Assistant Dean of Students for Reslife/Wellness in Alfred, New York at Alfred University

The Assistant Dean of Students for Residential Communities & Student Well-Being (Assistant Dean) provides strategic leadership for a comprehensive student support portfolio that advances student success, well-being, belonging, and community engagement. Reporting to the Dean for Student Experience, this position provides vision, leadership, and supervision for Residential Communities, the Wellness Center (Health & Counseling Services), and the Student Conduct system.

The Assistant Dean is responsible for creating an integrated residential experience that promotes student learning, personal development, health and wellness, accountability, and community standards. This position leads a collaborative team of professional and student staff while fostering strong partnerships across Academic Affairs, Facilities, Public Safety, Athletics, Enrollment Management, and other campus partners to support Alfred University's mission of helping students realize their purpose through mentorship, intersections, and belonging.

The Assistant Dean serves as a member of the Student Experience leadership team, provides leadership during campus emergencies, participates in university on-call responsibilities, and uses assessment and data-informed decision making to enhance student retention, persistence, and success.

Salary: $62,354.00-$65,158.12 Annually

Essential Functions:

Strategic Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership and vision for Residential Communities, Student Conduct, and the Wellness Center, ensuring alignment with the University's strategic plan and Student Experience priorities.
• Develop and implement departmental strategic goals, assessment plans, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Foster an integrated student support model that intentionally connects residential living, wellness, student behavior, and student success.
• Utilize assessment data, student feedback, and institutional metrics to guide decision making and improve student outcomes.
• Develop annual goals, budgets, operational plans, and key performance indicators for assigned departments.

Leadership and Supervision

• Recruit, supervise, mentor, develop, and evaluate professional staff within Residential Communities, the Wellness Center, and Student Conduct.
• Provide leadership for Resident Directors/Area Coordinators, Resident Assistants, Residential Communities and Wellness Center staff, and student employees (e.g., graduate assistants, resident assistants, and student office workers).
• Promote a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous professional development.
• Facilitate regular leadership meetings and individual supervisory meetings.
• Support succession planning and leadership development across the division.

Residential Communities

• Provide administrative oversight for all residential operations serving approximately 1,500 residential students.
• Oversee housing assignments, occupancy management, room selection, break housing, summer housing operations, and residential operations.
• Lead the development and implementation of a residential curriculum focused on belonging, leadership, community engagement, academic success, wellness, and personal responsibility.
• Supervise residential programming initiatives, Living Learning Communities, and community-building efforts.
• Partner with Admissions to showcase the residential experience during recruitment events.
• Collaborate with Facilities to maintain safe, welcoming, and well-maintained residential facilities while prioritizing capital improvements and deferred maintenance.
• Lead departmental opening, closing, and emergency planning processes.

Wellness Center

• Provide administrative oversight for the Wellness Center, including Health Services and Counseling Services.
• Support an integrated, student-centered model that promotes prevention, education, intervention, and holistic well-being.
• Collaborate with clinical staff to ensure compliance with applicable professional standards, regulations, and accreditation requirements while respecting appropriate clinical independence.
• Advance campus-wide wellness initiatives that promote mental health, physical health, resilience, and healthy decision-making.
• Partner with campus stakeholders to develop proactive wellness education and outreach programming.
• Utilize student health and wellness trends to inform programming and institutional planning.

Student Conduct and Community Standards

• Provide leadership for the University's student conduct process and community standards system.
• Serve as Administrative Hearing Officer for student conduct cases.
• Oversee conduct case management, incident reporting, sanctioning, appeals, and student conduct records.
• Ensure conduct processes are educational, equitable, restorative when appropriate, and aligned with institutional values.
• Review and revise the Student Code of Conduct and Residential Community Standards annually.
• Develop educational sanctions that promote student learning, accountability, and personal growth.
• Serve as chair or designee for conduct boards and appeal processes as appropriate.
• Collaborate closely with Public Safety, Title IX, Academic Affairs, Athletics, Residence Life, and other campus partners regarding student concerns.

Student Support and Case Management

• Serve as a senior resource for complex student concerns involving health, wellness, housing, behavior, and community safety.
• Participate on the University's Care Team and Behavioral Intervention Team.
• Coordinate interventions for students experiencing personal, behavioral, or academic challenges.
• Partner with families, faculty, and campus offices to support student persistence and success.
• Support crisis response efforts involving residential students and students experiencing significant personal challenges.

