NACE JobWire

Position Summary Information

Mission

We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.

Vision

To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.

Who We Are

Located in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. With a population of just over 53,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity, fostering equity and inclusion, and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research. 

The Division of Student Affairs< at James Madison University invites applications for five Assistant Director positions through an innovative cohort hiring model. Positions hired in this cohort are housed within Residence Life, University Career Center, Center for Multicultural Student Services and Disability Services.

• Assistant Director for Disability Services
• Assistant Director for Inter-Cultural Greek Council & Multicultural Programs
• Assistant Director for Residence Life, Housing Operations
• Assistant Director for Residence Life, Staff Selection and Training

Benefits to candidates include:

• Transition to campus with a group of peers from around Student Affairs
• Shared onboarding process
• Streamlined interview process where you can be considered for multiple positions

The Division of Student Affairs includes University Career Center, Center for Multicultural Student Services, Community Service-Learning, Counseling Center, Dean of Students, Gender Identity & Expression, Orientation and Transition, Residence Life, Student Life, University Health Center, University Recreation and University Unions. The division is an integral university in supporting the mission, vision, and values of the university. Successful candidates will infuse these values in their day-to-day practice.

Student Affairs Values

• Focusing on Students
• Leading Courageously
• Transcending Boundaries
• Creating Belonging
• Embracing Innovation and Change
• Honoring and Valuing Our Staff
• Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Assistant Director for Employer Development and Outreach will assist in the leadership of the Employer Services for the Center; participate on the leadership team for the Unit; coordinate and support employer engagement activities; and collaborate with the DEI Coordinator to oversee efforts in Employer Services to increase employer awareness of DEI in recruiting; and increase employer engagement in recruiting activities.

Collaboration & Outreach:

• Develop relationships with faculty, staff, employers, and alumni with the common goal of increasing access to career-related networks for all students, regardless of background or social capital.
• Proactively identify and address gaps (i.e. industry, job function or geographic area) where student interest is greater than the existing network.
• Nurture existing employer relationships that we have already established to ensure continued effective communication and service.
• Attend local Chamber of Commerce events and other Harrisonburg/Rockingham County employer events to connect with local and regional employers.

Employer Engagement:

• Coordinate and support employer engagement activities on campus including career fairs, campus interview schedules, information sessions and tables through ways including approval registration and communicating with employers about event logistics.

Curricular Alignment:

• Develop partnerships between employers, alumni and faculty to inspire curricular connections to career paths, industries, job roles, and career preparation.
• Train Career Advisor/Liaisons on techniques and strategies for developing new employer relationships and coordinate their efforts to do so.
• Collaborate and consult with career advisors serving as liaisons to academic units to ensure information about opportunities between employer services and the liaisons are coordinated and well publicized.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equity:

• Collaborate with DEI Coordinator to oversee all efforts in the employer relations and recruiting area that increase employer awareness of JMU’s minority and underrepresented students, including special programs aimed at enhancing connections and increasing hiring of underrepresented students.
• Ensure that all employers are conducting their recruiting activities in a manner that is consistent with stated policies regarding diversity and Administrative & Professional Faculty Job Description & Performance Evaluation inclusion.
• Serve as the liaison between UCC and other campus departments and programs to increase awareness among under-represented students of UCC programs and services.
• Conduct periodic reviews of recruiting activities to determine the effectiveness of DEI efforts.

Supervision:

• Supervise staff, including students and graduate assistants, as assigned.

UCC Leadership:

• Develop and lead initiatives for the UCC unit that are aligned with the strategic goals of the UCC, the Student Affairs Division and the University.
• Share information and communicate regularly with director and larger University Career Center team.
• Support events and programs by being flexible with time available to occasionally include weekend and evening hours and regularly contribute assistance.

Career Advising:

• Provide comprehensive career advising to students and recent alumni, individually and in groups.
• Administer and interpret career assessments with students as needed.
• Empower students to explore careers and develop effective search strategies for their career goals.
• Coach students to effectively articulate the value of their JMU education.
• Provide career resources regarding the job/internship search and graduate school search.
• Be able to discuss with students and recent alumni how their social identities impact or are impacted by their job search, graduate school search, or post-graduate careers.
• Seek continued learning about one’s social identities and how potential biases may show up when working with students and in programming

Professional Development:

• Stay current on workforce trends, issues related to recruiting entry level talent, higher education, career-related and industry trends, and student development theory through research, conferences, articles, webinars and collaboration with peers in the field.
• Demonstrate the ability to work with diverse populations by seeking additional training in topics such as identity, social justice, equity, communication, emotional intelligence, etc.

Requirements

• Master’s Degree / Bachelor’s Degree with 1+ years relevant experience
• Experience developing rapport one on one and in groups with students and other stakeholders
• Experience managing multiple projects or events simultaneously
• Experience promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility
• Record of effectively communicating, cultivating, and expanding working relationships with a variety of stakeholders
• Ability to master technology applications quickly including higher ed enterprise systems like Peoplesoft, Handshake, StarRez and intermediate word processing and excel skills