Professional Staff Recruitment and Selection 2015

Table of Contents Letter from the Director....................................3 Anticipated Openings..........................................4 About the Department.......................................6 Our Residential Facilities....................................8 Quality of Life.....................................................10 Application Process...........................................15

Dear Candidate: The Department of University Housing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is seeking enthusiastic, motivated and talented individuals to join our team as Community Directors. This position includes educational, supervisory and administrative functions to provide a residential environment reflective of the University’s mission and values and the Department’s learning goals. Our Community Directors play an integral role in developing our curricular approach to residential education.

SIUE is a major public university, offering a broad choice of degrees and programs ranging from career-oriented fields of study to the essential, more traditional, liberal arts. Approximately 14,000 students attend SIUE. Our students enjoy the excellent facilities of a young and growing campus, including the newly renovated Morris University Center, a state-of-theart Student Fitness Center that was recently expanded, a new Student Success Center and four residence halls built within the last 20 years.

Approximately 3,500 students live in University Housing. Cougar Village apartments are home to 1,500 single students and families and 2,000 students live in Bluff, Evergreen, Prairie,and Woodland Residence Halls. Our department is both dynamic and evolving. We are looking for candidates who will experience personal and professional growth from working in this type of environment and who will successfully contribute to the growth of our students and professional staff.

Edwardsville represents all the best of Midwest living. The city is perched in an ideal geographic location that allows it to simultaneously tap into all the amenities of an urban existence while still maintaining a predominantly small-town identity at its core. Although Edwardsville is the third-oldest city in Illinois, it is a thriving center of population growth and economic development. Bolstered by the presence of SIUE and the light of St. Louis arts and entertainment arcing across the river, Edwardsville provides residents with a vast web of recreational, dining and shopping possibilities.

SIUE is located about 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis, one of the oldest and richest cultural centers of the country, renowned for its symphony, opera, art museums, and conservatories for the arts. Because the University is part of a metropolitan area, students, faculty, and staff can experience the diversions of live theater, major league sporting events, a variety of civic organizations, amazing ethnic restaurants, diverse festivals, and upscale shopping.

Our staff enjoys the best of all worlds—a wooded campus in a suburban community, just a short drive from all the benefits of city living.

SIUE is conducting preliminary interviews via phone/Skype, at the Oshkosh Placement Exchange, at ACPA,TPE. Successful candidates will be invited to campus for a campus interview in late March or April. We plan to start making offers in early April.

I encourage you to visit our web site at www.siue.edu/housing for more information about our residence life program and about University Housing. Good luck with your search process.

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Antipated Openings Professional Staff Recruitment and Selection 2015 Community Community Director: Director: The Community Director is a full time, live-in professional staff member responsible for the daily operations of a 500-bed residence hall or a portion of an apartment community. The Community Director directly supervises 1 Graduate Assistant (Assistant Community Director) and 11-15 undergraduate Resident Assistants. The Community Director is charged with creating an atmosphere that promotes student learning, academic success, personal development, respect for diversity, and a strong sense of community. The Community Director plays an integral role in residential curriculum development and further growing the living-learning program housed in their community. On-call responsibilities shared for approximately 3,500 on-campus students.

Community Director: The Community Director is a full time, live-in professional staff member responsible for the daily operations of a 500-bed residence hall or a portion of an apartment community. The Community Director directly supervises 1 Graduate Assistant (Assistant Community Director) and 11-15 undergraduate Resident Assistants. The Community Director is charged with creating an atmosphere that promotes student learning, academic success, personal development, respect for diversity, and a strong sense of community. The Community Director plays an integral role in residential curriculum development and further growing the living-learning program housed in their community. On-call responsibilities shared for approximately 3,500 on-campus students.

Minimum of Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree in higher education administration, counseling, or college student personnel strongly preferred. Previous experience in student housing or related field of education strongly preferred.

Minimum of Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree in higher education administration, counseling, or college student personnel strongly preferred. Previous experience in student housing or related field of education strongly preferred.

Benefits Community Director benefits include: $29,841 per year (with Master’s degree), a furnished, two-bedroom apartment, partial meal plan, reserved staff parking, professional development funds, and generous vacation and sick leave. More information about SIUE benefits can be found here: http://www.siue.edu/ humanresources/benefits/index.shtml

Benefits Community Director benefits include: $29,841 per year (with Master’s degree), a furnished, two-bedroom apartment, partial meal plan, reserved staff parking, professional development funds, and generous vacation and sick leave. More information about SIUE benefits can be found here: http://www.siue.edu/ humanresources/benefits/index.shtml

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About the Department Mission Statement

University Housing is dedicated to fostering a quality living and learning environment.

