Assistant Director, Residential Life - Specialty Living, Graduate, and Summer Programs

Student and Campus Life (SCL) inspires transformation in all Cornell students on their journey of individual, academic and personal evolution. Our division is comprised of leading student affairs experts who support our campus on pressing student life matters including public service, health, wellness, social justice, residential living, food services, sports, recreation, career services, and student activities and organizations including sorority and fraternity life. We provide support and services to roughly 25,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students on multiple campuses in the U.S. and abroad.

Cornell’s on-campus living experience is comprised of two systems that operate separately, the Office of Housing and Residential Life (HRL) unit (buildings on North and South campus) within Student and Campus Life and the West Campus House system (residential college system) within the Office of the Provost.

The Office of Housing and Residential Life staff are committed to providing a residential experience of the highest quality for each of our residents. This includes providing a safe, comfortable, diverse, and purposeful living and learning environment aligned with the University’s values and learning goals. Through partnerships with University faculty and staff, HRL staff foster students’ personal growth, critical thinking, intellectual engagement, and social responsibility that is designed to educate, challenge and develop our students.

Pillars of our Residential Experience-
• Belonging at Cornell
• Social Responsibility
• Academic Empowerment
• Culture of Care
• Navigating Transitions

The Housing and Residential Life program includes cooperative houses, graduate and professional student housing, Program Houses with focused identity and/or themed living environments, a focused First-Year Residential Experience on North Campus, and a unique upper division and transfer student experience on North and South Campus. Our department serves approximately 8,000 students with a two-year residential requirement. In addition, there is significant faculty engagement in the residential communities, with faculty-in-residence living in the first-year communities and over 110 faculty and community members spread throughout all the residential communities.

Housing & Residential Life at Cornell University is going through a significant organizational transformation to enhance the residential experience. To advance these efforts, we are excited to launch the search for four Assistant Director positions in Residential Life. These positions consist of the following - individuals must apply to each position separately if interested in multiple positions:
• Assistant Director of Community Engagement & Leadership Development
• Assistant Director of Specialty Living, Graduate Housing, & Summer Programs
• Assistant Director of Staff Selection & Development (Student Staff)
• Assistant Director of Student Behavior & Support (Conduct)

   

The Assistant Director, Residential Life - Specialty Living, Graduate, and Summer Programs reports to the Associate Director of Residential Education in Residential Life and serves as a member of the department’s leadership team. The Assistant Director supports the development, management, and evaluation of Residential Life programs within Housing & Residential Life, which houses approximately 9,200 students in the Division of Student & Campus Life at Cornell University, serving a campus of 24,000 students. This role leads and manages specialty living programs (thematic & cooperative communities), including academic, special interest, identity-based programs, and self-governed housing programs aligned with residential experience and specific program goals for each option for North and South Campus communities, aligned with the residential experience and organizational priorities while focusing on first- and second-year and graduate students in collaboration with campus partners. 

The Assistant Director also oversees community engagement and support services for graduate and family housing students, aligned with the residential experience and focused on graduate student priorities. This position also collaborates with the Associate Director for Residential Education and academic partners to oversee and manage summer programs, including summer sessions, bridge, and pre-college programs. The Assistant Director supervises live-in staff and student employees and manages the residential experience and operations for assigned communities for undergraduate, graduate, and cooperative students. In addition, this role supports financial management, marketing, and cross-functional operational processes and planning, as well as participates in on-call, responding to crisis as needed.

This is a full-time, 12-mont