Position Specification

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Director of Career and Professional Development

Institutional Background The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public university in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System. Since its inception in 1969, UAB has earned international renown for its innovative academic programs, groundbreaking research and scholarship, and leading-edge patient care. UAB is among 51 public and private universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for both “very high research activity” and “community engagement.” UAB receives more than $400 million annually in research grants and contracts and ranks 10th among all public universities in funding from the National Institutes of Health. UAB attracts the best and brightest students from Alabama, the nation, and more than 100 countries around the world. In fall of 2017, 574 new students enrolled in the UAB Honors College, bringing the enrollment to over 1,800 in just three years. In 2017, the university had its eighth year of overall record enrollment, with over 20,900 undergraduate, graduate, pre-professional, and post-doctoral students. Nearly 70 percent of the student body attends the university full-time, and more than 73 percent of freshmen live on campus. With 23,000 employees, UAB is the largest single-site employer in the state of Alabama, contributing more than $5 billion annually to the state’s economy. Due to its growing and increasingly residential campus in the heart of a vibrant and diverse community, the university offers unparalleled opportunities for teaching, research, scholarship, and service. UAB offers undergraduates opportunities to participate in leading-edge, closely mentored research through such innovative academic programs as the Undergraduate Neurosciences Program and majors in public health and biomedical sciences, and new BS degrees are being developed in informatics, immunology, and cancer biology. The UAB Health System (UABHS), one of the largest academic medical centers in the United States, is affiliated with the university. UAB Hospital, the third-largest public hospital in the United States, sponsors residency programs in medical specialties, including internal medicine, neurology, surgery, radiology, and anesthesiology. UAB Hospital is the only ACS-verified Level I trauma center in Alabama, as rated by the American College of Surgeons Trauma Program. UAB is located in the Southside neighborhood of downtown Birmingham, spanning approximately 100 blocks and blending with the urban character of the community. The campus is rectangular in shape, with University Boulevard serving as the main axis of the rectangle and the Campus Green serving as the center of the campus. The medical center is home to health science schools and their teaching facilities, including UABHS. The medical center overlaps with the larger Birmingham Medical District, where, in addition to UABHS, non-UAB affiliated hospitals such as the Birmingham VA Medical Center, Children’s of Alabama, and Cooper Green Mercy Health Services are located.

The area from the Campus Green west and University Boulevard south is the academic center of the campus, as well as the heart of student life. The Campus Green, developed between 2000 and 2007 as the center of student life on campus, represents an effort to convert the school from its previously commuter school feel into a more traditional residential campus. Athletics facilities, including Bartow Arena, are located on the far western side of campus. Construction projects are common across campus. Projects that are in planning, recently completed, or under construction include:

Hill Student Center

Freshman Residence Hall

Student Health & Wellness Center

Collat School of Business Building

Nursing Building Expansion

School of Health Professions Expansion/Renovation

Campus Green Project

Shelby Biomedical Research Building

Southern Bio-Safety Lab Alabama Birmingham

BBVA Compass Field (Soccer)

Football Operations Building

Track Facility Project

UAB Softball Complex

McCallum Health Sciences Building

Women and Infants Center

Hazelrig-Salter Radiation Oncology Facility

Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts

Heritage II Building

Intramural/Sports Complex Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. The city’s population is listed at 212,237, according to the 2010 U.S. census. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan statistical area had a population of about 1,128,047, according to the 2010 census, which is approximately one-quarter of Alabama’s population. Birmingham was founded in 1871, during the post–Civil War Reconstruction period, through the merger of three pre-existing farm towns. It grew from there, annexing many more of its smaller neighbors, into an industrial and railroad transportation center with a focus on mining, the iron and steel industry, and railroading. Birmingham was named for Birmingham, England, one of the United Kingdom’s major industrial cities. Many, if not most, of the original settlers who founded Birmingham were of English ancestry. From its founding through the end of the 1960s, Birmingham was a primary industrial center of the South. The pace of Birmingham’s growth from 1881 to 1920 earned

