Director of Student Support

Sullivan Center
36 S Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60603, USA

For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top four graduate fine arts programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman.

We offer a competitive, comprehensive benefits package:

1. Generous paid time off
2. Paid holidays (up to 14 days)
3. Medical, dental, and vision insurance
4. Generous parental, caregiver, and medical leave benefits
5. Tuition remission and Tuition Exchange Program
6. Great employee discounts
7. Complimentary general admission to participating cultural institutions

ABOUT THE POSITION:

The Director of Student Support will serve as the Lead Case Manager in the Office of Student Affairs for individual students in distress and students experiencing acute mental health concerns. Assist the student affairs team in coordinating the needs of students who present complex problems/concerns in areas including but not limited to: academic, health and wellness, psychological, economic, conduct, family relationships and social adjustments through appropriate interventions, referrals and follow up services. Liaise with families, outside providers and other individuals in a student’s support network to provide support with these problems and concerns. When appropriate, proactively contact parents and others to assist students. Develop and revise policies and protocols (for final approval by the Dean of Student Life, VP and Associate General Counsel) related to Case Management and Student Support.

The Director will facilitate the weekly Student Support Team Meetings, including: preparing the agenda for the meeting, updating individual student entries based on the meeting, and developing on-going reporting. Provide training for Mental Health First Aid and other wellness and protocol training for faculty, students and staff. Develop and implement training for Student Affairs staff related to providing student support and policies and protocols. Develop and update the system for on-line care reporting through Symplicity. Develop and implement marketing and outreach (e.g. web, social media, and print) to increase on-campus awareness of student support. Assist with education programming related to Wellness, including sexual health and substances. Serve as the primary administrator for the Symplicity Database Care Manager, assisting SAIC in fully realizing its potential. This individual will be an expert in Case Management and its impact on student success and retention. The Director will serve on committees as appropriate. The Director will serve in the Deans on Call rotation (apx. 1 day a week and 2-3 weeks per semester - including holidays). They will also assist with school-wide events such as Orientation, Family Weekend and Graduation, and some evening and weekend commitments are to be expected.

