At Wittenberg University, The Associate Director, Community Partnerships and Outreach, assists the Hagen Center team in leading the Hagen Center's vision and strategy for fostering robust, impactful, and mutually beneficial community engagement with the Greater Springfield region and beyond.
This position uplifts Wittenberg University's strategic plan priority to uplift and be in partnership with our community and strives to have students embrace our community, learn from and collaborate with partners that respond to community priorities, and apply their knowledge and talents to affect positive change.
This position promotes the practice of ethical community engagement across campus through engagement strategies centered on community knowledge and partnership facilitation. In addition, the Associate Director takes the lead on telling the narratives of the experiences provided by the Hagen Center.
Responsibilities include:
- Demonstrate the ability to identify, cultivate, and sustain strong, mutually beneficial relationships with civic and community organizations and strategic partners, effectively serving as a trusted point of contact and ambassador for the Hagen Center and the University in the Greater Springfield region and beyond.
- Apply organizational and systems-thinking skills to oversee partner intake processes, establish tracking systems, and document community contacts, MOUs, and partnerships in cross-departmental collaboration.
- Design and implement evaluation and feedback frameworks to measure community perceptions, assess partnership effectiveness, identify challenges, and drive ongoing quality improvement in civic engagement experiences.
- Demonstrate expertise in sustained partnership development and conflict resolution by overseeing partner training programs, facilitating professional development opportunities, and supporting the resolution of challenges between community partners and students.
- Apply strong written and strategic communication skills to develop compelling external communications and proactively increase the visibility of the University's community partnerships across campus, the Greater Springfield community, and broader audiences.
- Demonstrate project management and stakeholder coordination skills by planning, managing, and implementing the civic engagement internship program's partner proposal process and community integration, connecting students with meaningful opportunities in nonprofits, government, and civic organizations.
- Contribute effectively to the planning and execution of week-long service immersion experiences by supporting partnership creation and management, coordinating training and preparation, and collaborating with the Associate Director of Civic Learning to deliver high-quality experiential learning opportunities.
- Lead complex initiatives with independence and strategic vision, as demonstrated through serving as project manager for the re-design and re-launch of a community-facing data resource hub and other community-based initiatives.
- Collaborate effectively with faculty, staff, and academic departments to embed community-based learning into civic engagement courses and co-curricular opportunities by seeking out potential partners and delivering training that builds institutional capacity for meaningful civic engagement.
- Demonstrate supervisory and financial management competencies by assisting in the recruitment and evaluation of staff, managing program budgets, and ensuring compliance with University HR and financial policies.
- Exhibit intellectual curiosity and a commitment to the field by championing best practices in campus-community partnerships and developing and maintaining a clearinghouse of resources, research, and programming to advance the work.
- Center community voices, diverse perspectives, and asset-based narratives in educational content and community initiatives, demonstrating a deep commitment to equity and the complexity of the Greater Springfield region.
- Apply sound judgment and attention to detail in reviewing and implementing risk management and accountability policies and procedures to protect students, partners, and the University's civic engagement mission.
- Contribute to departmental and institutional growth by supporting strategic planning, goal setting, assessment, and the development of campus-community initiatives that strengthen student recruitment and retention.
- Represent the Hagen Center with professionalism and credibility across University and community committees, external events, and state and national professional organizations, serving as a visible leader and advocate in the campus-community partnership field.