The Position

Reporting to the provost, the Director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) provides leadership and vision for civic engagement at Kalamazoo College by promoting, developing, managing, funding, evaluating, and providing both long-term and day-to-day direction for academic and co-curricular civic initiatives that are sustainable, reciprocal, effective, and of the highest quality.

As leader for strategic, operational, and programmatic decision-making with regard to student and faculty engagement with the larger Kalamazoo community, the Director is primarily involved in relationship development and leadership functions, but also holds targeted responsibilities in programming, communication, and administration. The Director is responsible for developing the vision and plan for the overall program along with efforts to actively elicit input and involvement by students, staff, faculty, alumni, and other partners. The Director supervises staff, builds and sustains strategic relationships with community partners and faculty, oversees development of relevant programming, collaborates with on and off-campus partners, and leads and participates in CCE functional teams as appropriate in a flexible, supportive, intellectually creative work environment.

Responsibilities

Promote Faculty Development and Support for Course-Based Service Learning and Community-Based Research

• Provides faculty with resources to pursue and assess critical, community engaged pedagogy, scholarship and partnerships using assets-based models
• Develops overall framework and guidelines to link community-based work with the curriculum
• Assists individual faculty with course design, structured reflection, and logistical support for courses across the entirety of the Kalamazoo curriculum
• Brokers and maintains relationships between faculty and community agencies
• Cultivates relationships and maintains open communication with community partners to identify potential projects and sustain existing ones
• Manages faculty stipends and grant programs; identifies resources, grants, and conferences to encourage faculty to develop and institutionalize community-based learning and research across disciplines
• Organizes faculty development workshops and symposia to disseminate best practices and recognition for faculty involved in community-engaged learning
• Ensures service-learning practices are assessed for effectiveness and that assessment information is used in program planning, modification, and improvement

Foster Student Engagement, Empowerment and Leadership

• Supervises CCE staff in recruiting, training, supervising, and assessing processes for K students working in partnerships as volunteers or through funded programs
• Works with Advancement, Business Office, Financial Aid, and Career and Professional Development to develop and implement policies for, manage, and steward financial resources for Civic Engagement Scholars and Community Building Internships
• Works with students to help them develop and lead new service-learning projects
• Advises CESs and other K students working in the community outside the context of a service-learning course
• Provides direction and oversight for the Community Building Internship program
• Collaborates with the Intercultural Center, Student Development, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, Center for International Programs and others to support student groups and create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive campus

Collaboration With Other Experiential Units on Campus and With Off Campus Partners

• Collaborates with colleagues in the Environmental Stewardship Center, Center for Career and Professional Development, Center for International Programs, Intercultural Center, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Student Development and other relevant offices on campus to promote integrated, interdisciplinary avenues and approaches to student learning and advance the K plan
• Promotes structured reflection campus-wide
• Engages respectfully with community residents, government leaders, educators, faith leaders, activists, grantmaking entities, alumni, and donors to form collaborations that benefit the college and one another
• Develops and implements assessment plans in collaboration with community partners to define and measure impact on their terms

Departmental Administration

• Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates professional staff and provides opportunities for staff development and relationship building
• Provides leadership and direction in setting agendas for CCE staff meetings, strategic planning, and development of departmental systems and procedures
• Leads development of departmental communication and marketing strategy to promote awareness of CCE’s purposes, programs, and successes, working with Advancement and College Marketing and Communications
• Oversees development and maintenance of website
• Manages and monitors financial resources, aligning budgets with CCE and institutional objectives
• Participates in applicable professional development opportunities, including development focused on equity and inclusion
• Represents the CCE at college, community, and GLCA events as needed
• Ensures a professional and team-oriented work environment for staff

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and relevant work experience required; Master’s degree preferred
• At least five years of progressively responsible managerial experience in creating, managing, and assessing service-learning and civic engagement initiatives, ideally in higher education
• Broad theoretical and applied knowledge of community-engaged learning (e.g., service-learning, community-based research and participatory action research), community change, equity and inclusion, student leadership, and the liberal arts
• Demonstrated capacity to lead, communicate and work effectively with diverse constituencies – students, faculty, community partners, alumni, and staff – to form reciprocally beneficial programs and projects and build inclusive, respectful communities
• Outstanding oral and written skills and relationship building abilities
• High level of organization and demonstrated ability to follow multiple complex projects through to completion
• Effective planning, budgeting, and program evaluation skills
• Experience managing and guiding development of professional staff
• Sense of humor and ability to embrace ambiguity

About the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement

The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), supported by endowed funds, works closely with faculty, staff, students, community partners, and professional networks to ensure that programming and partnerships emulate promising practices and incorporate structured reflection; that students are empowered to develop agency and leadership; and that students have the means to developmentally and holistically integrate these experiences fully into their K Plan – their academic and community lives, study abroad, and career planning while at Kalamazoo College, continuing this integration throughout their lives. The CCE promotes student leadership, academic learning, reflection, and reciprocal partnerships.

