What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Emerging Scholars Program position at Berea College?
JOB The Director of the Office of Emerging Scholars, housed within The NEST: Student Success Central, is a key leadership position and reports directly to the Executive Director of Student Success. This role provides strategic leadership, vision, and oversight for the financial, personnel, and operational management of the TRIO Student Support Services grant, ensuring compliance, effectiveness, and alignment with institutional student success goals. In addition, the Director maintains a caseload of students, leading them in at least one section of the First-Year Summit and providing direct support, advising, and engagement to promote persistence, academic achievement, and degree completion.
Following long-standing tradition and practice at Berea College, this position includes responsibility for supervising, mentoring, and developing students in the College's integrated Work College Program. This supports student learning, career readiness, and the program's learning goals and outcomes. The Work College Program provides a developmental framework that guides student learning while creating a structured mentorship opportunity, with role-specific training that equips faculty and staff mentors to support student development. Faculty and staff mentors play an essential part in helping students connect their work-learning-service experiences with broader academic, professional, and personal development. For faculty, this aligns with Berea's tenure and promotion criteria. EXAMPLE OF DUTIES To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Regular and predictable attendance is essential. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Other roles/duties will be assigned as necessary to assist the College in the attainment of the goals set forth and the enhancement of a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty and students.
Following long-standing tradition and practice at Berea College, this position includes responsibility for supervising, mentoring, and developing students in the College's integrated Work College Program. This supports student learning, career readiness, and the program's learning goals and outcomes. The Work College Program provides a developmental framework that guides student learning while creating a structured mentorship opportunity, with role-specific training that equips faculty and staff mentors to support student development. Faculty and staff mentors play an essential part in helping students connect their work-learning-service experiences with broader academic, professional, and personal development. For faculty, this aligns with Berea's tenure and promotion criteria. EXAMPLE OF DUTIES To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Regular and predictable attendance is essential. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Coordinate and supervise the design and delivery of academic activities and programs to Emerging Scholars participants
- Lead at least one section of the First-Year Summit
- Maintain a caseload of students and provide them with advising, direct support, and engagement to promote persistence, academic achievement, and degree completion
- Develop partnerships with faculty, staff, and departments
- Effectively manage relationships with all levels of College staff
- Handle multiple responsibilities and meet multiple deadlines in an organized and detailed fashion
- Maintain confidential information
- Communicate effectively with a wide range of individuals and constituencies
- Synthesize and analyze information and data to ensure continuous improvement of grant management and program delivery
- Develop, document, and implement standard procedures for completing advanced administrative tasks
- Design, document, and implement particular recruitment, identification, and selection plans
- Manage project timelines, priorities, and meet deadlines
- Supervise and train assigned staff including organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling work assignments
- Perform program assessments using both qualitative and quantitative data to draw conclusions based on outcomes
- Prepare comprehensive project reports for diverse audiences and purposes
- Work as a team member and foster a cooperative work environment
- Assume Labor supervision responsibility for the Emerging Scholars Program to build a dynamic "peer supplemental advising" structure in support of the goals and responsibilities of these areas.
- Ensure that student workers are trained consistently in College academic policies to support their work with their peers on satisfactory academic progression, curriculum planning, registration support, and other related needs.
Other roles/duties will be assigned as necessary to assist the College in the attainment of the goals set forth and the enhancement of a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty and students.