transportation; this includes co-leadership (with Transportation and Parking) of Transportation Working Group to coordinate and advocate for community-engaged transportation needs across the University.

• Coordinates year-end reporting from program and stakeholder teams.

Program Administration and Assessment (20%) 

• Leads Center-wide Assessment team to drive Center’s assessment strategy and support on-going program improvement and learning, in collaboration with Associate Director, Operations.

• Leads and oversees the development and implementation of program assessment frameworks.

• Sets the strategy and oversees the implementation of effective data collection and management systems in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the University’s community engagement and outreach efforts. 

• Oversees implementation of best practices in design, facilitation, and evaluation of academically grounded community engagement initiatives, including community-based and community-engaged learning classes and community-engaged scholarship, student engagement and civic learning, and community partnerships.

CONTACTS:

• CCE leadership team and Executive Director - to develop and guide strategy and assessment

• CCE Staff – to support collaboration and professional development

• Faculty members, Associate Deans, and Deans across schools—to promote and support community-based learning and civic engagement across the curriculum 

• Student Life Deans—to strengthen connections and educational ties to co-curricular programs 

• Directors—to collaborate across units, including Global Engagement, will, Inclusion and Belonging, Student Hub for Inclusion and Belonging, Athletics, Modlin Center, and HR—to coordinate and integrate community engagement efforts across campus in conjunction with the University’s strategic plan 

• Students—to advise, support and promote community engagement as part of their curricular and co-curricular learning 

• Community, government leaders, non-profit leaders—to forge and strengthen partnerships, to promote the mission of the CCE, and to meet community-identified needs 

• Institutional Effectiveness staff and community partners—to work on assessment of UR’s community efforts, UR’s community impact, and the metro Richmond community’s needs and assets 

• Transportation—to coordinate and advocate for community-engaged transportation needs

SUPERVISION EXERCISED:

• Sr. Associate Director, Community-Engaged Learning

• Sr. Associate Director, Student Engagement

• Sr. Associate Director, Community Relationships

• Associate Director, Community-Engaged Research, Scholarship, and Relationships

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Strong oral and written communication skills and ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences 

• Ability to lead, motivate and supervise staff with a focus on professional development 

• Knowledge of higher education administration and of faculty career pathways

• Knowledge and experience in assessment 

• Knowledge of the role of civic education in higher education 

• Knowledge of non-profits 

• Managerial experience 

• Effective collaboration with multiple constituencies on campus and in the local and academic communities 

• Collaborative leadership skills, including ability to communicate effectively in varied settings 

• Ability to build strong relationships with faculty, students and staff as well as leaders of community organizations 

• Organizational and operational skills to plan and oversee programming, assessments, and planning 

• Teaching/educating experience 

• Research experience in field related to the CCE’s mission 

• Ability to critically review and implement policies and procedures 

• Ability to articulate mission and core activities of the CCE and UR to broad constituents, on campus and the wider local and academic communities 

• Skills and experience in facilitation and convening groups who might not normally come together 

• Academic and/or practical understanding of contemporary civic and social issues in national and local contexts 

• Working knowledge of experiential education, community-based research and service learning 

• Collaborative work style 

• Exceptional judgment, strong initiative, poise, and patience

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• MA required; Ph.D. preferred

• 8-10 years' experience in higher education and demonstrated experience working with students, faculty, administrators and community partners with preference given to work in civic education.

WORK SCHEDULE:

• Full-time; Exempt

• Monday-Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM

SALARY STRUCTURE:

Grade 9 ($77,854 to $107,058 annually)