Residence Director

About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

 

Job Summary

The Residence Director is responsible for leading the overall student experience within residence halls including student learning using a curricular approach, student support and wellbeing, staff supervision and development and response to a range of complex student and staff concerns. The Residence Director participates in a range of department initiatives and projects. 

 

Essential Functions

• Provides leadership for student learning and inclusive community development within assigned residential communities housing between 350 and 800 students using a curricular framework. Engages in lesson plan design, needs assessment analysis, evidence-based improvement and report authorship for assigned communities.  May provide leadership for a living learning community. Develops connections with residential students, be present and available in the halls as the leader of the community and serve as a positive role model.  Supports and/or advise residential student leadership organizations.
• Supervises a team of undergraduate Resident Assistants (RA’s) to implement residential curriculum strategies, builds relationships with residents, responds to incidents, and fulfill all RA position expectations.  May directly supervise an Assistant Residence Director (Graduate Assistant). 
  • In the North Apartments community, Residence Director supervises a team of three Graduate Assistants.
  • In first-year communities, provides on-site support to a staff of live-in Peer Mentors and works closely with their Graduate Assistant Supervisor.  Facilitates staff meetings and training programs including those focused on diversity, equity and inclusion topics. 
• Demonstrates working knowledge of applicable collective bargaining agreements (CBA) for applicable collective bargaining units (CBU) in the supervision and leadership of staff.  
• Serves as lead instructor for EDUC 391R: CORE – Creating Opportunities for Residents to Engage, a one-credit pre-employment requirement of all Resident Assistant and Peer Mentor candidates.   
• Coordinates response and follow up to a range of incidents in residence halls, some of which are highly complex in nature, facilitates student staff meetings and community meetings, drafts follow up communications, and collaborates with campus partners.  Follows up with students as outlined by established campus case management, makes appropriate referrals, and maintains accurate case management records.  
• Upholds the Code of Student Conduct and Residential Life policies and ensures accurate reporting of conduct violations.  Educates students about policies and safety/security protocols.  Supervises and trains student staff to ensure compliance with student conduct policies and standards.  May adjudicate student conduct cases and serve as a member of the University Hearing Board.
• In a rotation, provides 24 hour on-call coverage and response for campus residential community, including during University break periods and holidays. Remains within required radius of campus during periods of on-call responsibility. 
• Provides excellent critical problem-solving experience during times of high stress and emergencies, and understands University emergency preparedness practices to respond effectively and in collaboration with emergency responders.  
• Collaborates with campus colleagues, academic partners and other units proving related services for students.  Responds to parent/family and campus partner inquiries related to the student experience in the residence halls. 
• Supports residence hall operations by reporting maintenance issues, develops working relationships with hall maintenance staff and service desk staff, monitors and administers resident occupancy processes and audits, participates in residence hall move-in and move-out processes, and supports health and safety inspections. 
• Supports and participates in University initiatives such as New Students Orientation and Transition initiatives, student organization events, and others related to the overall student experience. Participates in Residential Life committees, searches and other processes.