Vision Statement

University Housing seeks to be a progressive organization that creates an engaging living and learning environment and will be recognized for providing quality customer services.

Diversity Statement

University Housing is committed to engaging students in educational experiences in an open, civil, and respectful climate that will prepare them for global citizenship and lifelong learning.

Educational Priority

University Housing fosters an environment that promotes opportunities for students to become civically, socially, and academically responsible individuals who are engaged members of their current and future communities.

Learning Goals

As a result of living in University Housing, students will understand: •

•

•

•

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Civility: To be a successful member of the SIUE community, students need the help of a network of caring people. In order to gain and keep social support, students need social skills. Civility expounds the essential skills that allow us to live well among others (Forni, 2003).

Sustainability: Sustainability is the ability to provide for the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (World Commis sion on Environment and Development, 1987). University Housing embraces the triple bottom line of sustainability: healthy environments social justice, and strong economies.

Academic Achievement: Students who thrive academically strive to embrace the 4-3-2-1 for mula for success: graduate in four (4) years; maintain at least a 3.0 (3) grade point average; spend at least two (2) hours of prep time for every credit hour enrolled; and engage in one (1) campus or civic activity.

Self-Awareness: Students will develop a realistic self-appraisal and self-understanding by explor ing personal attributes such as identity, strengths, and values. The Housing experience offers students opportunities to define who they are and the type of person they want to become.

Our Residential Facilities Bluff Hall, Prairie Hall and Woodland Hall each feature: • •

• •

500 first-year residents Suite style living; 2 persons sharing a bed room, 4 sharing a bathroom 3-4 Focused Interest Communities (FICs) 1 Community Director, 1 Asst. Community Director and 11 Resident Assistants

Cougar Village 400 Side Apartments feature: • •

• •

465 single students (including graduate students) and 101 family apartments 31 apartment buildings, 3-4 residents per apartment, including 12 Family Housing apartment buildings, Family Resource Center 1 Focused Interest Communities for upper-class Honors students (coming Fall 2015) 1 Community Director, 1 Asst. Community Director and 14 Resident Assistants

Cougar Village 500 Side Apartments feature: • • • •

952 upper-class students 31 apartment buildings, 3-4 residents per apartment 1 Focused Interest Community for transfer students 1 Community Director, 1 Asst. Community Director and 15 Resident Assistants

Evergreen Hall features: • •

•

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500 upper-class residents Apartment and suite-style living in a residence hall environment; students will be able to choose between various floor plans, most of which include private bedrooms 1 Community Director, 1 Asst. Community Director and 11 Resident Assistants

Quality of Life Where is Edwardsville, Illinois?

Edwardsville is located just 20 minutes northeast of St. Louis, MO. Lambert International Airport is just 30 minutes from campus. Many faculty and staff who work at SIUE live in St. Louis and commute across the river to campus. Our staff members enjoy the best of all worlds—a wooded campus in a suburban community, just a short drive from all the benefits of city living.

How often are live-in staff members on duty?

Twelve professional staff members share duty: 6 Community Directors and 6 Assistant Community Directors. Each individual is on duty approximately 2-3 times per month. However, two professional staff members are on duty during peak times such as Opening and Closing. While on duty, professional staff members are allowed to be off campus as long as they

What kind of administrative support will be available to me?

Each Housing community has a full-time administrative assistant. This individual assists with space change paperwork, key management, scheduling meetings, and clerical work.

What resources are availablle to help me stay balanced?

A caring supervisor committed to work-life harmony, a state of the art fitness center, miles and miles of Madison County Transit trails, generous vacation and sick leave with encouragement to actually use your vacation...the list goes on!

Is SIUE a smoke-free Campus?

Yes. In efforts to promote better health amoung our University community and to comply with state law, all Southern Illinois University Edweardsville campuses will be smoke free as of July 1, 2015.

Smoking will be prohibited in all University buildings, structures, grounds, parking areas, sidewalks and walkways on the campuses of Edwardsville, East St. Louis and Alton.

All tabacco products means, but is not limited to:

Is my apartment respected as my home?

University Housing views each professional staff apartment as home and our policies demonstrate a commitment to this philosophy. Full-time staff members may choose to have their apartment painted from a select pallet of colors. Outside of emergency situations, facilities staff will not enter your apartment without giving 24 hours’ notice. Full-time and graduate-level staff members are allowed to have one other person share their apartment with them (not including dependent children). However, the Director of Housing must approve this in advance. Full-time staff apartments have non-institutional furniture and get to pick out their furniture when it is time for a “refresh.”

What kind of professional development funds are available?

