Director of Student Affairs

The mission of Mount Tamalpais College is to provide an intellectually rigorous, inclusive Associate of Arts degree program and college preparatory program, free of charge, to people at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; to expand access to quality higher education for incarcerated people; and to foster the values of equity, civic engagement, independence of thought, and freedom of expression. Mount Tamalpais College is a national leader in providing quality higher education opportunities to incarcerated people and in expanding access to higher education within California’s prison system and nationwide.

In recognition of our work, the organization was awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal by President Obama.

The Director of Student Affairs leads Mount Tamalpais College’s nonacademic student support functions, including student affairs, student support counseling, learning support, career support, alumni support, and reentry resource navigation, and directly supervises the Learning Specialist and Alumni Affairs Associate.

This position develops and maintains systems that support student wellbeing, belonging, access to resources, connection to the College, and continuity of support, from new student onboarding through enrollment, release, transfer from San Quentin, and alumni engagement.

The Director of Student Affairs leads the College’s delivery of non-clinical student support counseling and case coordination. This includes: meeting directly with students; helping students navigate personal, institutional, interpersonal, reentry-related, and prison-related barriers; coordinating referrals to appropriate MTC staff and relevant support services; documenting, triaging, and tracking student concerns within the scope of Student Affairs, and routing other issues to the appropriate MTC staff;

managing special student support challenges, including student conduct concerns or other complex situations requiring careful judgment, sensitivity, strong interpersonal communication skills, and meticulous coordination and tracking.

This role requires excellent interpersonal, analytical, and supervisory skills, discretion, cultural humility, clear professional boundaries, and the ability to work directly with students in moments of stress, confusion, conflict, transition, or crisis.

The Director of Student Affairs must be able to provide a high level of non-clinical support while also recognizing the limits of the College’s role and making appropriate referrals when student needs fall outside the scope of the College’s capacities or mandate.

The Director of Student Affairs ordinarily spends up to one-third of their time inside the prison and the rest of their time working remotely or at the Mount Tamalpais College office in San Rafael. On prison escort days, the position is physically active, including escorting faculty a half mile through the prison to the Education area and between different classroom areas and remaining in the prison for a three-hour shift.

The position also requires regularly lifting up to 15 lbs. Work hours may include at least two evenings per week and some Sundays inside San Quentin.

• Lead Mount Tamalpais College’s Student Affairs function, including systems and services that support student wellbeing, belonging, access to resources, connection to the College, and continuity of support.
• Develop, implement, and improve Student Affairs systems in collaboration with the Chief Academic Officer, Registrar and Director of Academic Advising, academic directors, Senior Program Administrator, and other staff.
• Create and maintain systems for documenting, triaging, referring, and following up on student concerns, support needs, conduct concerns, and patterns of…