Responsibilities and Duties
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, the Assistant Director for Student Outreach and Support serves as a primary point of student contact for students in distress and also supports faculty and staff who work with those students. As an administrator and student advocate, the Assistant Director has six primary responsibilities: co-coordinating the administrative oversight of the food insecurity and emergency grants program; supervision of at least one case manager(s); management of providing exceptional student-facing outreach and support services within a case management and triage model; administrative record keeping, systems management, and reporting; outreach, training, and education; and other responsibilities as needs arise.

 

The Assistant Director is responsible for the co-coordination of the food share program in conjunction with Transform Mid-Atlantic, The Office of Sustainability, and the Office of Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility. This position ensures regular acquisition of donations, initiation of purchases with approved vendors, regular rotation of available foods, and assessment of the program. The Assistant Director administers the emergency grants fund program from the creation and maintenance of online application(s), review of applications, coordination of selection processes, auditing, and notifications to awarded students and pertinent University offices. In addition, this position works collaboratively with the Student Government Association (SGA), the Office of Technology Services (OTS), and other offices on the Chromebook Loaner Program, SGA Emergency Fund, and other funds.

 

The Assistant Director supervises at least one full time masters-level case manager. This includes leading the recruitment, selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of the case manager(s). The program is growing, and we anticipate adding another case manager in the next phase of the growth model for Student Support and Outreach. The Assistant Director serves as a higher-level point of contact for referrals and will maintain a demanding case load with frequent and timely contact with students regarding their physical or mental health; family and interpersonal concerns; academic performance; bereavement procedures; medical absences; withdrawals; financial concerns, food insecurity matters; housing insecurity matters; and other social and educational adjustment matters. The Assistant Director engages in timely and regular communication with faculty, responds to questions around the management of student concerns and the CARE Team and BIT Team processes, coordinates care and action around students of concern and engages in direct referral and follow ups, as appropriate, with the Office of Student Conduct and Civility Education, the Counseling Center, Housing and Residence Life, Accessibility and Disability Services, the Provost’s Office, Academic Standards, Inclusion and Institutional Equity, the Student & University Billing Office, Financial Aid, Towson University Police, and other offices, as needed.

 

Under the direction of the Associate Vice President, the Assistant Director will prepare the weekly Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) and CARE Team Agenda and maintain relevant meeting notes. The Assistant Director assists in the coordination and assignment of case referrals within a tiered triage and referral system. They are responsible for keeping accurate records of interactions with students in a confidential database, coordinating care and support services with other campus organizations, responding to parent / family calls, engaging in initial risk assessments and referring for further evaluations as needed, and providing general information on processes used in managing student concerns and the CARE Team.

 

Routine administrative tasks also include providing leadership in the absence of the Associate Vice President, responding to urgent emails quickly and other emails within 24-48 hours; completing monthly, quarterly, and annual reports; analysis of student referral trends and behavioral indicators; engaging in tracking interventions, services, and instances of outreach; and development of expertise of pertinent university databases and software platforms including Symplicity Advocate, Maxient, MS Office Suite, CCM Advising, PeopleSoft, and other software platforms.

 

This position assists in the training and regular acquisition and development of clinical tools, templates, processes, and protocols; daily monitoring of email and voicemail inbox; carefully documents communications in the database; and engages in frequent presentations to faculty, staff, parents, students, and other members of the University community related to student wellness, case management services, and overall student support services.

 

Works collaboratively with the case management team to: build and maintain collaborative professional relationships with community mental health care agencies, local hospitals and private practitioners; develops and distributes appropriate marketing materials; engages in informal and formal assessment, policy development; creates and participates in awareness campaigns; creates and contributes to newsletters and social media accounts; actively applies and pursues grant opportunities; participates on the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) as needed; participates fully in major University programming and programming sponsored by The Division of Student Affairs including, but not limited to, New Student Orientation, Family Weekend, and Commencement; and other duties as assigned. Serve and participate on approved departmental and/or university committees and other duties as assigned.

Telework may be available for this position up to two days per week following the completion of 90 days of service in good standing.

Qualifications and Skills
Required:

• Master's degree in Higher Education, Student Personnel, Counseling, Conflict Resolution, Social Work, or other related field.
• Five years of related experience.
• Demonstrate proficiency in working with persons in distress, a commitment to student advocacy, experience in supporting student success and retention, experience in working with diverse student populations, demonstrated administrative and organizational skills, excellent communication skills, and ability to quickly respond to emerging matters and crises. 
• Demonstrated ability to develop policy, engage in benchmarking, and developing protocols that facilitate student support services.
• Experience performing and/or overseeing a high volume of case management activities, preferably in an educational setting.
• Demonstrated knowledge of online student tracking systems and database management.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to quickly synthesize information from a variety of sources in order to make informed recommendations for the best welfare of the students.
• Knowledge of current case management trends and literature.
• Demonstrate intercultural competence and the ability to successfully work with diverse constituencies.
• Experience working with students with complex needs and/or limited participation.
• Ability to exercise sound critical thinking and problem-solving skills and execute position responsibilities with minimal guidance.
• Demonstrate ability to secure and, when appropriate, effectively communicate private and confidential information. 
• Maintain a positive working relationship and follow direction from members of the case management team and Dean of Students Leadership Team.    
• Ensure and engage in state and federal reporting including but not limited to child abuse, sexual misconduct and other Clery reportable violations.

 

Preferred:

• Experience working with college aged students.
• Experience working in crisis situations.
• Experience using Symplicity Advocate, Maxient, and PeopleSoft.
• Three to five years of fulltime experience in higher education or closely related setting; experience managing response to crisis situations; experience working as part of case management support team and experience navigating complex, decentralized environments.

Organization: Student Affairs Division
Job Posting: Sep 21, 2022