Director of Intercultural Student Affairs

About North Park

Founded in 1891, North Park University is a Christian university affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church of over 3,200 students from around the country and the world.

North Park University is located in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the United States. It is nine miles from downtown Chicago. The North Park campus has often been referred to as an oasis in the heart of the city – a place where students from urban, rural, and suburban backgrounds alike can call home. And all of this within the major metropolitan backdrop of Chicago: one of the world’s largest and most diversified economies, renowned for its museums and music, and voted best large city in the U.S. for four years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler.

Mission

The mission of North Park University is to prepare students for lives of significance and service through education in the liberal arts, professional studies, and theology.

Vision

Building on our core institutional identity—Christian, city-centered, intercultural—our vision is to create a university of uncommon character and enduring excellence, where faith, learning, and service meet.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Director of Intercultural Student Affairs is responsible for holistically developing and engaging North Park’s diverse student body. Reporting to the Vice President for Student Engagement, this person leads, plans, and coordinates the student programs on campus that will enrich and enhance the student’s overall experience, self-direction, teamwork, and leadership, integrating students into North Park’s beloved community and fostering positive cultural identity development. The Director will supervise student organizations and facilitate meetings and partnerships that will further improve students’ engagement, belonging, and intercultural development on campus and beyond. The Director will serve as a thought leader and collaborator on campus for how to best promote equitable student success, retention, and graduation among North Park’s diverse student body.

• Create spaces on campus for students to connect with faculty, staff, and peers who understand their cultural backgrounds, identities, and experiences. This will be in The Collaboratory, dedicated intercultural space, and wherever intercultural programming occurs on campus.
• Develop opportunities for students to learn about their own cultural communities via culturally relevant co-curricular opportunities. This will include heritage month programming, guest lectures, and intercultural events on campus and in Chicago.
• Implement Programs and practices that facilitate educationally meaningful cross-cultural interactions among students that focus on solving social and political problems. This will involve collaborating with offices such as University Ministries, Career Development, Civic Engagement, and Alumni Relations to engage in culturally relevant service and learning on and off campus.
• Provide opportunities for validating students’ diverse cultural backgrounds, knowledge, and identities. This will include co-curricular education regarding culture, identity, and diversity, and collaborating with faculty and academic affairs to ensure these opportunities occur in the classroom.
• Serve as a member of the University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Institutional Council, cooperating on building metrics for assessment and accountability for campus climate and equitable outcomes for North Park’s diverse students, faculty, and staff.
• Collaborate with University Dean, Human Resources, University Ministries, and Civic Engagement to further diversity, equity, and inclusion goals for students.
• Hire, train supervise, and contribute to the professional development of direct reports, including student workers.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree.
• Demonstrated experience with student affairs best practices related to multicultural and gender issues.
• Experience with empowerment, advocacy, and support for diverse and underrepresented populations.
• The ability to effectively communicate with students, parents, administrators, faculty and staff members, and outside constituencies.
• Experience with consensus-building and collaboration.
• Experience with data-driven assessment and accountability through standardized metrics, such as climate study surveys and student experience instruments.
• Must be able to work well under pressure, work independently, take initiative, and oversee a variety of projects simultaneously.
• Possess a clear understanding and personal commitment to North Park University’s mission of Christian higher education.
• Have good attention to detail and excellent organizational and planning skills.

Desired:

• Master’s degree in higher education or related field.
• Have experience with Enterprise Systems.
• Comfortable with using modern technology.

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Prescription Plan
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Tuition Remission
• Helwig Recreation Center