Assistant Director for Civic Engagement/Coordinator, Freedom Schools

The Assistant Director for Civic Engagement & Coordinator of Freedom Schools is a full-time, 12 month Student Life professional within the Davidson College Center for Civic Engagement reporting to the Director of Civic Engagement & Bonner Scholars.

The Assistant Director coordinates the Brenda H. Tapia CDF Freedom Schools program at Davidson College serving as the Project Director. Developed by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), the program provides summer enrichment experiences for 50 youth in grades K-8. The program fosters a love of reading, increased self-esteem, and positive attitudes towards learning. Each year, six Davidson students receive training to serve as servant leader interns for the program, which is grounded in a model curriculum that includes five essential components: high quality academic enrichment; parent and family involvement; civic engagement and social action; intergenerational leadership development; and nutrition, health and mental health.

The AD provides oversight for the Federal Community Service Workstudy program, coordinating part-time engagement with established nonprofit partners for 20-30 students with financial aid allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses while positively impacting the community.

The Assistant Director plays a central role in coordinating events and programs in the center including a semi-annual granting program, collaborative programming across the division that focuses on the intersection of civic engagement and various social issues, and student group advising.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Program Oversight
  
  
  
  • Freedom Schools
    
    
    
    • Implement marketing to recruit primary and secondary school youth for the summer program.
    • Develop and maintain relationships with community partners. Obtain all necessary certifications and licenses to operate Freedom Schools at satellite locations during the summer.
    • Manage institutional and grant budgets for the Freedom School Program.
    • Coordinate logistics for summer program including catering arrangements, transportation for scholars, and enrichment events / programs.
    • Coordinate the arrangements for all related National CDF meetings and trainings at Alex Haley Farm for self, site coordinators, and servant leader interns. Maintain regular contact with Children's Defense Fund in Washington, DC and complete any required reports in timely manner.
    • Design, develop and implement assessment and evaluation plan that measure scholar learning outcomes, intern outcomes as well as program effectiveness in partnership with CDF office.
    • Communicate with program donors.
    • Recruit, Hire, Train and Supervise Freedom Schools summer staff (e.g., site coordinator (professional staff member) and 6 student servant leader interns), ensuring the implementation of the Children's Defense Fund program. Design, develop and implement local trainings for Servant Leader Interns which emphasizes social justice and the Children's Defense Fund's yearly themes. Develop daily inservice and debriefing sessions for servant leader interns while summer program is in session.
    
    
  • Federal Community Service Workstudy Program
    
    
    
    • Work with student employment, the Financial Aid Office and established nonprofit partners on the recruitment of qualified students into the program.
    • Maintain contracts with established community organizations.
    • Coordinate the training and enrichment activities for the program.
    • Track and report program hours.
    
    
  
  
• Programming & Event Coordination
  
  
  
  • Coordinate the center's semi-annual granting processes from start to finish including publicity, information sessions, and award deliberation.Coach student applicants in preparing grant proposals. Manage annual Projects for Peace Granting process. Coordinate annual donor dinner for granting program and develop an annual reflection publication for the event.
  • Plan and implement the center's annual campus-wide Orientation Community Engagement project in consultation with the Center for Civic Engagement team.
  • Coordinate the college's "Working with Minors" training and background check process for campus community members who plan to work with minors in a community capacity.
  • Coordinate programming to engage students with community partners such as Service Saturdays.
  • As appropriate, coordinate cross divisional programming that focuses on the intersection of civic engagement and social justice issues.
  
  
• Student Leader Advising / Leadership Development - In conjunction with other staff in the Center, advise service-based student organizations within the Civic Engagement Council (CEC), sustain relationships with related nonprofit organizations, assist the Director of Bonner Scholars with curriculum delivery, and participate as needed in first year service trips during spring break.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Master's degree in higher education, multicultural education, student affairs or related field is required.
• A minimum of 2 years related professional experience working with college students in the area of community engagement.
• Experience with program development and assessment.
• Ability to build relationships with a wide range of audiences including nonprofit partners, students, staff, faculty and families.
• Strong understanding of individual cultural history and willingness to be open and respectful of other cultures.
• Solid commitment to the success and well-being of youth.
• Strong communication skills.
• Appreciation for the role that liberal arts institutions play with the community.
• Familiarity with webtools and social media.

Application Process:

As a part of your application materials, a resume and cover letter are required. Information about how to submit the application documents can be found at https://employment.davidson.edu .

Davidson is a highly selective, nationally ranked, residential, four-year liberal arts college located in Davidson, North Carolina, close to the city of Charlotte. Davidson is strongly committed to achieving excellence and cultural diversity (https://www.davidson.edu/about/commitment-diversity-and-inclusion), and welcomes applications from women, members of minority groups, and others who would bring additional dimensions to the college's mission.

At Davidson College, we believe the college grows stronger by recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and staff committed to building an inclusive community. In order to achieve and sustain educational excellence, we seek to hire talented faculty and staff across the intersections of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, political perspectives, abilities, cultures, and national origins.