Assistant Director Residence Life – Housing and Summer Programs

MISSION

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.

Before applying for this role, please read the following information about this opportunity found below.

We Offer a Competitive, Comprehensive Benefits Package

• Generous paid time off
• Paid holidays (up to 14 days)
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Generous parental, caregiver, and medical leave benefits
• Competitive retirement plan
• Tuition remission and Tuition Exchange Program
• Great employee discounts
• Complimentary general admission to participating cultural institutions

Salary Grade 7

About The Department

Residence Life provides a living-learning community in well maintained downtown facilities designed for the student artist.

Student and Professional staff engage in community development, offer fun & educational events and programs, connect students with campus resources and provide 24hr on call support.

About The Position

Provide supervision and direction to the Housing & Residence Life Coordinator, Graduate Assistants, and Student Assistants who are responsible for the housing contract, assignments, billing, and central office reception.

Manages all aspects of Academic Year and Summer housing processes, including management of contracts, prepayments, assignments, billing and communication with students.

Manage all aspects of residence hall summer housing program, management of all marketing efforts, projection and oversight of summer income including direct management of daily reconciliation, communication to all summer populations, and assignment and billing of summer populations.

Administer residence hall housing database and coordinate with other offices to ensure the most effective use of the database.

Serve as quality control management over delivery of service to students and others. Pulls, compiles, and synthesizes weekly occupancy reports based on enrollment and housing data.

Provide facility oversight of cleaning schedules and repair / replacement schedules; Monitors and reports on building operation concerns and contributes to the long-term improvements and construction plans of the residence halls.

Serves in on-call duty rotation. Extensive evening and weekend commitments should be expected.

Responsibilities

Staff Supervision Supervise and provide leadership for one Housing and Residence Life Coordinator professional staff member, Graduate Assistants and Student Assistants.

Communicate expectations and monitor work processes. Provide on-going direction & feedback about performance through weekly 1 : 1 meetings.

Evaluate performance, including conducting performance evaluation, to ensure they are equipped to perform their roles effectively and efficiently and attend to their professional development.

Assist in recruitment and hiring of direct reports, including reviewing applicant materials, conducting candidate interviews, and offering recommendations for hiring.

Administer Housing Database Administer and manage the Housing Database (RMS / Mercury), the online housing system, assignment and billing of students, interns, and guests for the Fall, Spring, and Summer Terms.

Provide leadership in the administration of the housing database; develop strategies for more efficient use of our housing database and other technology.

Work within Residence Life and with other departments (i.e. Accounting, International Student Affairs, and Registrar,) in order to provide accurate and timely information on bills, applications, occupancy, etc.

Housing Processes : Academic Year & Summer Manage marketing and promotion efforts; online housing process for new and returning students;

room assignments; and Housing Renewal process. Ensure effective communication with students throughout their respective housing processes.

Work closely with Admissions Staff to ensure constant feedback on the status of housing contracts and assignments during the Fall and Spring admissions process.

Manage marketing and promotion efforts for summer interns, SAIC students and Continuing Studies; online housing processes;

and room assignments. Ensure effective communication with constituents throughout their respective housing processes. Oversee all communication with Early College Program students, Continuing Studies guests, interns and conference groups, including mailings and e-mails via our Housing Database, Welcome Letters, etc.

Billing Directly responsible for all residence hall billing issues, including coordination with Student Financial Services and Fiscal Office to ensure residence hall billing information is received in a timely and accurate manner.

Provide reconciliation of General Ledger with the accuracy of such charges.

Provide Facility Support Establish cleaning schedules, preventative maintenance schedules, and other facility project schedules such as schedules for replacement and repair in rooms.

Work with IRFM (maintenance) to create and implement a preventative maintenance schedule and cleaning plan.

Manage Occupancy / Reporting Oversee accurate weekly occupancy statistics for residence halls, and provide comparisons to previous years, as well as the budgeted expectations.

Provide reporting on a variety of issues concerning housing such as residence hall rate comparisons, historical data regarding summer housing, demographic data on residence hall occupants, etc.

use data to make predictive analysis for future housing needs, identify current occupancy trends.