Assesment and Student Success

• Develop learning outcomes and assessment plans across Residential Communities, Student Conduct, and Wellness.
• Administer student satisfaction surveys and departmental assessments.
• Monitor occupancy, retention, wellness utilization, conduct trends, and other student success metrics.
• Utilize data to improve services, allocate resources, and support institutional retention goals.
• Prepare annual reports and recommendations for divisional leadership.

Campus Collaboration

• Serve on university and divisional committees.
• Collaborate closely with Career Development, Student Engagement, Athletics, Public Safety, Facilities, Enrollment Management, Marketing, and Academic Affairs.
• Support New Student Orientation, Welcome Week, Family Weekend, Commencement, and other institutional events.
• Build partnerships that intentionally connect students with mentoring relationships, wellness resources, and meaningful campus engagement opportunities.

Emergency Response

• Participate in the University's emergency response and on-call rotation.
• Provide leadership during student crises, campus emergencies, and critical incidents.
• Serve as a key member of the University's incident response structure.
• Maintain availability for after-hours consultation as needed.

Financial and Administrative Management

• Develop and administer departmental operating budgets.
• Manage housing revenues, occupancy projections, and financial planning related to residential operations.
• Oversee contracts with external vendors serving residential and wellness operations.
• Ensure compliance with university policies and applicable federal, state, and local regulations.

Other Duties adn Responsibilities:

• Support Alfred University's commitment to helping students realize their purpose through mentorship, intersections, and belonging.
• Foster an inclusive campus environment where every student feels welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed.
• Serve as a Campus Security Authority under the Clery Act.
• Maintain compliance with university safety requirements and required training.
• Participate actively in professional organizations including NASPA, ACUHO-I, ACHA, ASCA, or related associations.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Vice President for Student Experience.

Qualifications:

• Education:
  • ​​​​​​​Master's degree in Higher Education, Student Affairs, Counseling, College Student Personnel, Education, Public Health, Social Work, or a related field required.
• Experience:
  • ​​​​​​​Seven or more years of progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education.
  • Significant supervisory experience managing professional staff.
  • Demonstrated leadership in residential education or residence life.
  • Experience overseeing student conduct systems.
  • Experience collaborating with counseling and/or health services is strongly preferred.
  • Experience leading organizational change, strategic planning, assessment, and budget management.
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
  • ​​​​​​​Comprehensive understanding of student development, holistic well-being, and residential education.
  • Demonstrated commitment to student success, belonging, and inclusive excellence.
  • Knowledge of student conduct philosophy, restorative practices, behavioral intervention, and case management.
  • Ability to respond effectively during crises and emergencies.
  • Excellent communication, relationship-building, and conflict resolution skills.
  • Strong organizational, financial, and project management abilities.
  • Experience using student information systems, housing management software, conduct databases, and retention technologies.
  • Ability to analyze institutional data and use evidence to improve programs and services.
  • Demonstrated commitment to collaborative leadership and cross-divisional partnerships.

Physical Demands & Work Environment:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Personal Protective Equipment must be worn when required. A respiratory function test and the ability to use respirators may be required. Stairs and uneven surfaces may be present; artificial lifts, etc., may or may not be available. The position may require the incumbent to walk outdoors in all types of weather to other buildings or offices located on the campus. The Campus is in an area that contains numerous hills and slopes and may not always be fully accessible for mobility-impaired individuals.

About Alfred University:
Lighting the way for students since 1836. “We've always been a place for makers, especially those who make the future. Our commitment to independent thinking, creativity, academic rigor, and community have made us a unique kind of leader since 1836.”

Alfred University (AU) was founded on principles of social justice in 1836 by liberal, independent thinkers who placed high value on education for all citizens. The University has retained and built upon the strong values of its founders, developing as an institution of national and international renown that is responsive to the needs of contemporary society while remaining consistent with the spirit of its origins. Alfred University is the second oldest coeducational college in the United States as well as one of the earliest nineteenth-century colleges to have enrolled African American and Native American students. It has a long-standing history of educating socially conscious students who make a difference in their professions and their communities.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Alfred University evolved into a complex institution offering a full range of programs in the liberal arts and sciences, art and design, engineering, business, education, counseling, and school psychology to its nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students that live, learn, and play on a 232-acre campus located in an idyllic, creative valley in Western New York.

Alfred University actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee, student or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.