Each Community Director may attend one approved conference at no cost. Our staff members have attended a variety of conferences in the past including GLACUHO, NASPA, ACPA, the Living Learning Conference, and the Residential Curriculum Institute. (Some travel has been temporarily frozen as of November 2009 until further notice)

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• • • •

Cigarettes Cigars E Cigarettes All forms of smokeless tabacco

What is the campus climate like?

Some questions are harder to answer than others, but we hope this question will begin an open dialogue with our candidates. University Housing recognizes that every candidate is unique and we attempt to treat every candidate as an individual. Our goals is to provide all of our candidates with the information needed to make an informed decision about applying for a position with University Housing. We welcome questions about climate and about our institution’s strengths/challenges during the search process.

The SIUE campus climate is generally warm and welcoming; but our institution is not free of incidents of bias or intolerance. SIUE seeks to “nurture an open, harmonious, and hospitable climate that facilitates learning and work. Each member of the University is responsible for contributing to such a campus environment.”

What is the Edwardsville climate like?

Edwardsville is a typical Midwestern community about 20 miles from downtown St. Louis. The city’s location allows it to simultaneously tap into all the amenities of an urban existence while still maintaining a predominantly small-town identity at its core. St. Louis is one of the oldest and richest cultural centers of the country and offers the diversions of live theater, major league sporting events, a variety of civic organizations, amazing ethnic restaurants, diverse festivals, and upscale shopping.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Area has a very active Black Greek Letter Organization community; A 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine named Edwardsville third of their “Top 10 Best Towns for Families”; Edwardsville is close to Belleville, Fairview Heights, Florissant and other cities that offer numerous shops, salons, places of worship, and nightlife that cater to community members from diverse backgrounds; Here are some links to community websites to help you further assess the community climate and/or the availability of resources: The Glen Ed Chamber of Commerce http://www.edglenchamber.com The Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Community of Metropolitan St. Louis Metropolis St. Louis http://www.mstl.org/ River City Professionals Professional Organization of Women, Inc. Urban League Young Professionals of St. Louis http://www.ulyp-stl.org

Professional Involvement We are a progressive organization that encourages professional involvement. Here are just a few ways that our staff has given back to the student affairs profession: • • • • • • • • • • • •

ACUHO-I President ACPA Chair for the Commission for Housing and Residential Life ACPA Commission for Housing and Residential Life Directorate Body Member ACPA Standing Committee for Women Directorate Body Member GLACUHO committee members and committee chairs Residential Curriculum Institute Faculty, Planning Team, and Co-Chair St. Louis Area College Housing Association President ACPA Governing Board GLACUHO Secretary GLACUHO Treasurer ACPA Convention Program Chair Co-Chair of the ACPA Taskforce on Sustainability

Community Director Professional Development Benefits (as of Spring 2015): Each Community Director may attend one approved regional or national conference at no cost.

Community Directors s may be “sent” to other conferences at no cost. In addition to the traditional Student Affairs professional development opportunities, many campus offices and departments offer classes, lectures and workshops for professional staff.

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Our Staff Say it Best “University Housing’s residential curriculum is a national model and showcased each year at ACPA’s Residential Curriculum Institute. Our work is grounded in assessment and student development theory. Our residence life team members are committed to enhancing student learning and success and are challenged to use their graduate degrees on a daily basis.”

“I am part of a group of individuals who encourage my professional and personal growth and help me throughout the process. Each professional staff member is made to feel as if they are an integral part of the team. It is refreshing to feel that your opinions matter and reassuring to be a part of a group that is so dedicated to the success of its residents.”

“SIUE is a place where staff members are encouraged to utilize their strengths, explore their passions and create opportunities to grow and develop professionally. Working in such a student centric environment that encourages such a healthy work life balance has truly been a career changing experience for me.”

“I have been supported professionally and personally and consider myself fortunate to be staff at SIUE. This institution offers professionals an opportunity to create their own experiences. This department supports involvement in international, national, regional and local associations, departmental committees and initiatives.”

“I value that the University Housing staff reaches out to the surrounding community in a variety of ways (For example, Relay For Life, 100 Neediest Families, and Susan G. Komen and more) and sets a positive example for our students. We walk the talk when it comes to civility, social justice, and community service. “

Application Process

Preference will be given to candidates who apply by March 16, 2015. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Please submit a cover letter, resumee, and the names of three references via email to Kathleen Gardner, Associate Director of Residence Life kagardn@siue.edu Please submit all materials in PDF format.

This is a security sensitive position (those involving work with children, handling University funds or controlled substances, or working as security agents) and requires a criminal background investigation before an offer of appointment can be made.

As an affirmative action employer, SIUE offers equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, creed or religion, age, sex, national origin or disability.

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