• On-call Responsibility & Student Support Participate in 24-hour on-call rotation with other live-in professional staff colleagues;
• recognize that residence halls are open 365 days / year and therefore being on-call during holidays should be expected; respond to student and / or facilities issues / crises in person 24-hours a day;
• high level of in-person response to mental health concerns, other student support situations should be expected; professional staff may be asked to respond to the hospital if a student is transported via ambulance;
• consistent communication with Dean On-Call during crisis / emergency situations; maintain accurate incident reports using Symplicity Advocate Software;

work with Residence Life and Student Affairs team to respond to critical incidents on campus; work with other departments including IRFM, Campus Security, Wellness Center, and others to provide appropriate response to crises.

Identify personal and emotional concerns of students; provide appropriate resources and referrals; track and monitor student issues using Symplicity database;

maintain contact with parents and other constituencies as appropriate.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Participate and assist in DEI initiatives within SAIC including programming and training.

Ensure all initiatives within area respond to the needs of a diverse student body.

• Manage Residence Hall Move In / Move Out Coordinate all move-in and move-out processes. Management will include developing a logistics plan and communicating with residents, residence hall staff, other departments (Security, Operations, etc.) about their role.
• Off campus Housing Provide ongoing services for students looking for off-campus housing including online tools, programming, and one on one meetings.
• Quality Service Work with the Associate Dean to provide quality service to all internal and external constituents at SAIC.

Manages, both directly and indirectly, that email & phone calls to Residence Life; Ensure they are responded to accurately and in a timely manner.

Quality service includes responding in a prompt and professional manner to all student or guest concerns as well as working with others at SAIC to provide assistance when needed.

Quality service also includes setting a high standard of service for all full-time staff and student staff, training that staff appropriately, and holding that staff accountable to this standard.

Live-in Position This is a 12-month, live-in position; weekend and evening commitments should be expected; assist on-call staff as needed for student and / or facilities issues / crises (e.

g., fire alarms, flooding, multiple student issues, etc.); allowed one weekend away each month (to be approved by supervisor).

• Liaison with other Departments Serve as liaison with other departments and offices on campus including : Campus Security, Instructional Resources and Facilities Management (IRFM), President’s Office, Office of Student Affairs, Health Services, Counseling Services, Academic Advising, Information Services, IT, Admissions.
• Assist with Residence Life & Office of Student Affairs Programs Assist with departmental programs and events such as RA Selection, RA training;

Assist with OSA departmental programs such as Halloween Ball, Holiday Art Sale, Spring Art Sale, Leadership Dinner; serve on school committees and various work groups as assigned.

Student Success Provide leadership and oversight toward the goal of overall student retention. Provide individualized care to address student concerns within Residence Life, and work to eliminate barriers to retention.

Utilize resources at your disposal through other departments, such as Student Financial Services, Academic Advising, Contemporary Practices, Counseling Services, and Health Services to provide a coordinated response to student needs.

Other duties as assigned.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer;
• Walk to other buildings on campus for meetings and programs; occasional standing requirements include facilitating programs, move-in and move-out, orientation and other large-scale events;
• Occasionally moves about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a copy machine and printer.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s Degree strongly preferred
• Minimum two years professional experience in higher education, property management, or related field
• Effective communication skills
• Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to work with diverse populations, including multicultural experience, cross-cultural communication skills and the ability to create and promote an inclusive community
• Demonstrated collegiality and leadership ability
• Student-focused candidate with experience supervising staff (paraprofessional or professional), developing community, advising student groups, working with other student affairs offices, or promoting student learning in a residence hall setting
• Basic understanding of mental health and mental health support
• Skills in crisis management, counseling, mediation, student referrals and understanding of working with artists
• Strong written and verbal skills. Ability to effectively communicate in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize work.
• Be a self-starter with a demonstrated ability to plan, organize and prioritize strategies and tasks in an independent way.
• Exhibit strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community

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 apply [email protected].

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