its nicknames “The Magic City” and “The Pittsburgh of the South.” Much like Pittsburgh, Birmingham’s major industries were iron and steel production, plus a major component of the railroading industry, where rails and railroad cars were both manufactured in Birmingham. The two primary hubs of railroading in the Deep South were nearby Atlanta and Birmingham, beginning in the 1860s and continuing through to the present day. The economy diversified during the latter half of the 20th century. Though the manufacturing industry maintains a strong presence in Birmingham, other businesses and industries such as banking, telecommunications, transportation, electrical power transmission, medical care, college education, and insurance have risen in stature. Mining in the Birmingham area is no longer a major industry, with the exception of coal. Birmingham ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States and is also one of the largest banking centers in the country. In addition, the Birmingham area serves as headquarters to the Fortune 500 company Regions Financial, along with five Fortune 1000 companies. In higher education, Birmingham has been the location of the University of Alabama School of Medicine (formerly the Medical College of Alabama) and the University of Alabama School of Dentistry since 1947. Since that time, it has also obtained the University of Alabama at Birmingham (founded circa 1969) to become a hub of Alabama’s public higher education. It is also home to three private institutions: Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College, and Miles College. Between these colleges and universities, the Birmingham area has major colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, law, engineering, and nursing. The city has three of the state’s five law schools: Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham School of Law, and Miles Law School. Birmingham is also the headquarters of the Southeastern Conference, one of the major U.S. collegiate athletic conferences. Visit the Chamber of Commerce link at https://birminghambusinessalliance.com/.

University Strategic Plan At UAB, we have never settled for merely finding what’s next—we have helped build the future through new ideas and initiatives in the classroom, the laboratory, the studio, and the clinic. The coming decade presents us with opportunities and challenges. How should we build on our strong foundation in order to meet them? Forging the Future, UAB’s strategic plan for the next five years of growth, offers a blueprint. The plan’s goals and objectives for UAB’s four mission pillars are:

Education: Offer a world-class, socially conscious education to diverse students to prepare the next generation of citizens and leaders.

Research, Innovation & Economic Development: Empower innovative research, scholarship, and creative activities that drive knowledge creation focused on improving society.

Community Engagement: Engage with the community in meaningful and mutually beneficial collaborations that contribute to the public good.

Patient Care: Lead in the delivery of the highest-quality patient-centered integrative care that reflects our ability to translate discoveries into revolutionary therapies in one of the nation’s premier academic health care centers.

For additional information on UAB’s strategic plan, Forging the Future, go to https://www.uab.edu/plan/. Leadership Ray L. Watts, MD, President

Named president of UAB in February 2013 by unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System, Ray L. Watts, MD, UAB’s seventh president, has demonstrated visionary leadership in education, research, and clinical care throughout his career. A Birmingham native and graduate of West End High School, Watts earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering at UAB in 1976. The collaborations he had with biomedical engineering students as an undergraduate inspired him to expand his career horizons and, four years later, he graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as valedictorian of his class. Watts completed a neurology residency, medical internship, and clinical fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a two-year medical staff fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Before returning to UAB in 2003, he was part of a team that helped to create an internationally renowned research and clinical center for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders at Emory University in Atlanta.

