TITLE:  Program Coordinator, PASOS Network 

FLSA STATUS:  Exempt (Full Time; 12 months) 

DEPARTMENT: Mission and Ministry 

REPORTS TO: Director, PASOS Network 70% and Director, University Ministry 30%

JOB STATUS: Full-time Staff (37.50), On Site

 

PRIMARY PURPOSE/POSITION SUMMARY 
 

The Program Coordinator, PASOS Network integrates the University’s mission as a Catholic, Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and the four pillars of the Dominican Order by centering the ways of knowing and ministering, living and praying of those communities that have been historically minoritized in Catholic higher education, especially Latine communities. The Program Coordinator will provide leadership in the PASOS Network and University Ministry in order to help fulfill Dominican University’s strategic commitment to equity, justice, and inclusive excellence.

 

Along with the Director, PASOS Network and the University Ministry team, the Program Coordinator will participate in building Dominican University’s internal strengths in Latine theologies and ministries. The Program Director will cultivate relationships with committed practitioners nationally– ministers, theologians, university administrators and student leaders – to help build the PASOS Network. The successful candidate will work with the Director, PASOS Network, University Ministers, the Division of Mission and Ministry, and the Theology Department as a practitioner whose pastoral and intellectual gifts will amplify the gifts of our student body. 

 

This is a grant-funded position with an anticipated conclusion in December 2025. These grants are renewable.  

 

DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY  
  
Dominican University is a Catholic, comprehensive teaching university located in River Forest, Illinois. Dominican University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission as a baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degree-granting institution. It is highly regarded for its academic rigor and thoughtful accompaniment of students, its intentional affordability and values-based, relationship-centered learning environment. Dominican currently enrolls 3211 students, which includes 2136 undergraduates and 1075 graduate students. Sixty-six percent (66%) of our undergraduate students identify as Latinx, 5% are Black or African American, and 3% are Asian. Under-represented minority students make up 74% of the DU undergraduate enrollment and 41% of the graduate enrollment. Over 90 percent receive some type of financial aid. About half of all undergraduates are first-generation college students; half are federal Pell Grant recipients, illustrating their families’ level of income; and more than half are eligible for low-income MAP grants from the State of Illinois. Recognized since 2011 as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), a federal designation of the U.S. Department of Education, Dominican is committed to expanding and enhancing educational opportunities for Latinx students and all students from historically underrepresented groups.

 

THE PASOS NETWORK 
 
What is the PASOS Network?  

The PASOS Network is a community that emerges from the relationships, cultures, intellectual and theological frameworks of Latine and BIPOC young adults and those who have formed them. We constantly strive to root the ministry that we do at Dominican University, a Catholic, Hispanic-Serving Institution, in the community and cultural wealth of our Latine and BIPOC students. The PASOS Network emerges from this local reality and that of many other institutions like ours. We seek new ways of theologizing and ministering en conjunto. Our ministries support and form young adults as ecclesial agents, “the now of God.” To paraphrase St. Dominic, this kind of ‘soul care’ has an ultimate end of transforming Catholic higher education and the Church. 

 

What does the PASOS Network do? 

The PASOS Network fosters collegiality and creativity among faith-based institutions, especially those who are concerned with doing culturally sustaining work through practices that touch faith, justice and Catholic identity.  The PASOS Network does this through relationship building, ministry practices, and scholarship. 

 

What does PASOS stand for?  

The five key elements of this model are a reflection of the vernacular of the students we serve:   

• Pastoral – Enhancing culturally responsive/culturally sustaining ministry practices  
• Acompañamiento – Rooting our ministries in theologies of accompaniment   
• Study – Fostering connections between study and prayer through scholarship 
• Organizing – Strengthening collective power to create educational and ecclesial change
• Synodality – Journeying together as one Church 

 

EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL DOMINICAN EMPLOYEES 
 

To support the University’s mission: As a Sinsinawa-Dominican sponsored institution, Dominican University prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world. 

 

JOB COMPONENTS/ DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

 

1. ADMINISTRATION

• Assist in organizing and executing national and regional gatherings, both virtually and in-person, of campus ministry student leaders, professional staff, and university faculty and administrators to promote the expansion of culturally sustaining practices in collegiate campus ministry and undergraduate theological education within Catholic higher education and faith-based institutions; 
• Assist in maintaining a digital commons that will serve as a virtual plaza for sharing culturally sustaining practices, resources, scholarship, and opportunities in Latine ministries and graduate theological and ministerial formation;  
• Oversee the design and execution of Nepantla: Undergraduate Journal in Faith, Culture, and the Arts;
• Manage day to day operations of the PASOS Network, ensuring that the Network’s mission and values are implemented and maintained.

 

2.  EVENTS AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT  

• Design culturally responsive/culturally sustaining trainings for the University Ministry fellows and interns;
• Assist the University Ministry team in coordinating culturally responsive/culturally sustaining events that align with the daily lived experience of Latine people, their faith practices and epistemologies;
• Ensure that event details including communication, venues, presenters, travel arrangements, materials, food and refreshments, and technology are arranged and completed in an appropriate and timely manner;

 

3.   BUDGETS AND FINANCIAL

•  Assist in maintaining budgets and annual reports;

• Enter individual transactions and/or summary of transactions to the administrative assistant to the Division of Mission and Ministry and/or GrantCycle (Atlas), an online software;
•  Process transfers and charges of the PASOS Network, internally and externally.

 

4.  COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH   

• Develop coordinated and consistent marketing and brand correspondences and messages
• Utilize social media and networking as appropriate, i.e., LinkedIn;
• Review marketing trends to recommend future plans to increase participation and engagement in PASOS Network-related events.

 

5.  STRATEGIC PLANNING COLLABORATION   

• Participate in and contribute to the Division of Mission and Ministry;
• Contribute content for reports and proposals pertaining to philanthropic initiatives;
• In collaboration with the University Ministry team, create and maintain the Ministry Center and all virtual gathering spaces as places of welcome and belonging;
• Perform other duties as requested, delegated, or assigned.

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Familiarity with Roman Catholic theologies and histories, specifically those theologies that emerge from Latine communities in the United States 
• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor’s degree
• One year program/project administration or other relevant experience
• Effective interpersonal skills to develop collaborative working relationships across a diversity of racial and cultural backgrounds 

 

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 
 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

• Immersion in and ability to articulate the Catholic social traditions 
• One to three years of progressive experience in community organizing, community development, non-profit management, ministry and/or university education   
• Demonstrated ability to create and manage budgets 
• Strong communication skills both verbal and written, and excellent organizational skills 
• Ability to establish goals, and prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Ability to assist in coordinating and attending after hour programming
• Willingness and ability to travel and work varied hours as needed 
• Professional Spanish proficiency strongly preferred 
• Master’s degree preferred

 

Dominican University is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is dedicated to the goal of building an equity-centered faculty and staff committed to teaching, working, and learning in a multicultural environment. Dominican University believes that justice, equity, and inclusion are critical to our growth and development and seek to recruit, develop, and retain from a diverse pool of applicants who bring varied experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. If you need accommodations due to a disability, please contact us at hr@dom.edu for assistance.

 

A background screening is required. 

 

TO APPLY:   

 
Apply online at http://www.dom.edu/jobs. Applicants will be asked to submit a cover letter, CV and a list of three references.  References will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission.  Applications will be accepted immediately.