Campus Social worker | Equity and Community Supports Office

Campus Social Worker | full-time permanent (35 hours per week) | subject to probationary period

Established in 1789, the University of King’s College is Canada’s oldest chartered university and is associated with Dalhousie University. A small and extraordinarily lively academic community located in Halifax (Kjipuktuk), Nova Scotia, King’s is known nationally and internationally for its interdisciplinary programs in the humanities, including its first-year Foundation Year Program, its professional programs in journalism and its fine arts programs in creative writing.

King’s is a community in which students, faculty, alumni and staff work to bring greater understanding, creativity, and compassion to the world.

At King’s, we believe that students thrive in a campus culture that is safe, inclusive, equitable and responsive to the diverse needs of our community. Through our Office of Equity & Community Supports, this belief is translated in our work that leads the implementation of multiple strategies and policies that strengthen student wellbeing, safety and community care. We are advancing a university community where Indigenization, equity, safety, accessibility, student wellbeing and belonging are embedded in how we learn, work, interact and support one another.

Reporting to the Director of Equity and Community Supports, the Campus Social Worker provides direct social work support, stabilization support, case management, advocacy and systems navigation to King’s students experiencing mental health, personal, social, academic or other challenges that may affect their wellbeing and ability to participate fully in university life.

Working from a combination of trauma-informed, strengths-based, anti-oppressive, culturally responsive and harm-reduction approaches, the Campus Social Worker conducts biopsychosocial assessments, develops individualized support plans, coordinates care, responds to students experiencing crisis, and connects students with appropriate university, healthcare and community-based resources. As a member of the Office of Equity & Community Supports, the Campus Social Worker contributes to a coordinated model of student support that recognizes the relationships between mental health, disability, identity, belonging, safety, academic participation and the broader social determinants of wellbeing.

• participate in shared planning and coordinated service delivery by contributing social work expertise to portfolio priorities and lead projects that strengthen student wellbeing, access, belonging and institutional responsiveness
• provide direct social work support to students through assessment, short-term intervention, case management and wellbeing plans, client-centred advocacy, psychoeducation, resource navigation, referral and follow-up
• assess urgent wellbeing concerns, provide stabilization and safety planning, support transitions to and from hospital or community care and coordinate post-crisis follow-up
• maintain a diverse collection of referral options and facilitate referrals to appropriate services within King’s, Dalhousie University, the healthcare system and broader community services, providing students with the contextual information and practical support/advocacy needed to successfully access services
• support students with wellbeing concerns connected to neurodivergent needs, learning disabilities and related conditions, in accessing appropriate academic accommodations through the Accessibility Centre
• facilitate groups, workshops, resource campaigns and community-building initiatives that reduce isolation, normalize seeking help and respond to emerging student needs
• provide practical consultation to faculty, staff and student leaders…