Assistant Dean of Students

• Assist students (and families), faculty, and staff seeking guidance on a range of student-related academic, health, behavioral, and personal issues at the Connie Frank CARE Center.
• Assist and advocate for students experiencing crises, working directly with students and consulting with faculty and staff to help them respond to students in crisis.
• Serve as team lead for one or more assigned specialty areas, carrying out responsibilities and designing and coordinating the programs, protocols, and policies that advance the unit's mission in each area. These may include:
  • Case management: acute high-risk, medium-, and long-term non-clinical case management, including service on the Students of Concern Committee.
  • Off-campus community living: support for students in privately owned local housing, including lease education and coaching through landlord conflicts.
  • Behavioral intervention: threat assessment, intervention, and response involving students, faculty, or staff who may pose a risk of targeted violence, and support to the Threat Assessment Team.
  • Title IX: departmental point of contact for Title IX cases and requested supportive measures, including service as liaison to and member of the Title IX Case Management group.
  • CARE Ambassadors: leadership of the CARE Ambassadors peer education program, including recruiting, training, and advising student leaders who connect peers to support and resources, promote Connie Frank CARE Center services to students and families, and design and lead programs that respond to real student needs.
  • Academics: support for students struggling academically, including attendance concerns and academic policy questions.
  • Data reporting and analysis: Maxient analytics, monthly data reports, support for annual reporting, and assessment strategies.
  • Medical withdrawal and re-entry: oversight and coordination of the medical withdrawal and re-entry processes.
  • Basic needs: development and evaluation of interventions and sustainable programs that address basic needs, including oversight of the Emergency Dean fund.
    
    
• Supervise professional staff, providing direction, coaching, performance feedback, and professional development to support effective, consistent casework.
• Serve as a liaison and consultant to colleges and campus offices providing support, consultation, training, and outreach, and gathering feedback on processes and procedures.
• Serve in the on-call Emergency Dean rotation, approximately eight weeks per year, one week at a time. The Emergency Dean handles most situations by phone but is occasionally called to the site of an emergency.
• Contribute to the development of policies, practices, and procedures brought forward for consideration.
• Conduct outreach to students, faculty, and staff, helping students build the knowledge and skills to function effectively in the university community, and helping faculty and staff better identify and support students in distress.
• Serve on Division of Student Affairs and university committees and at university events as needed, which may involve occasional after-hours activity.
• Complete the documentation and paperwork central to casework, using Maxient to send letters, record case notes, and process absence letters, and implement related Office of the Dean of Students processes.
• Maintain accurate, current knowledge of the campus resources, policies, and procedures most relevant to Illinois students, and articulate them clearly to constituents.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of the unit's mission.

Education:

• Master's degree in counseling, higher education, student personnel, or related field.

Experience:

• Three (3) to five (5) years of professional full-time work experience in higher education.
• Demonstrated proficiency in assisting students in crisis and/or who need high levels of support.
• Demonstrated experience providing case management services in a higher education setting.
  

Experience:

• Experience serving in an on-call emergency response team rotation.
• Experience working in student affairs.
• Experience working with database systems such as Maxient or Advocate.
• One (1) to two (2) years of experience serving on a multidisciplinary team charged with supporting students in distress, behavioral intervention, or threat assessment.

• Aptitude for creating and fostering positive, constructive work team environments.
• Ability to supervise, coach, and develop professional staff, including providing direction and performance feedback that support effective, consistent casework.
• High levels of professionalism and emotional maturity.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to communicate directly, clearly, and honestly.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to gather, sort, and convey the most essential and relevant information regarding emerging situations.
• Ability to respond calmly and effectively in crisis situations, including de-escalation, risk and threat assessment, and maintaining composure under pressure.
• Attention to detail, especially in documenting case notes.
• Knowledge of case management principles and practices, including assessing student needs, connecting students to appropriate campus and community resources, and coordinating and tracking support efforts.
• Ability to articulate thoughts/ideas clearly and concisely.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills.
• Proficiency with case management database systems (such as Maxient), including the ability to compile, analyze, and report data to inform decisions and assessment.
• Clear understanding of and ability to work within organizational roles and structure.
• Capacity to work with a minimum of direct supervision, balanced by the ability to recognize when consultation and/or notification of a supervisor is appropriate.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to assume responsibility for complex situations and to respond with flexibility.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities and competing demands while maintaining attention to detail and timeliness.
• High-level understanding of working with confidential and sensitive student information and issues.
• Capable of instilling confidence in students (families) and colleagues about one's grasp of policy and procedures, as well as the ability to manage complex situations.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective, cooperative/collaborative working relationships with a community of students (families), faculty, and staff.
• Ability to sustain high levels of engagement and commitment in doing work that focuses on a particular range of student-related issues.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple campus and community organizations.
• Ability to deliver effective presentations and training to a variety of audiences, conveying a topic clearly and in a way that resonates with each group.
• An understanding of legal and policy issues impacting higher education.