Associate Director of Residence Life

FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY (FVSU), a state and land-grant institution of the University System of Georgia, invites applications for the position of Associate Director of Residence Life.

Fort Valley State University, the only 1890 land-grant university in Georgia, is a comprehensive institution that provides an education to over 2,800 students including graduate students. The university is located in the town of Fort Valley in Peach County, the original site of the state's peach industry. Its 1,365-acre (5.52 km2) campus is Georgia's second-largest public university in area.

Fort Valley State University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate against applicants, students, or employees on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or marital or veteran status.

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the Director of Housing and Residence Life, the Associate Director of Residence Life serves as a member of the department's senior management team. They provide strategic leadership for residential operations across all communities, oversee and develop the Resident Director team, manage Resident Assistant recruitment and training programs, and integrate intramural and recreational activities into the residential experience.

This position shapes the environment and experiences of residential students by ensuring that best practices in student housing, student development theory, and community building are consistently implemented across all residence halls. The Associate Director serves as the Director's representative in the Director's absence, leads departmental initiatives, and serves as the senior escalation point for the residential on-call rotation.

This is a full-time, 12-month, exempt position. A live-on assignment may be offered based on departmental need and incumbent preference; however, live-on is not a condition of employment.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serves on behalf of the Director of Housing and Residence Life in their absence.
• Provides day-to-day operational leadership across residential communities.
• Implements and ensures adherence to all university, division, and departmental rules, policies, and procedures.
• Leads and serves on departmental and division-wide committees that advance student engagement, retention, and success.
• Participates in departmental marketing efforts, including Accepted Students Day, Open House, and similar recruitment activities.
• Meets regularly with the Director and other departmental leadership to prioritize supports, resources, and training across the residential portfolio.
• Directly supervises the Resident Director team, providing regular one-on-one meetings, formal and informal performance feedback, and annual evaluations.
• Designs and delivers a comprehensive Resident Director professional development program aligned with student development theory, supervisory best practices, and the department's strategic goals.
• Hosts weekly staff meetings to communicate priorities, discuss community concerns, and facilitate professional learning experiences tied to the goals of the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Housing & Residential Life.
• Coaches Resident Directors in their supervision of Resident Assistants and student staff, ensuring consistency in expectations, accountability, and feedback.
• Ensures Resident Directors are appropriately confronting and documenting student behavioral concerns and that resident assistant duty procedures are followed across all halls.
• Supports the career growth and succession planning of professional staff.
• Develops the resident assistant recruitment, selection, hiring, and onboarding framework, including continuous improvement of processes, rubrics, and timelines.
• Develops and oversees the annual and ongoing RA training curriculum, including in-service and end-of-year training, in collaboration with Resident Directors and university partners.
• Partners with the University's Campus Police and other offices to ensure resident assistants receive current safety, security, and emergency response training.
• Assesses RA training and selection outcomes and adjusts curriculum and processes based on data, student feedback, and departmental needs.
• Coordinates work-study, graduate assistant, and other student staff hiring frameworks supporting the residential program.
• Supports RD for Intramural Sports and Campus Recreation to embed intramural and recreational programming into the residential experience.
• Supports planning, promotion, and execution of intramural programs that connect residential communities and strengthen student engagement.
• Collaborates with campus partners to ensure recreational facilities and activities are accessible to and well utilized by residential students.
• Coaches Resident Directors and RA staff in integrating intramural and recreational themes into community development and the Residential Curriculum.
• Serves as the senior/backup on-call escalation point for the residential on-call rotation, providing leadership and guidance to Resident Directors during crises and complex incidents.
• Provides leadership during times of crisis in and adjacent to residence hall facilities and the broader campus community.
• Reviews incident reports and police reports (when available) for residential incidents and ensures appropriate follow-up and documentation.
• Oversees the creation, evaluation, and refinement of student emergency response and crisis management protocols.
• Partners with Campus Safety, Student Wellbeing and Development, and other offices on emergency response, threat assessment, and student conduct escalations.
• Collaborates with the Associate Director for Facilities Operations on facility inspections, cleanliness monitoring, and the implementation of housekeeping practices in coordination with maintenance and facilities partners.
• Manages escalated student concerns and complaints regarding FVSU Housing and ensures consistent enforcement of housing policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with the Associate Director for Business Operations to ensure consistent administration of student check-in, check-out, room change, room condition reporting, and damage billing processes through the Resident Director team.
• Maintains accurate records and prepares reports as needed.
• Collaborates with campus partners to strategically infuse their services throughout the Residential Curriculum, including but not limited to Campus Safety, Student Wellbeing and Development, the Student Engagement & Achievement (SEA) Center, Intramural Sports, and Dining Services.
• Works with faculty and staff stakeholders to support living/learning community themes and programmatic opportunities.
• Cultivates an engaging living environment that fosters a sense of belonging and connection across all residence halls.
• Creates and sustains continual assessment initiatives to ensure departmental goals and learning outcomes are being achieved.
• Utilizes institutional data and student feedback (focus groups, surveys) to inform program decisions and resource allocation.
• Reports outcomes to the Director and contributes to division-wide assessment efforts.
• Engages in ongoing professional development, training, and staff development activities to maintain competency in housing, student development, and supervisory practice.
• Participates in departmental and division-wide professional development activities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED BY THE POSITION

• Best practices in student housing, residence life, and student development theory.
• Supervisory practices, staff development, and performance management principles.
• Crisis management, student conduct, and Title IX-adjacent response protocols.
• Record-keeping and reporting techniques.
• Health and safety regulations and procedures.
• Banner, Maxient, StarRez, Roompact, and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Demonstrate understanding of, sensitivity to, and respect for the diverse academic, socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, disability, and sexual orientation of university students, faculty, and staff.
• Supervise, develop, coach, and evaluate professional staff.
• Lead complex initiatives across multiple stakeholder groups, including academic and student affairs partners.
• Plan, organize, coordinate, and supervise third-party vendors and campus partners.
• Implement and refine program policies and guidelines.
• Observe safety requirements and safe work practices and methods as required.
• Establish and maintain cooperative work relationships.
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
• Maintain records and prepare reports.
• Respond to crises and emergencies with sound judgment, composure, and decisiveness.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard.
• Vision to read various materials, including close and distant color vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Standing for extended periods.
• Bending at the waist, kneeling, or crouching.
• Regularly required to sit and/or stand, use hands and fingers, handle or feel objects, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear.
• Lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling objects up to 20 lbs.
• Occasionally lift 20 pounds overhead and 40 pounds from waist to shoulder.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Indoor and outdoor environment.
• May include travel to conduct work and attend professional development.
• Live-on assignment may be offered based on departmental need; live-on is not a condition of employment.
• Serves as the senior/backup escalation point in the residential on-call rotation, year-round.
• Noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in education, college student personnel, counseling, human development, or a related field.
• Three to five (3–5) years of progressively responsible experience in housing and residence life.
• Demonstrated experience supervising professional staff.
• Understanding of, sensitivity to, and respect for the diverse academic, socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, disability, and sexual orientation of university students, faculty, and staff.
• Strong administrative, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Post-master's experience in residence life within a four-year university setting.
• Experience designing and overseeing resident assistant recruitment, selection, and training programs.
• Experience collaborating with intramural sports, campus recreation, or living/learning programs.
• Experience adjudicating student conduct cases and utilizing case management systems such as Maxient.

USG Core Values Statement

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 26 institutions of higher education and learning, as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.