Director of Student Development; Student Programming Specialist

The Director of Student Development fosters holistic student‑athlete growth through leadership, service, and engagement initiatives that align with the mission, vision, and creed of the Excellence Academy.

• Supervises, trains, and evaluates staff, interns, and student employees.
• Participates in the Excellence Academy leadership team to determine how to meet department strategic goals and priorities.
• Oversees the Student Development unit, including budget management and staff hiring processes.
• Coordinates weekly staff meetings and collaborates with Compliance and other units to ensure effective program implementation.
• Serves as the primary advisor for the Student‑Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), student‑led groups, and mentorship programs.
• Maintains regular communication with coaches, staff, and campus partners regarding student‑athlete programming.
• Manages the Excellence Academy summer internship program.
• Contributes to the development of the Excellence Academy strategic plan, including programmatic, budgetary, and personnel decision‑making.
• Designs and implements initiatives mapped to specific educational outcomes that meet the needs of student‑athletes, staff, coaches, and the community.
• Partners with university departments to support campus‑wide programming, including leadership development and sexual violence prevention.
• Ensures strict adherence to all university and NCAA policies, particularly regarding the Policy Involving Children, donations, and extra benefits.
• Cultivates community partnerships to facilitate service projects and represent the department on relevant committees.
• Collaborates with the Office of Overseas Study to organize the "Coach for College" study abroad program.
• Plans and executes all major student‑athlete recognition events, including the Night of Excellence, Freshmen Induction, Welcome Back Tailgate, Scholastic Achievement ceremonies, and graduation celebrations.
• Manages the nomination and selection processes for all departmental, institutional, conference, and national student‑athlete awards.

• Develops and implements programs and initiatives geared at improving student engagement and involvement outcomes at the program, department/division, or campus level.
• Interfaces directly with students, attending student programming events and gathering satisfaction feedback from student participants to implement into future student programming initiatives and objectives.
• Collaborates with staff in own department and other departments, as well as academic and campus leaders, on shared student programming goals, often coordinating funding to sponsor student programs.
• Measures and evaluates effectiveness of student programs against projected outcomes; regularly prepares reports on impact to students and budget and presents to stakeholders on effectiveness and to secure funding for initiatives moving forward.
• Serves on committees and performs student programming research across the field of higher education and at peer institutions to identify and recommend best practices.
• Plans and coordinates communications and targeted outreach for student programming initiatives to ensure student participation and inclusion.
• Provides guidance to other Student Services positions Student Programming Specialists; makes process recommendations to manager for improved delivery of service.
• Analyzes effectiveness of current and past student programs, compiles trends, and makes recommendations on future offerings to leadership.

• Bachelor's degree in education, social work, public affairs, counseling, business, or related field.

• Master's degree in higher education student affairs or related field.

• 8 years in student services, higher education, or related field.

• Proficient communication skills.
• Maintains a high degree of professionalism.
• Demonstrates time management and priority setting skills.
• Demonstrates a high commitment to quality.
• Possesses flexibility to work in a fast paced, dynamic environment.
• Seeks to acquire knowledge in area of specialty.
• Highly thorough…