The Office of Civic Engagement and Social Justice (Lang CESJ) is situated within the Dean’s Office at Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts, and is dedicated to promoting, supporting and implementing purposeful community-based teaching, learning and engagement within a social justice framework at Lang, The New School and beyond. We facilitate the ways in which students and faculty can integrate ethical community engagement and social justice activism both inside and outside of the classroom. We invite our alumni and community partners to share needs that the college/university can support through our courses, collaborations, and programs. Civic engagement and social justice are not only legacies of our namesake Eugene M. Lang, but also ongoing practices within the teaching, learning and scholarship at our college.

The Associate Director reports to the Director of Civic Engagement and Social Justice and is a key member of the CESJ team, serving as a thought partner with the Director and a strategic collaborator with faculty and staff across the college and the university. Some evenings, weekends required.

The New School is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and particularly seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups, as well as candidates who share this commitment.

Overall responsibilities within the Office of Civic Engagement and Social Justice include but are not limited to:

Collaborate with the CESJ Director in developing annual goals and assessing office outcomes.
Advise ad-hoc Lang students dealing with identity development, navigating life, coping with campus climate concerns, struggling with academic demands, mentorship, etc.
Assist the CESJ Director with the Lang Social Justice Committee with duties ranging from recruitment to initiative launches.
Liaise and sustain strong relationships with offices and programs across the college and university related to civic engagement and social justice.

Additionally, the Associate Director is responsible for the following duties in several programmatic areas across the college and university:

CESJ Programs

The Associate Director is the lead for a number of on-going CESJ signature programs, particularly those for students, and collaborates closely with the CESJ Director and other members of the college on a variety of programming and initiatives including but not limited to:

Lead the design, facilitation, implementation, and evaluation of new and continuing Lang CESJ student programs and workshops focused on social justice centered learning and capacity building.
Lang Peer Connect program: recruiting, training, hiring and supervision of student workers; scheduling, conduct analysis of program and impact, anticipate growing program beyond current numbers.
Manage the CESJ Mini-Grant program: promotion of mini grants, support students in application process, serve on monthly application review committee and confirmation, manage payment requests.
Help to strategize and develop fundraising proposals for CESJ programming.

College-wide Strategic Initiatives

The Associate Director contributes to Lang College-wide initiatives that focus on civic engagement and social justice, particularly in order to help the college respond to and strengthen its social justice ethos and practice in college programs and policies.

Liaise and sustain strong relationships with offices and programs across the college and university related to civic engagement and social justice; serve on related committees as needed. Examples of existing community partnerships are with the Sanctuary Working Group, Parsons Scholars Program, HEOP, Student Leadership Initiatives, Office of Orientation and Transitions, Student Advocacy and Support, and Financial Aid.
Serve as the main point person to design and facilitate training sessions on Lang CESJ’s program offerings and intersectional social justice theory and practice for current and prospective students in a range of formal and informal settings including for First Year Fellows, Academic Fellows, First Year Writing, recruitment events, classroom visits, etc.
Key partner in developing and executing orientation in order to establish initial introduction to students social justice foundation at Lang.
Collaborate with the Director of the First Year Experience & Retention as well as the Director of First Year Writing on co-curricular goals for first year programming, and play an active role in all aspects of the First Year Fellows Program, which aims to provide a cohesive first year experience and support student retention.
First Year Experience including -First Year Fellows interview committee, orientation planning and co-facilitating during orientation weeks, admitted student days, etc.
Member of a small team focused on best practices for grant-making to students through Lang’s Engaged Learning Opportunities programs.
Collaboration and oversight to community grants initiative.

Office & Team Management

The Associate Director oversees the overall administrative support for the CESJ office, serving as the first point of contact for students, and alumni, and supervising the administrative office coordination responsibilities of the CESJ Graduate Assistants.

Oversee coordination of space/facilities requests and agreements for office meetings, Lang Peer-to-Peer Connect, student organizations, college/committee events, working closely with Associate Director of Communications & Events and Associate Director for Visibility and College-Wide Event Coordination as needed.
Supervise the administrative responsibilities of the CESJ Graduate Assistant such as maintaining the mini-grant submissions, creating and leading student focused programming, and coordinating assessment and data collection of CESJ programs.
Update CESJ website content.
Budget management and award payment processing with Director.
Supervise the newsletter and social media student workers- work with students to create schedule and ensure it is consistent with office mission and follows TNS guidelines and policies.
New School Debate Team public events scheduling support.
Create forms and structures to create ease within office culture, such as onboarding documents, password documents, how to’s for onboarding staff.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s Degree.
4+ years work experience within an office setting.
Demonstrated understanding and/or experience with the principles in the field of academic community engagement, community-campus partnerships and/or social justice activism.
Experience advising and mentoring individual students or cohorts of students.
Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects and competing priorities.
Outstanding interpersonal communication and facilitation skills including deep listening, public speaking, and professional writing.
Intercultural experience and comfort working with diverse groups of students, faculty and community organizations.
Facility in working both collaboratively and independently as part of a highly productive team.
Flexibility, sense of humor, and ability to adapt easily to shifting priorities and deadlines are necessary attributes for a successful candidate.
Proficiency in Microsoft, Google, and social media platforms.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Masters degree in related field.
Experience working within a liberal arts college and/or higher education context.
Curriculum and workshop design experience.
Experience or deep awareness of of Financial Aid processes and procedures within Higher Education.
Supervising and training student workers.

WORK MODE

Hybrid/Split: expected to be onsite 2-3 days per week; some weekends/evenings.

SALARY

$70,000 - $80,000 annually

We look forward to receiving your application!

The New School

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Associate Director for Civic Engagement & Social Justice

Associate Director for Civic Engagement & Social Justice