Posted: 20-May-23
Location: PA
Salary: Open
Internal Number: 495181
Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence and nondiscrimination in its educational program and employment practices and encourages candidates who will further advance the goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive community. As one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, Swarthmore College is global in outlook and draws students from around the nation and world. The 425‐acre campus is a designated arboretum, complete with gardens, rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails in the Crum Woods.
Who We Are:
We are a team that administers off-campus study experiences (domestic and international) as part of a new global engagement initiative at Swarthmore College, a small, selective liberal arts college. Our off-campus study mission is to encourage meaningful engagement with the world beyond Swarthmore for our students by providing access and support for high-quality educational opportunities across the globe. Our global engagement initiative is committed to develop and promote thoughtful, socially responsible global awareness and interactions through international cooperation, programs, projects and exchanges for all campus constituencies.
The opportunity:
The Director of Operations for the Office of Global Engagement Operations (DO) provides leadership and vision appropriate to Swarthmore’s mission and works collaboratively with the Executive Director (ED) of the Office of Global Engagement (OGE), the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Programs and Research, the Provost and Dean of the Faculty, and other administrative offices of the College, supports the goals of OGE, and formulates policies and procedures to achieve those goals.
The Director of Operations works with the Executive Director, the Assistant Director, and Study Abroad Advisor to counsel students regarding program content and receiving academic credit on their return and advises students on non-academic aspects of their participation, such as preparations for travel and living situations. The Director of Operations contributes to and manages the OGE and its services, including crisis and risk management; supervision of the Assistant Director and Study Abroad Advisor; and is a core member of the OGE Committee.
The Director of Operations has responsibility for program management, including Swarthmore programs, institutional affiliations, and exchange programs. The Director of Operations has responsibility for the budget for managing the OGE; and works cooperatively with a variety of administrative offices including Student Affairs, the Registrar, Financial Aid, Student Health and Wellness, Psychological and Counseling Services, and the International Risk Management Committee. The Director of Operations contributes to College initiatives for best practices for health, safety, and security of international travel and has the ability to be adaptive and navigate rapidly evolving situations, complex policy questions, and crisis management issues.
Essential Responsibilities
- Provides organizational leadership and management, collaboration, and administrative guidance to globally-engaged academic programs at the institution.
- Oversees financial/budget management for the functioning of the OGE, off-campus study programs, and enrollment management.
- Collaborates on program development, management, and evaluation and prepares budgets for faculty and staff site visits.
- Establishes practical and effective international health and safety standards, policies, and guidelines including for crisis and risk management for programs and activities.
- Monitors global events and proactively assesses and analyzes risk at locations worldwide to make recommendations on risk management protocols.
- Creates general and specific emergency plans, oversees emergency response, collaborates with other campus staff on emergency response training, and directly manages complex emergencies.
- Provides guidance and content for local training and pre-travel orientation programs.
- Evaluates insurance and risk management resources and communicates plans as needed to students, parents, faculty, staff, and senior administrators.
- Needs to be on-call for international emergencies.
- Advises students before, during, and after the off-campus experience utilizing knowledge of specific countries and programs (program details, application process, familiarity with the systems of higher education, culture, and health & safety issues).
- Develops and delivers orientations and related pre-departure and re-entry programming.
- Provides student support, including resolving student health and adjustment issues, academic issues, and other onsite concerns.
- Manages programs including Swarthmore programs, institutional affiliations, and exchange programs.
- Contributes to maintaining long standing relationships with off-campus programs and reports on costs and memoranda of understanding.
- Oversees marketing plans and outreach efforts and their costs.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Supervises the work of the Assistant Director and Study Abroad Advisor.
- Organize workflow and ensure employees understand their duties or delegated tasks.
- Manage time keeping, assuring accuracy and approving employee time. Use the Time and Attendance system to enter vacation time, sick time and approve time.
- Ensure staff have professional development plans in place. Provide and develop training opportunities for staff, such as retreats, attendance at conferences, webinars for the ongoing training and development of staff.
- Communicate key issues and information to staff members.
- Effectively performs the following:
- Provide fair, constructive, and timely feedback and coaching to staff to drive performance and work toward established goals developed during the annual performance assessment process.
- Follow disciplinary procedures as established in accordance with the employee handbook.
- Participate in supervisory training opportunities.
Who you are:
- You are an energetic professional with a high level of experience in supporting the operations of off-campus study and global engagement that will strengthen the College’s mission, goals, and objectives and encourage faculty and student interest and participation in global education.
- You promote diversity, equity, and inclusion principles in all aspects of global engagement and demonstrate cultural competencies in such issues as racial, religious, sexual, and gender identities.
- You exhibit ethical standards for dealing with confidentiality.
- You have mature judgment, excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to be a positive influence on the team.
- You have a proven ability to build effective and collaborative relationships with key campus partners to support off-campus study opportunities.
- You are flexible, show initiative, remain calm under pressure, and demonstrate excellent problem-solving, organizational, and project management skills.
- You have excellent written and oral communication skills.
- You are able to prioritize and attend to multiple projects at one time, pay close attention to detail, follow-up, and meet assigned deadlines.
What you bring:
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Minimum of 5 years increasingly responsible experience in study abroad administration with an emphasis on education abroad or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
- Knowledge of relevant federal, state, and international regulations.
- Ability to travel, including internationally, and has a valid passport.
- Knowledge of best practices in risk management, crisis response, experience in study abroad crisis and risk management, and ability to be on call for emergencies.
- Knowledge of education abroad process, policies, and program procedures.
- Able to research and articulate country-specific regulations.
- Knowledge of essential elements of pre-departure and re-entry programming for students.
- Knowledge of passport and visa regulations and requirements.
- Proficient with computer applications and programs associated with the position (including Experience with Terra Dotta software for education abroad, Microsoft Office suite, Google Drive) or willingness and ability to learn.
- Valid driver’s license to operate motor vehicle while performing essential job responsibilities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree
- Knowledge of general grade and credit conversion practices, financial aid regulations, and policies and federal regulations influencing the flow of students worldwide, highly desirable.
- Academic advising experience at the college level, desirable; experience with a liberal arts environment highly desirable.
- Knowledge of technology, social media, and data management techniques as it relates to study abroad.
- Able to gather and analyze information and present data; experience using statistical software (Excel Analysis ToolPak, SPSS).
- Knowledge of and experience with computerized survey data collection and tracking (e.g. SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics), as well as integration of survey data with files generated from other databases, desirable.
MVR Required by Position
Due to operating a College owned motor vehicle while performing essential job responsibilities for this position, a motor vehicle report (MVR) clearance is required prior to the start of employment.
What You Will Get:
You’ll work at one of the world's most renowned liberal arts Colleges, with incredible benefits, a stunning 420-acre campus and collaborative work environment. Come join a team of passionate, creative people who work hard and have fun supporting the College students, faculty, and staff.
If you are excited about this role, we want to hear from you! For full consideration, submit applications including resume and cover letter with pay expectations by June 9, 2023.
Notice to Applicants - Covid-19 Vaccination Requirement
Review the Swarthmore Benefits Guidebook, we offer benefit plans starting at zero cost! Upon benefit eligibility, the College contributes 10% of an employee’s salary to their retirement account. Employees are 100% vested in their accounts on the date participation begins.
Swarthmore College actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to a more inclusive society and world. Swarthmore College is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
