"Director of Academic Internships, University College"

Job Details

Unit: University College

Department Summary: University College exists to support and empower learners of all kinds. We serve every student at VCU, regardless of major or academic home. Our Transformative Learning programs, da Vinci Center for Innovation, Shift Retail Lab, and Life Design initiatives are open to all.

We also offer a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, minors, microcredentials, certificates and degree programs focused on interdisciplinary innovation. Students from other VCU schools/colleges can add these offerings to their current plans of study, or they can choose to major in one of our own.

Position Summary: The Director of Academic Internships is the inaugural operational leader for the new VCU Academic Internships Office.

Reporting directly to the Assistant Vice Provost for Engaged Transformative Learning in the VCU University College, and collaborating with key campus partners, the Director will provide critical leadership in building the office infrastructure, developing and implementing policies and protocols, leading proactive credit-bearing internship site development and management, and supporting consistent academic quality and logistics.

Responsibilities: I. Operational Leadership & Office Establishment

• Office Build-Out:
  • Collaborate with the AVP to design the University Academic Internships Office structure.
  • Lead the implementation, establishing all core workflows, technology infrastructure, and operational procedures from the ground up.
• Team Leadership:
  • Recruit, hire, train, and directly manage the office staff and administrative personnel, fostering a proactive, service-oriented culture.
• Policy & Governance:
  • Implement university-wide policies and best practices for all academic internships, ensuring ethical practices and regulatory compliance (e.g., labor laws, risk management).
• Budget Oversight:
  • Oversee the day-to-day management of the office budget and resource allocation to meet aggressive internship targets.

II. Proactive Site Development & Employer Relations

• Site Acquisition Strategy:
  • Design and execute the proactive strategy for site development, specifically directing efforts toward new employer partners, with an emphasis on smaller businesses and community organizations.
• Relationship Management:
  • Cultivate, maintain, and expand high-level relationships with employers and industry leaders to build a large and reliable pool of VCU's internship site options.
• Quality Assurance:
  • Establish and manage a rigorous site vetting and evaluation process to ensure all placements offer high-quality, relevant learning experiences that meet departmental needs.
• Data Management:
  • Co-lead the process for securing, implementing, and overseeing the optimal use of a central internship database/platform for tracking sites, student placements, and institutional outcomes.
  • Maintain an accurate and comprehensive database of internship sites, contacts, and placement activity.
  • Track key metrics related to internship participation, site diversity, and partnership growth.

III. Academic and Partnership Execution

• Programmatic Support:
  • Support the AVP in supporting faculty and departmental staff, assisting them in establishing and supporting best practices for course oversight within programs (e.g., managing required paperwork, facilitating supervisor communication).
• Implementation Liaison:
  • Work directly with departmental coordinators and faculty to manage the logistical implementation of the phased rollout plan across academic units.
• Inter-Office Collaboration:
  • Supporting AVP in ensuring the collaborative working relationship with University Career Services to delineate roles, co-manage non-academic employer relationships, and create a unified student preparation and support model.
• VP Support:
  • Support the AVP's executive integration efforts by preparing reports, presenting operational data, and providing expertise on implementation challenges to Deans and senior leadership.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Higher Education Administration, Business, Counseling, Social Work, or a related field
• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible leadership experience
• Demonstrated experience in hiring, training, and managing professional staff and managing a budget
• Proven ability to lead a significant change initiative, implement complex policies, and manage operational logistics across diverse academic units
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and presentation skills necessary to engage internal and external stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree preferred
• Experience leading a placement or internship effort in a large public R1 research university
• Extensive, demonstrated experience in proactive employer engagement and site development, with a proven track record of successfully scaling a placement or internship program is preferred. Experience building a sourcing pipeline "from a zero base" is strongly preferred
• Experience with regulatory compliance related to credit-bearing and non-credit academic internships
• Prior experience with utilizing and implementing major experiential learning technology platforms

Salary Range: Up to $100,000

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Hours per Week: 40

Restricted Position: No

ORP Eligible: Yes

Flexible Work Arrangement: Fully Onsite

University Job Title: Director SS 1

Contact Information: Contact Name: Andrew Arroyo Contact Email: atarroyo@vcu.edu