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Serve as the Lead Case Manager in OSA – Assist individual students who have problems/concerns in areas including but not limited to: academic, health and wellness, psychological, economic, conduct, family relationships and social adjustments through appropriate interventions, referrals and follow up services. Assist students and their families in navigating SAIC’s policies and procedures. Identify students at risk, connect students to resources, liaison with appropriate campus support (e.g. Dean of Student Life and Associate Deans of Student Affairs and the Wellness Center), collaborate with departments to provide support (e.g. Residence Life), and make parental/emergency contact as needed. Provide direction for the OSA Student Support Team on their response to supporting students in crises. Liaise with academic departments, Student Services and other Student Affairs offices. Consistently exercise good judgment and professionalism when working with students and colleagues.
2. Student Support Team – review all Student Support updates submitted by staff, consulting with the Dean and Assistant/Associate Deans to ensure timely and appropriate responses to student concerns. Facilitate the weekly SST meeting including: preparing the agenda for the meeting, updating individual student entries based on the meeting, and developing on-going reporting. Develop and recommend for approval policies and procedures related to student response, follow-up and reporting.
3. Reporting and Technology – serve as the primary facilitator/manager of the Symplicity Database Care System to track student concerns. Liaison with the company, work with users to develop and refine the systems, data reporting, procedures, and techniques. Implement the on-line “Care Report” system for the community and develop protocols on how to market and respond to the reports. Consistently review methods of improving the system. Review methods of integrating the other systems (Class Progress Reports, Advising Tracking, Student Conduct, and Class Absence Reporting) with Symplicity. Train users on Symplicity and solicit feedback on how to improve our systems. Become familiar with and utilize Peoplesoft and Excel to support individual students and to develop robust reporting systems.
4. Programming, Training, and Outreach – Serve as a trainer for the Mental Health First Aid program, providing information and training to OSA staff, faculty, staff, RA’s and students. Develop and revise materials for students, faculty and staff to provide them the information to identify, report and respond to students in distress. Provide training to OSA staff to ensure they are familiar with and able to implement SAIC policies and procedures related to Student Support. Utilize the web, portal, email, paper, Symplicity and in-person contact with the community to increase awareness of working with students in distress. Provide overall wellness programming, such as therapy dogs and colors and connections, to the student community. Possibly work with students to develop a committee to work on such programming.
5. Advising- Possess knowledge of academic advising processes and guidelines in order to effectively refer students for appropriate advising. Advise students individually on personal, health, financial, and academic issues related to their overall experience and satisfaction. Refer students to a strong network of support services, such as Health Services, Counseling Services, the Disability and Learning Resource Center, the Writing Center, International Affairs, Student Financial Services, Registration and Records, Academic Departments, etc.
6. Policy and Protocol Development /Compliance/Legal Issues– under the direction of the Dean of Student Life and in collaboration with appropriate SAIC/AIC departments, including the General Counsel’s Office, develop and revise policies related to student support and crises, including but not limited to: student crises protocols, Leave of Absence (including Involuntary Withdrawal) policies. Assist with maintaining compliance with federal and state laws and policies, such as FERPA, Clery and others. Consult with the Dean of Student Life to assist in managing risk.
7. Retention and Student Success- Assist in the development of a plan to improve student success, specifically for students in our student support network. Coordinate intervention for at-risk students and retention outreach; assist with student issues as appropriate. Take the lead in developing and offering student wellness programs, e.g. therapy dogs.
8. Collaboration- Consistently and effectively collaborates with multiple groups and individuals on campus to provide students with the appropriate amount of support. Works very closely with the Wellness Center Care manager to ensure follow through and successful reintegration into the SAIC community.
9. Communication- Maintain regular contact with appropriate resources to ensure the effective collaboration between staff and faculty involved in student support. Communicate student issues and crises to OSA staff as appropriate. Coordinate with various departments such as Health Services, Counseling Services, the Disability and Learning Resources Center, the Writing Center, International Affairs, Student Financial Services, Registration and Records, Academic Departments to support students with a wide range of personal and academic concerns.
10. Assessment and Analytics - Work with the Dean of Student Life to assess the effectiveness of the student support role. Collaborates with other staff - Residence Life, DOCs, etc. - to demonstrate the positive outcomes for students. Develop learning outcomes that can be measured to assess how the Student Support model supports student learning.
11. Committee/School Involvement - Serve as a Student Affairs representative on campus committees as appropriate.
12. Deans on Call Rotation - Serve in the Dean On Call rotation to provide 24-hour support for students, Residence Life Professional Staff and faculty and staff who need assistance with urgent student issues and crises. Be on call approximately once a week as daytime dean (DDOC) and 2-3 times per semester as Dean on Call (DOC) in a weeklong shift covering evenings and weekends.
13. Departmental Initiatives and Programs - Provide assistance with OSA departmental functions such as Orientation, Graduation, and Family Weekend. Evening and weekend commitments may be expected.
14. Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Bachelor’s degree with 5 years of experience in counseling, social work, or in higher education required
2. OR Masters with 1 year of experience required
3. Experience serving in an on-call rotation is highly preferred.
4. Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills required.
5. Experience in supporting individuals in crisis (preferable in a higher education setting) as well as experience exercising sound judgment and managing complex crisis situations.
6. Skills in working effectively with parents/families, and providers of students is required.
7. Work with college students who have experienced hospitalizations and residential experiences is highly preferred.
8. Experience in working with art and design students is preferred.
9. Knowledge of student development theory preferred.
10. Successful candidate is likely to have computer experience with Symplicity, Microsoft Office, MS Excel and Peoplesoft.

CLOSING STATEMENT

The Art Institute of Chicago is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits, hires and promotes qualified individuals without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, veteran status or citizenship. The Institute complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact the Department of Human Resources at

UNION INFO

This position is part of a bargaining unit represented by AFSCME Council 31.