Center Senior Specialist, Experiential Learning

Take appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participate in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

• With participation and input from interested Smith centers and concentrations, develop and oversee a curricular support model for faculty engagement in community engaged learning (also known as community based learning - CBL). Develop and evolve a portfolio of experiential learning initiatives and share data across centers and concentrations.
• Expand a portfolio of CBL resources for faculty, including seeking grant funding and connecting faculty to community engagement opportunities.
• Recruit and support faculty for Jandon sponsored work with community partners.
• Support faculty to connect research and teaching priorities to the goals of community - based partners.
• Develop and oversee delivery of resources for faculty, including workshops, course development and linking existing courses to community-based initiatives.
• Liaise with Jandon team, community organizations and campus partners  (E.g. Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning, Smith centers and concentrations)  

 Jandon Team (30%):

• Liaise with college-wide offices (E.g. Director of Communications and External Engagement, Smith centers) on maintaining and evolving a collaborative network of sustainable strategic organizational partnerships for Smith across the region. 
• Design, deliver and evaluate programs to respond to the experiential learning needs of diverse CBL students and faculty. 
• Align programs and methods with Jandon Center goals, the Smith strategic plan, and essential capacities for Smith students. 
• Deploy content knowledge and experience in training and facilitation to actively support and evolve Jandon Center goals and methods.
• Manage assigned Jandon community partnerships.
• Collaborate actively with Jandon team colleagues and promote the Center’s work. 
• Act as a resource to fellow team members and the Director.  

 Student Support (30%):

•  Coordinate integrative learning events and activities related to student community engagement for staff and faculty across interested centers and concentrations.
• Advise students on and link them to experiential learning opportunities.
• Connect on-campus curricular and co-curricular learning with off-campus experiences.
• Support the Jandon Center Director and team to evolve - develop, sustain, evaluate- the Jandon portfolio of local and national community engagements that enrich students' education.
• Develop, sustain and manage a network of mentoring relationships for students through alums, faculty, staff and community partners.
• Provide orientation and training to students on the ethics and core practices of community engagement.
• Liaise across Smith centers, especially the Lazarus Center for Career Development, to support students to connect engaged learning and scholarship with unfolding life and career pathways.
• Incubate and support student initiated research and social change projects.
• Advise and connect students with campus, community and alum resources in support of their Jandon related work.   

 General (10%):

•  Oversee integrated Jandon communications and data analysis.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director or the Director’s designee.  

All employees are expected to participate in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.  

MINIMUM REQUIRED Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of independent project management experience or an equivalent combination of education/experience; experience with college students preferred.
• Master’s degree preferred.    
• Background in developing course syllabi (ideally at undergraduate level); teaching experience designing and delivering workshops / training / mini-courses for faculty and students focused on public scholarship, CBL, equity and human rights (and related challenges of poverty and inequality); expertise in facilitation methods (E.g. Appreciative Inquiry; Future Search; Asset Based Organizing or similar); experience leading and initiating collaborative projects across multiple disciplines; explicitly linking and integrating research, course-work and experiential learning with students and faculty; demonstrated planning and program development skills.
• Experience working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Preferred Experience:

• Extensive experience working in or with community based nonprofits; demonstrated excellence as a team player; experience coordinating multiple constituents on collaborative projects; self starter; demonstrated experience balancing accountability for the priorities of this role with support for colleagues and the Jandon team as a whole.

Skills:

• Ability to listen closely, synthesize ideas from multiple constituencies and design, develop and implement responsive experiential education programs; experience with and understanding of challenges facing contemporary students; demonstrated understanding of systemic inequality and ability to integrate theory and practice; excellent and innovative facilitation and presentation skills; ability to initiate web-based instruction; demonstrated ability to initiate and maintain a complex set of excellent relationships with colleagues, students, faculty and community partners; excellent team and related abilities; excellence in office suite; google docs, social media and web-based instructional platforms.