At UAB, Watts served as the John N. Whitaker Professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology. There, he led the development of an interdisciplinary research program aimed at translating scientific breakthroughs into promising new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and played a key role in the establishment of the UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center. He also was named president of the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation. In 2010, Watts accepted the position of senior vice president and dean of the School of Medicine at UAB and later was named to the James C. Lee Jr. Endowed Chair. As dean, Watts—in partnership with UAB Health System and Health Services Foundation leaders—initiated the AMC21 comprehensive strategic plan, encompassing education, research, clinical care, and primary care. AMC21 aims to make UAB “the preferred academic medical center of the 21st century,” and has led to the recruitment of outstanding faculty, the launch of programs to accelerate research and drug discovery, and the development of a third regional medical campus in Montgomery, among other successes. Watts has been tireless in his efforts to enhance medical student training—from increasing available scholarships to supporting Equal Access Birmingham, a volunteer organization in which students provide care to underserved patients—and to foster stronger relationships with medical alumni throughout the state. “People want to invest in the future—in solutions that will have a real impact on our health, education, and our economy,” Watts said. “So the state and community want us to develop our ideas and capitalize on opportunities to lead. UAB can be one of the most dynamic and productive universities of the 21st century, and that is our vision.”

Dr. Watts initiated and is leading UAB’s most comprehensive strategic planning process with campus- and community-wide partnerships. During his tenure, UAB has made tremendous strides in all areas of its mission, including record enrollment and development of novel academic programs, substantial growth in research funding and the university’s international competitiveness, impactful service to the local and global community, and construction of new state-of-the-art facilities and campus beautification as part of the UAB Campus Master Plan. Watts and his wife, Nancy, who just retired as a nurse at UAB, have five grown children. John R. Jones, III, PhD, Vice President for Student Affairs

John R. Jones, PhD, was named vice president for student affairs in June 2015. He provides leadership and direction to the Division of Student Affairs, which consists of Campus Dining, Campus Recreation, Career & Professional Development, Disability Support Services, Hill Student Center, Housing & Residence Life, Marketing & Communications, Parent & Family Services, Student Conduct, Student Counseling Services, Student Health Services, Student Involvement & Leadership, Student Media, Student Multicultural & Diversity Programs, Student Outreach, Title IX, Veterans Services, and Wellness Promotion. Jones earned his doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Iowa and joined the University of North Carolina-Pembroke (UNCP) in 2013 as vice chancellor for student affairs, promoting student learning and personal growth by providing strategic leadership and vision for programs, services, and opportunities that encourage student success.

Prior to UNCP, Jones worked in college administration at Purdue University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and Northern Illinois University. He has served on the board of directors for the Association for Student Conduct Administration, the Madame Walker Urban Life Center in Indianapolis, and the Center for Academic Integrity. Jones also served in the Army National Guard for 17 years. Jones was recently elected to the Executive Committee for the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Council on Student Affairs and will serve a three-year term in office. College and Schools UAB offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in the following:

Arts and Sciences

Business

Education

Engineering

Health Professions

Honors College

Nursing

Public Health UAB’s professional schools are:

Dentistry

Medicine

Optometry

Index of Majors Accounting Information Systems African-American Studies International Studies Anthropology Kinesiology Art (BA) Management Art (BFA) Marketing Art Education Materials Engineering Biology Mathematics Biomedical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Chemistry Medical Technology Civil Engineering Music Communication Studies Music Education Computer and Information Sciences Natural Science Counselor Education Neuroscience Criminal Justice Nuclear Medicine Technology Early Childhood Non-Certification Nursing Early Childhood/Elementary Education Nursing Mobility Economics Philosophy Educational Leadership Physical Education Electrical Engineering Physics English Political Science Finance Psychology Foreign Languages Public Health Health Care Management Quantitative Methods Health Education Respiratory Therapy Health Information Management Social Work High School Education Sociology History Theatre Industrial Distribution The Student Body 2017–2018 tuition and fees