Community Based Courses

CCE staff work with faculty to design courses, projects, research and partnerships that draw on best practices in inclusive and innovative pedagogy and focus on contemporary social justice issues. Today, community members, faculty and students work together to learn about and address issues such as educational and health equity and access, immigration and borders, courts and criminal justice, sustainability and food justice, urban planning, transportation, and the City of Kalamazoo, reproductive rights, voting, housing, public art, and much more.

Student Led Programs

Civic Engagement Scholars (CESs) lead programs that take place every week during the academic year. In an average year, over 200 of their peers participate. They work with hundreds of community residents through reciprocal partnerships with Kalamazoo Public Schools, youth leadership and arts organizations, food justice initiatives, health and legal advocacy groups, and government entities. The CCE provides grant funding to current CESs for up to $500 per program per academic year to carry out their work through activities that promote a more “just, equitable, and sustainable world.”

Community Building Internships (CBIs) & Community Partners

Internship positions give students meaningful opportunities to contribute to the Kalamazoo community while increasing the organization’s capacity to fulfill its mission. A sampling of community partners includes AACORN Farm, Building Blocks, City of Kalamazoo, Helen L. Fox Gospel Music Center, YWCA and more. Partners are viewed as students’ teachers, learning from one another, and sharing equally in the construction of knowledge. The partnerships are consistent with the College’s mission relating to experiential education and help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of social responsibility, intercultural understanding, lifelong learning, and leadership.

About the Institution

Kalamazoo College (K)is a selective, nationally known residential liberal arts college offering a personalized, integrated undergraduate experience known as the K-Plan that interweaves a traditional liberal arts curriculum with individualized research and experiential educational experiences in domestic and international settings. Founded in 1833, Kalamazoo College is one of 40 dynamic Colleges That Change Lives, a group of 40 colleges that excel at developing potential, values, and initiative and provide the foundation for success beyond college.

Overview

Kalamazoo College is among the 100 oldest institutions in the country. The campus of nearly 1400 talented and diverse students representing 38 states and 32 countries is located midway between Chicago and Detroit in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

With a strong focus on experiential education, students can choose from 32 majors, 22 minors and 13 concentrations and have opportunities to immerse themselves in community engagement, service-learning projects, and/or participation in meaningful, international and intercultural experiences.

Kalamazoo College is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is an institutional member of the American Council on Education, the Great Lakes Colleges Association, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

College Recognition

• Kalamazoo College ranks in the top 2% percent among all U.S. colleges and universities surveyed for the percentage of graduates ultimately earning a doctorate, according to the National Science Foundation.
• Kalamazoo College has been a top producer for Fulbright each of the last 5 years.
• In 2023 Money Magazine rated K 4.5 out of 5 stars based on quality, affordability and student outcomes.
• The Princeton Review includes K in their list of “The Best 389 Colleges”, and ranks K 16th in best private schools for making an impact.
• The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranking placed K among the 400 best colleges in the country and in the Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges in the Midwest.
• Kalamazoo is a proud member of Colleges That Change Lives, founded on a philosophy of building the knowledge, character and values of young people by introducing them to a personalized and transformative collegiate experience. 
• 15 of the College’s 18 athletics teams received the MIAA GPA Award and 188 of the athletes are on the MIAA academic honor roll.

Leadership

Dr. Jorge G. Gonzalez
18th President of Kalamazoo College

Jorge G. Gonzalez has served as president of Kalamazoo College since July 2016. A fierce champion of the liberal arts, Gonzalez has more than 30 years of experience in higher education. In his time at K, Gonzalez has overseen the development of the strategic plan Advancing Kalamazoo College: A Strategic Vision for 2023, a new Admission Center, infrastructure improvements to reduce K’s carbon footprint, a new natatorium, the Brighter Light campaign and much more. He is a welcoming presence on campus with an abiding commitment to academic excellence, experiential learning, intercultural understanding, and community engagement.