Associate Director, Residence Life Full Time

The Associate Director, Residence Life (ADRL), is a vital student affairs leader at the University of Victoria. As a student housing and community life professional, the ADRL has accountability for the strategic development, leadership, management, and assessment of the Residence Life department. The ADRL builds and leads teams of 125+ employees (professional and paraprofessional staff) in community life, education, student support, and student conduct.

Reporting to the Director, the ADRL utilizes grounded, contemporary theory, pedagogy, and professional standards in student housing and community life to develop and manage a comprehensive, leading, and vibrant program inclusive of living-learning communities, theme communities, and student cohorts. The program fosters student development, academic success, community engagement, personal growth and accountability, Indigenization and decolonization, leadership development, inclusion and belonging, and student care and support, with learning outcomes aligned to meet the goals, objectives, and strategic plans of Residence Services, Student Affairs, and the University (incl. Enrolment, Indigenous, Accessibility, and Equity Action Plans).

Objective

The ADRL creates, leads, and assesses the Residence Life organizational structure along with priorities and goals that support the development of students and communities. This is achieved through the delivery of exceptional programs, processes, supports, and services provided by the department’s teams, inclusive of effective student crisis and emergency response and associated issues management.

With assistance from their leadership team, the ADRL leads the portfolio’s talent, staffing, workplace culture, and performance, including the hiring, training, and development of student affairs professionals working in student housing and community life, along with overarching leadership of the department’s management of unionized professional employees and paraprofessional student staff.

Fundamental to the role’s success is the fostering and maintenance of critical working relationships and partnerships across institutional departments and faculties, key student groups and leaders, and with community partners and stakeholders. These connections are imperative for effective and nimble execution of critical incidents and department operations (i.e. crisis response, student conduct and accountability, community care, student support) and are also essential for the continued sustainability, responsiveness, and growth of programs and services.

As part of the senior leadership team within Residence Services, the ADRL works collaboratively with the Director and other departments on the overall operation and strategic direction of Residence Services. Additionally, the role provides leadership and participation in department on-call structures, emergency plans, and critical incident models, and delivery of expertise in preparation, management, and follow-up for crisis situations.

The ADRL manages a budget of $4.5M+ in labour and operating expenses, assesses and responds to budgetary impacts, and contributes to the development of the broader Residence Services budget.

Unusual Working Conditions

The ADRL engages with situations where students, their families, residence communities, or staff may be in distress. This can include those at risk of harm to self or others, students exhibiting concerning or adversarial behaviors requiring an immediate intervention, student death and suicide, physical and sexualized violence, and other high-risk situations that may involve law enforcement or emergency services. These situations can occur at any time and may cause significant mental stress, requiring a high degree of self-care and strong professional boundaries.

Residence Services is a 24/7 operation. Some peak operating periods require work outside of regular business hours. Additionally, given the involvement with on-call and issue escalation, the role will engage in situations with little notice and requiring an urgent response that occur at any time of day throughout the year. Responses may include independent decision making along with participation in departmental and institutional issue response coordination structures.

The successful leaders will bring to this position a master’s degree in a related field, such as student affairs, college student personnel, higher education, or public administration.

This position requires a minimum of five (5) years of progressive leadership and management experience in higher education (i.e. student housing and community life, student affairs, and ancillary services). Direct experience across the position’s operational areas (community life, education, conduct, support) is highly desirable.

An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities Include

• Demonstrated experience leading people and culture in a dynamic, unionized, post-secondary environment.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and belonging, and leading with principles of inclusion, equity, and respect in the work, community, and learning environments.
• Excellent administrative and organizational skills to manage diverse priorities, emergent situations, emergencies, and daily operations.
• Ability to prioritize objectives, align work with institutional and departmental priorities, and apply project management best practices for the timely achievement of project goals and outcomes.
• An adept communicator (written and verbal) with ability to adapt based on situation, purpose, medium, and audience.
• Ability to identify and analyze issues, develop solutions, and implement effective strategies to achieve desired outcomes, including exercising sound judgement during on-call and crisis situations.
• Experienced with managing department labour and operating budgets, including associated development, control measures, forecasting, and allocation processes.
• Skilled collaborator, with ability to be a trusted colleague, identify partnership opportunities, build relationships, and foster relationships for the ultimate goal of supporting the student experience in residence and the associate residence program.