$10,410 in-state tuition and fees

$23,790 out-of-state tuition and fees

$10,350 room and board

Students

20,900 students

39 percent male/61 percent female

An Overview of the Division The UAB Division of Student Affairs was established in 2015 with the hiring of John R. Jones, III, PhD, as vice president. Previously, the departments now within the division reported to the provost or the vice president for financial affairs and administration. Changes within student affairs’ units during the past ten years have been transformational. There has been a pronounced shift, philosophically, to recruiting some of the brightest and best-prepared students who are enthusiastically interested in embracing their collegiate experience. UAB’s student affairs offices have provided the resources, professional staff, and opportunities for students to do just that—“Start here, stay here!” In the past decade, UAB has added several new student facilities with the completion of the Campus Green, the world-class recreation center, the Dining Commons on the Green, 1,500 new residence hall beds, the Student Health and Wellness Center, and the state-of-the-art Hill Student Center, which opened in January 2016. UAB students have witnessed a shift away from a commuter “suitcase” campus to a more traditional experience, with over 70 percent of the freshman class living on campus. While many campuses are building apartment-style residence halls, UAB has been intentional in creating an environment that promotes socialization through shared living spaces with freshmen and shared experiences over meals and activities at the adjacent dining commons and rec center. In an effort to meet the busy student’s needs in an efficient, student-centric format, the One Stop Student Services Center was designed to be a single point of contact for students to conduct their out-of-classroom business. From class schedules to checking their student account, they can take care of business at the One Stop to provide more time to focus on their academic pursuits. Students also have the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of out-of-classroom experiences, including fraternity and sorority life, intramural sports, campus employment, and service on one of many advisory or governing boards, just to name a few.

For a more in-depth view of the Divison of Student Affairs, please review the 2017 Student Affairs Annual Report.

Student Affairs Strategic Plan In January 2016, the Division of Student Affairs began the process of building an organization based on research, sound principles, profession-leading practices, student success, and exemplary performance standards. Over the course of ten months, the professionals within the division engaged in a series of efforts to evaluate current programs, envision the future, and develop a series of priorities, objectives, and initiatives for the next five years. Summary of the Process Directors from across the division were primarily involved in the process to create the vision, mission, and core values, while the entire division was included in the review and revision of these guiding principles. The next step in the planning process involved an extensive evaluation of the environmental threats and opportunities in which the work of student affairs takes place, as well as an in-depth review of existing student, staff, faculty, and stakeholder data collected in recent years concerning the culture, concerns, services, and opportunities for improvement perceived by the university as a whole. Student affairs leadership created three distinct yet interconnected committees made up of students, faculty, and staff:

Environmental Scan: Opportunities and Threats

Data Collection and Review

Goals and Objectives Each committee was charged with discovering, analyzing, and synthesizing current trends, perceptions, limitations, needs, and resources to be incorporated into a series of divisional priorities that align with those of the University of Alabama System, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the community, and the students. The plan outlines those priorities, objectives, and implementation initiatives in detail. It is a living document; some initiatives are already in motion, and some areas have gaps the division is addressing. Strategic Priorities The strategic priorities represent what is most important to the division. These four standards guide the division and serve as the lens through which staff examine everything they do. I. A Student Affairs Organization Based on Excellence

As partners in this scholastic enterprise, student affairs must strive for excellence in creating learning environments and experiences that are student-centered. In advancing student success, the division will provide exceptional, innovative, and effective practices that contribute to UAB being “an internationally renowned research university.” II. Supportive and Inclusive Communities While recognizing and embracing UAB’s distinctive history, location, and diversity, the division creates and sustains an inclusive environment for all. As the division establishes traditions and practices that celebrate UAB’s multicultural heritage, it will empower students to emerge as global leaders. III. Engagement and Learning The division is committed to student success and will create opportunities and pathways for students to engage beyond the classroom. Through this increased co-curricular engagement, students will be best prepared for the global workplace, lifelong learning, and goal achievement. IV. Innovation in Resource Stewardship The division strives to be a forward-thinking steward of its resources. All staff will role model effective, sustainable, and ethical stewardship of all resources used to promote and enhance student success. Vision Statement Creating transformational experiences at UAB.

