Associate Director, Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships

Position Title: Associate Director, Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowship

Reports to: Director, Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships

Classification: Exempt, full-time staff position

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites applications for the position of Associate Director in the Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships.

The University: The University of Tennessee is the state's flagship research institution, a campus of choice for outstanding undergraduates, and a premier graduate institution. Enrolling over 33,000 students, the campus is located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and beautiful East Tennessee. As a land-grant university, it is committed to excellence in learning, scholarship, and engagement. In all its activities, the university aims to advance the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate society. The university values intellectual curiosity, pursuit of knowledge, and academic freedom and integrity.

The Division: The Division of Student Success at UT works to engage each student scholar's experience by supporting their unique strengths and goals. It collaborates with UT faculty and staff to help each student scholar maximize their individual strengths and understand how their strengths contribute to their academic dreams, career paths, and personal well-being. As a member of Student Success, the center's mission is empowering student scholars to create and achieve career goals by providing comprehensive career education.

Position Summary: he Associate Director of URF collaborates with the Director to co-create and assess the overall strategy for scholar development in the domains of undergraduate research and fellowships. They will create year-long coaching, instructional, and operational plans to connect students with undergraduate research opportunities and to support students as they apply to nationally competitive awards (such as the Fulbright and the Rhodes Scholarships) while intentionally supporting the campus-wide Vol Edge program. This includes operational design, assessing results, policy and procedure monitoring, curriculum development, and direct coaching. Additionally, the Associate Director manages many of the nationally competitive awards campus processes; leads identification, support, and endorsement of candidates; and assists with the development of and collaboration with faculty committees. The Associate Director will also spearhead activities to further raise awareness of undergraduate research and nationally competitive awards among students, faculty, and staff. The Associate Director has direct supervision of two Assistant Directors who contribute to this effort. As assigned by the Director, the Associate Director will oversee data-driven program and process creation and improvement efforts across all OURF activities and report to various constituencies on the individual and cumulative student impacts of OURF activities, as well as hire and manage staff.

Position Responsibilities:

ADMINISTRATION AND OVERSIGHT

• Provide oversight of student development within undergraduate research and the competitive fellowships process, including supervision of the Assistant Director of Fellowships and the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research.

• Lead the design and assessment of instruction, coaching, and processes that support students as they compose candidate materials (fellowships) and seek/execute research positions (undergraduate research).

• Develop and maintain programming to support the Vol Edge program.

• Monitor performance and recommend various personnel actions including but not limited to hiring, merit increases, promotion, professional development, and vacation schedules.

• Provide training to staff on topics including strategic planning, goal setting, communication with faculty, and department policie

• Assist Director in facilitation of office leadership team to ensure most effective operations; analyze long-term impact of decisions and plans; and establish and evaluate standards of performance; affect changes in office policy in collaboration with Director.

STUDENT ADVISING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Provide guidance in the drafting of candidate materials (e.g., personal and project statements); review candidate materials and provide detailed feedback; and offer ongoing support to students in their efforts to see applications through to completion/submission. Associate Director will lead large campus application processes, such as Fulbright, and will lead other fellowships based on background and interests (to include STEM, language, or leadership focused awards).

• Lead campus interview/nomination committees, scheduling campus interviews and drafting endorsement/nomination materials as needed.

• Ensure timely submission of application packages, including appropriate correspondence with faculty to meet expectations and deadlines.

• Promote awareness of nationally competitive awards among students, faculty, and staff in order to broaden and diversify applicant pools. Examples of campus engagement include but are not limited to: organizing and leading general information sessions, workshops, and classroom and departmental visits; developing promotional materials; promoting internal awards; and representing URF through university committee work.

• Maintain detailed records of student meetings.

DATA MANAGEMENT

• Review current OURF data collection methods and evaluate them against best practices and the OURF strategic plan.

• Design, augment, or redirect data collection methods to best serve the office and demonstrate student development, student wellness, and student satisfaction while remaining consistent with the needs and preferences of the Division.

• Design and maintain appropriate venues for displaying collected data.

• Coach Assistant Directors to refine programming based on data.

• Determine areas on campus (colleges, departments, specific student populations) that need additional recruitment efforts and direct appropriate programming to address those needs.

COMMUNICATIONS AND EVENTS

• Serve as the OURF representative on the Division-wide communications and events team.

• Attend regular meetings and disseminate findings back to OURF.

• Write stories, press releases, newsletter entries, etc. to promote OURF and our students' successes.

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Qualifications:

Education

Required: Master's degree at time of hire.

Preferred: Doctoral degree.

Experience

Required: Significant relevant professional experience in an academic setting on a college/university campus. Examples of relevant professional experience include: teaching and/or research appointment on a college/university campus; fellowships advising; academic advising; advising and mentoring students in an honors program/college, TRiO program, writing center, and/or international education, service-learning, or undergraduate research unit. Alongside full-time professional experience, graduate assistantships in a relevant area noted above and postgraduate experience working, studying, teaching, or conducting research abroad, such as through a nationally competitive award (e.g., Fulbright), will be considered as part of a candidate's body of relevant professional experience.

Preferred: Five years of relevant professional experience. Experience studying, working, teaching, or conducting research abroad, whether as a student, recent graduate, or working professional. Experience conducting and presenting academic research. Experience writing literary, journalistic, or scholarly publications and/or successful grant applications. Significant experience working with high-achieving college students and with faculty. Significant supervisory experience preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Required:

• Able to effectively challenge and support high-achieving student

• Knowledge of multiple fellowships applications processes and the ability to create appropriate internal deadlines/processes to meet student development goals

• Superior skill in written communication

• Superior skill in the effective teaching of writing/interviewing

• Knowledge of experiential learning in a higher education context, such as fellowships advising (strongly preferred), international education, undergraduate research, service-learning, and internship

• Able to exercise sound judgment/discretion and work effectively 1-on-1 and in groups with diverse student, faculty, and staff population

• Knowledge of the diverse populations on a university campus and the various needs and issues presented by a diverse student population

• Able to work well and remain organized and composed under the pressure of national deadlines and high-volume times of year

• Public speaking skills necessary to present effectively to large audience

• Able to organize events/workshops for college student

• Knowledge of research methods of an academic field

• Able to take direction, initiate action, develop ideas, and work as a collaborative team member

Preferred:

• Knowledge of nationally competitive awards and current trends and issues in fellowships advising with a strong preference for STEM-based awards (Churchill, Goldwater, NSF REUs, NSF GRFP, Udall, Amgen, etc.) or language- and leadership-based awards (Boren, CLS, Truman, Fulbright Summer Institutes, etc.)

• Skills to leverage data and student success technologies in order to make informed, timely decision

Salary: Minimum salary $72,000 and accompanied by a university benefits package.

Start Date: This position will begin January 1, 2025.

Application Process: For full consideration, applicants must apply electronically through the TALEO SYSTEM including submission of cover letter, resume, and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of three references.