Director Of Access And Engagement - College of Communication and Information

Director Of Access And Engagement - College of Communication and Information

Director of Access and Engagement – College of Communication and Information

Full-Time, Exempt, Market Range 13

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites applications for a Director of Access and Engagement in the College of Communication and Information.

Application Process: Interested individuals should apply by March 8, 2024.

Screening of applicants will begin immediately and will continue until the position has been filled. For full consideration, applicants must provide a resume, cover letter, and a minimum of three references. All applicants must apply online to be considered for this position.

The Position: Reporting to the Dean of the College of Communication & Information, the Director of Access and Engagement provides collaborative support to the Dean, associate deans, school directors and unit leaders. The Director serves as the college’s chief subject matter expert on access and engagement matters and participates in leadership bodies of the college (e.g., administrative committee). The Director develops strategies, initiatives, and protocols to aid the college in its goal of attracting diverse faculty, staff and students, collaborating with program directors, the Office of Undergraduate Programs and Advising, the Office of Graduate Programs, the Graduate School, etc. In concert with the college’s advancement and career development teams, this position helps develop and maintain relationships with corporate, business, and community partners. In many respects, this position is the point of interface between the College of Communication & Information and many community organizations, running the gamut of the Chamber of Commerce, the Urban League, United Way, Leadership Knoxville, local school districts, and so forth. Given the expanding footprint of the College of Communication & Information, effectively managing this increasing complex institutional landscape is a major undertaking and critically important to the college’s goal of becoming better connected in industries and communities.

The Director of Access and Engagement is responsible for:

1. Access and Engagement Action Plan

• Working in partnership with the college's access and engagement committee, the Director will provide vision, leadership, management, assessment, and strategic planning for the design and implementation of a college-wide access and engagement framework for all faculty, staff, and students.

• Develop meaningful metrics, tools, and analytics that enable leadership to evaluate performance and effectiveness.

• Provide strategic leadership and administrative oversight in developing and enhancing efforts to create and sustain a culture that embraces, promotes, and prioritizes diversity in the broadest meanings. Particular emphasis on improvement of existing inclusive culture and serving as an institutional change agent.

• Provide leadership, vision and collaboration in the delivery of a comprehensive range of services, policies, and procedures related to access and engagement excellence to increase the support and the ultimate success of students, faculty, and staff.

• Facilitate and share best practices for enhancing inclusivity, engagement, and cultural proficiency in the college.

• Serve as a consultant to the college's leadership team and school and unit leaders to support diversity and inclusion efforts in their areas.

• Ensure the most effective operations of the action plan through program development, process improvement and coordination/integration of processes with other schools and units.

• Be available for listening and information sessions with faculty, staff, and students, gathering input for the direction of the action plan.

• Assist in creating an organizational culture (both within and across schools and units) that provides a safe and enriching environment for faculty, staff, and students.

• Develop initiatives that align with the "Foundations for Learning, Well-Being, and Career" Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to serve student well-being and resilience.

2. Education and Recruitment

• Develop a strategy and implement approaches for recruiting undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds. Some examples may include developing educational partnerships and recruitment pipelines with HBCUs and college-prep programs for underrepresented high school students throughout Tennessee such as Project Grad, Emerald Youth Foundation, and the Knoxville Area Urban League-National Achievers Society.

• Lead the College’s responsibilities to advise relevant student organizations.

• Assess and report on program efforts in the College as they pertain to recruiting and retaining the College's students.

• Serve as liaison with UTK for access and engagement initiatives.

• Promote a culture within the college that is focused on the needs of students, faculty and staff, and other constituent groups.

• Manage and expand college programming focused on attracting underrepresented student populations to the college through college-wide summer camps and other initiatives.

• Manage the college's access, retention, and education programs.

• Work across the college to develop large- and small-scale education and training programs for faculty, students, and staff.

• Develop programming such as train-the-trainer meant to create and embed capacity across campus (students, staff, and faculty) and in key college administrative units.

• Provide proactive and reactive organizational development interventions in cases where social/cultural diversity, equity, and/or inclusion are at stake, including in academic units.

• Partner with academic and administrative programs and units to support on-going, unit-specific access and engagement education.

3. College, University, and Community Relations

• Work closely with the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Advising on outreach and engagement for underrepresented student populations.

• Work with the college leadership such as school directors, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Success, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, and Executive Director of Finance, Administration, and Operations on faculty and staff recruitment and retention.

• Work in concert with the Vice Chancellor for Access and Engagement, Provost’s Office, Division of Student Success, Office of Admissions, Division of Student Life, and UT Foundation in addition to other campus and community partners.

• Act as liaison for college contact with community organizations; advising college on events in which to participate and which causes to support such as Leadership Knoxville, the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, Knoxville Area Urban League, local school districts, etc.

• Represent the college at a variety of community events.

• Actively identify opportunities for student service-learning opportunities in the community.

To be successful in this role, candidates are required to possess:

• Master’s Degree in Communication, Business, Education, or Related field from an accredited institution of higher education.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience with programming and outcome assessment and evaluation.

• Significant experience designing and implementing diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement initiatives within higher education or a complex institution or organization.

• Experience with change in organizational development.

• Significant knowledge and experience serving and supporting minority interests.

• Experience supervising and leading professional staff and supporting staff professional development.

• Demonstrated experience in managing budget and fiscal resources.

• Experience with diversity and community relations.

• A working knowledge of strategic relationships.

• Ability to oversee and engage in community outreach efforts.

• Experience with managing diversity programs with special emphasis with recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students.

• Knowledge of higher education operation, in particular college operations and faculty, staff, and student matters.

• Understanding and appreciation of academic culture and processes.

• Evidence of experience collaborating and building strategic partnerships.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Demonstrated ability to develop trust with campus and community constituents.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in a diverse environment.

• Ability to work effectively across the campus both as an organizational leader and valued colleague.

• Strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills.

• Demonstrable ability to lead through influence at all levels of the organization.

• Discretion and good judgment to handle confidential information.

Our ideal candidate has:

• Terminal degree in chosen field of study.

• Faculty experience or knowledge of faculty processes and policies.

• Demonstrated success with infusing diversity, equity and inclusion and engagement practices within a professional setting.

• History of thought leadership as demonstrated through publications, presentations, or other means of communication.

• Experience as a leader or member of a team, task force, or committee.

• Experience with strategic planning processes.

• Minimum 7 years of experience developing programs and facilitating training on a wide range of DEI matters.

• Experience managing conflict and building consensus.

• Advanced education/training in diversity-related fields, topics and subjects.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

The College: CCI is part of a Land Grant Institution embedded in communities to make those communities a better place. Our alumni, students, faculty, and staff strive to positively impact the lives of people in our state through our teaching, scholarship, creative work, and through our engagement and service. CCI as a college is well poised to deliver upon all of those areas to become the most nationally distinctive but locally relevant College of Communication and Information in the country.