Mission Statement The Division of Student Affairs enhances student learning and development, fosters an inclusive environment, and engages students to become contributing members in a diverse society. Core Values ACCOUNTABILITY: Taking responsibility for achieving personal and professional development; setting high expectations, being skilled at assessing needs, and enacting changes based on data analysis. ADVOCACY: Championing for our diverse student population by offering support, counsel, and being agents for transformational education and student success. INTEGRITY: Demonstrating a commitment to honesty, transparency, and consistency by modeling and teaching ethical behavior. COLLABORATION: Creating intentional partnerships for the shared purpose of supporting student success and achieving university goals. STUDENT-CENTERED: Placing student development and student success at the core of everything we do. For more complete details of the division’s strategic plan, go to https://www.uab.edu/studentaffairs/home/strategic-plan. Please see the Organizational Structures of the Student Affairs Division and the Career and Professional Development Department on the next two pages:

DirectorVacant

Assistant Director

Dino Martinez

Office ManagerBritney Fields

Assistant Director of Employer

Outreach Clifford Kennon

Assistant Director of Employer Engagement

Vacant

Associate DirectorElizabeth Simmons

Student Assistants

(3)

Career Peer Advisors (2)

Assistant Director Joy Jones

Assistant Director

Meagan Butler

InternCampus/Employer

Engagement Darrell Forte

UAB Career and Professional Development

History of the Position UAB Career and Professional Development previously reported through the vice provost, Suzanne Austin, with Suzanne Scott-Trammell serving as the executive director from August 2007–November 2015. From November 2013 to November 2015, Melissa Whately served as the associate director of the department, and most functional and operational areas of the office reported through Whately. Whately was promoted to interim director upon Scott-Trammell’s departure from the university, and the department began reporting to the Division of Student Affairs in November 2015. Whately served as the interim director from November 2015 to August 2016, when she was promoted to director. Whately served as director of career and professional development until her resignation in August 2017. The position has been filled on an interim basis since that time by Elizabeth Simmons, associate director, who will continue to do so until the position is filled permanently. Mary Wallace was hired as the assistant vice president for student experience within the Division of Student Affairs in July 2017. The AVP role was vacant for approximately one year prior to Wallace’s arrival. UAB Career and Professional Development reports directly to Wallace through the student experience unit. Responsibilities of the Position Reporting to the assistant vice president for student experience in the Division of Student Affairs, the director of career and professional development oversees a broad portfolio of responsibilities that support an institutional focus on student success and excellence in teaching, learning, and research. The director provides overall vision and leadership for the UAB Career and Professional Development (CPD) department, which serves the university’s undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni and employers. The director promotes optimal learning outcomes and career readiness competencies through a range of functions, programs, and services. Specific responsibilities include the following:

Effectively lead a high-performing staff of seven, as well as a graduate intern and student staff, promoting an engaging work environment that contributes to workplace satisfaction and includes support, guidance, leadership, and professional development and training.

Constantly monitor, analyze, and evaluate department services and programming to ensure quality and effectiveness.

In collaboration with department staff, establish strategic goals for the department, including long-range planning and assessment.

Design, review, and amend office policies and procedures to ensure that all services are student-centered, that all office operations are based on student affairs best practices, and that processes promote an expectation of high performance among students and staff.

Prepare the $588,000 annual operating budget, monitor activity in all Career and Professional Development accounts, and serve as principal investigator for the “Job Location and Development” grant ($75,000 annually).

Verbalize and model the mission, vision, and values of UAB's Division of Student Affairs, leading the department according to these same standards, avoiding mission creep and contributing to the division’s strategic plan.

Promote and execute close communication with deans, department chairs, and university staff to ensure that UAB Career and Professional Development is meeting current student needs.

Provide guidelines and vision for the marketing and promotional efforts of the department, both internally and externally.

Plan and execute strategy for maximizing the career management database (“Hire a Blazer”), including, but not limited to, providing a variety of quality opportunities for students, assisting and encouraging student enrollment in the database, and offering stewardship to the employers using the system.

Solicit and utilize feedback from a wide-range of key stakeholders to create and implement programs that respond to the needs of businesses and are in the best interest of students .

Attend various committee/department meetings and other related conferences.

Characteristics of the Successful Candidate A master’s degree in education, business, counseling, college student personnel/student affairs, or other relevant field is required, as is a substantial track record of progressively responsible experience in a career development, student affairs, or closely related higher education environment. The successful candidate should possess strong organizational and problem-solving abilities, short- and long-term planning skills, and knowledge of current software technology, as well as excellent communication, conflict resolution, presentation, process improvement, training, and other leadership skills. An understanding of student development and leadership theory, along with its impact on practice, is desired. A demonstrated commitment to diversity and customer service, as well as the ability to develop strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, are essential.

Additionally, the new director of career and professional development must possess a broad and deep understanding of national best practices and innovations with regard to the career development field, be able to cull the best parts of these programs, and then build UAB’s program to even greater heights. The director should be an experienced leader who has had success building a career development program/office at another institution (or institutions), be capable of managing multiple priorities, and be equipped to contribute at both a strategic and tactical level to a vibrant and fast-paced student affairs division. As articulated by UAB stakeholders, the successful candidate will ideally possess the following qualities and attributes (in no particular order):

be professionally active in NACE or other related higher education career development

organization(s), as well as possess knowledge of NACE competencies and the ability to teach them to staff and students

have the ability to effectively work with both students and employers and understand the needs of both

possess the ability to create and cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusivity at all levels

display strong diplomacy skills, with the ability to manage a large pool of stakeholders; possess strong relationship-building and collaboration abilities

have an understanding of high-level strategic thinking, as well as the ability to simultaneously get “in the trenches” to understand the daily operations of the department

demonstrate the ability to manage, mentor, develop, and coach professional staff

possess an astute understanding of the changing nature of college recruiting and an awareness of how that recruiting is specifically implemented for the UAB student body

understand the current trends and innovations in the career development field and be able to develop and implement plans at UAB around these trends

have knowledge of current student needs and a clear vision of how to engage students at various levels

possess strong listening skills, a good sense of humor, approachability, positivity, and an entrepreneurial spirit

be able to develop an understanding of the missions and operations of other departments in the Division of Student Affairs, and subsequently align the mission/vision of Career and Professional Development with these other departments, promoting new collaboration and enhancing already existing services

be willing to reach out, connect, and promote the department to area employers

Likely Opportunities, Priorities, and Challenges of the Position

The director must be a strong spokesperson and advocate for the department. The UAB Career and Professional Development staff work hard and are diligent in their efforts to promote a strong student experience, both in terms of career development and in the overall student affairs strategy. With the staff conducting the daily business of the department, the director should be capable of strongly advocating for resources, including space, budgets, staffing, and other necessities, utilizing evidentiary data to support these requests. Similarly, the director must be the “face” of the department, as the primary connector to the deans, faculty, and administration across campus, and be able to speak professionally and with passion and influence when promoting the department and its needs.

The development of career competencies is extremely important as the department prepares students for their future. The staff of UAB Career and Professional Development believe that the development of career competencies, especially early in their college career and on the job, are extremely important. Collaborating with other departments in student affairs to develop a series of consistent career competencies for the student staffs is vital, allowing students to further their education through their employment. The new director should consider all options to promote this objective.

With the hiring of a new director of assessment and planning in student affairs, developing data-driven analyses and solutions in UAB Career and Professional Development will be critical for success. The new director of assessment and planning will be asked to compile and analyze a great amount of data, and then to present that data to various constituencies with recommendations for how to use the findings (particularly within the other student affairs units). The director of career and professional development should be prepared to collaborate extensively with this person, understand the importance of data-driven decision making, develop a comprehensive assessment plan for the UAB Career and Professional Development department, and determine methods for implementing findings to push the department forward.

UAB Career and Professional Development is sometimes considered a “well-kept secret,” and the new director must develop an overall strategy to inform the student body of the services and programs provided by CPD. Strong communication and/or marketing skills will be important for the director, as there is a perceived lack of awareness among students of the opportunities that CPD affords them. The director will need to develop an overall marketing strategy to reach UAB

students, promoting the overall value-add that CPD provides the campus, as well as the specific services available for their benefit.

Additionally, campus stakeholders identified the following as potential opportunties, priorities, and challenges facing the new director:

The UAB Career and Professional Development department has a decentralized structure, with other academic departments also having CPD functionality. The new director must be aware of this structure or have previous experience in it, and be able to collaborate with other career development offices to promote a strong career network across the UAB campus.

Professional development is both encouraged and expected of all professional staff, so the new director will receive support to be involved regionally and/or nationally in related professional associations, and should encourage the reporting staff to do the same.

The Division of Student Affairs has a number of relatively new leaders in upper-level management, so there is a fresh and vibrant environment in which to work at UAB. Subsequently, the division is also operating at an extremely fast pace, with change and growth occurring rather quickly, so the new director should expect to learn the position, develop a plan, and begin implementation just as quickly. The new director will have an opportunity to be creative and, with a measure of autonomy, put her or his professional mark on the program.

The staff and structure have grown/changed since moving into the current UAB Career and Professional Development suite in the Hill Student Center, so the new director should assess these space needs and determine what changes, if any, may be required to accommodate current and future needs.

The new director should understand that there are no extended university holiday breaks (e.g., time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, spring break, etc.) that other institutions are sometimes afforded. The director should review the university’s benefits package for a clear understanding of how vacation and leave days may be used. Personal holidays are afforded to employees to utilize as desired with supervisor approval.

The director will need to be creative in utilizing resources, as the division is still relatively new and is meeting expectations with somewhat limited means. This person can be a big dreamer, but needs to be realistic at the same time.

Measures of Success for the Position At an appropriate interval after joining UAB, the following items will define success for the new director of career and professional development:

The director has established strong collaborative relationships across student affairs, as well as the greater campus, and is able to influence decision-makers on the value and needs associated with career and professional development.

In collaboration with the director of assessment and planning, in-depth relevant data on student employment has been collected, with strong assessment statistics to support, and proactive strategic initiatives have been established based on this data.

Similarly, comprehensive assessment has been conducted on the programs and services offered by the department, as well as the resources needed to serve a quickly growing campus population, and a strategic plan has been devised to address the findings.

Brand awareness has been achieved, and students are more cognizant of the department and the services provided for their benefit.

The director of career and professional development has become a valued member of the student affairs leadership team.

Benefits Overview

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Pharmacy plan

Vision plan

Flexible spending account

Disability plan

Life and other insurance plans

Educational assistance and tuition plans

Mandatory and voluntary retirement plans

Paid time off (vacation, sick, holiday) For more detailed information, visit http://www.uab.edu/humanresources/home/benefits.

Application and Nomination Applications, including a position-specific cover letter and resume, may be submitted online at http://www.spelmanjohnson.com. Nominations for this position may be emailed to J. Scott Derrick at jsd@spelmanjohnson.com. Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should contact Spelman Johnson at 413-529-2895.

Spelman Johnson

Director of Career and Professional Development – The University of Alabama at Birmingham

J. Scott Derrick, Search Associate

Visit the UAB website at www.uab.edu

UAB is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and family-friendly environment in which all faculty and staff can excel and achieve work/life balance,

irrespective of race, national origin, age, genetic or family medical history, gender, faith, gender identity and expression, as well as sexual orientation. UAB also encourages applications from individuals with

disabilities and veterans. Spelman Johnson has prepared this document based on personal interviews and information copied, compiled, or quoted in part from source documents obtained from our client institution, and as such the contents of this document are believed to be reliable. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, the original source documents and factual situations

govern, and the material presented here should be relied upon for informational purposes only.