Director of Diversity & Inclusion

Director of Diversity & Inclusion

Company: Capital University

Job Location:

Category: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Services

Type: Full-Time

The Director of Diversity and Inclusion is a dedicated leader focused on the success and engagement of a diverse student body, ensuring that every learner has the resources to thrive from their first day on campus. By overseeing key retention and mentorship programs, such as Smooth Transitions, this role provides the personalized guidance and academic support that help students navigate their unique paths. The Director coordinates significant university traditions, including cultural celebrations and the MLK Day of Learning, as well as local service initiatives that connect students with the Columbus community. By advising identity-based organizations and managing community-engaged learning projects, the Director fosters a student-ready culture where students are known, supported, and challenged, preparing them to lead lives of purpose and service.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Coordinate student-facing diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, including campus-wide cultural awareness and celebration programming. Provide robust support for under-represented and underserved populations, including low socio-economic students, first generation college students, and neurodivergent individuals. Serve as secondary advising support for identity-based student organizations.
• Coordinate Capital University's Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning, including program facilitation, committee selection and leadership, day-of coordination, speaker selection, and coordination of all other aspects of the celebration.
• Steward our community traditions while re-envisioning our institutional role as a vital regional anchor. In this role, you will be charged with nurturing established civic programs and mentoring initiatives, ensuring they continue to flourish. Beyond maintaining these existing strengths, you will shape a collaborative vision that leverages our community as a partner, deepening our collective impact and positioning the university as a visible, caring leader committed to the common good.
• Facilitate Smooth Transitions through the coordination of the summer week-long program focused on easing the transition to Capital for participants, as well as the year-long aspect of the program, focused on programming and student success work to promote retention and success of students in the program.
• Oversee all logistics for the Cap Cupboard, Capital's on-campus food resource center, and, in collaboration with the office of career development, Cap Closet, a career-focused clothing center. This includes, but is not limited to, the following areas: Recruit, train, and coordinate student volunteers for the Cap Cupboard and Cap Closet. Collaborate with community and campus partners to coordinate donations and develop donation drives.
• Participate in both the Community Engagement and Social Justice Communities of Practice. Assist faculty with identifying community partners for CE-designated courses and course projects. Maintain the community engagement website, community partner database, and utilize Engage to document students' community engagement experiences.
• Implement a specific aspect(s) of the Transitions Program. Aspects include Summer Orientation, CAP 101, Welcome Weekend, and Winter Welcome, selection of Transition Programs, Student Leadership Team, and Orientation Leaders.
• Participate as a member of the institutional student success committee.

Qualifications:

• Master's degree (M. A.) required; or two to four years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures. Possesses a positive attitude towards cultural differences. Willing to gain knowledge of different cultural practices and world views and determine how those practices and views will factor in during investigations, complaints, reports, findings, etc.
• To perform this job successfully, an individual should have excellent skills in the Microsoft suite of products, inDesign, Canva, and social media platforms.
• Ability to respond effectively to sensitive inquiries or complaints. Ability to write speeches and articles using original or innovative techniques or style. Ability to effectively present information to a wide range of constituents. Ability to facilitate discussion groups and workshops; ability to coordinate events; ability to update and maintain social media presence and organizational listservs.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• This position requires the ability and/or skill to: work closely and professionally with others as part of a team, be flexible, pay attention to detail, work without supervision and demonstrate considerable initiative, communicate professionally through both verbal and written means, work well with individuals from diverse backgrounds, manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines, establish departmental goals and priorities, contribute to Capital University's mission and vision.

Capital University is currently unable to sponsor employment Visas or consider candidates who will require Visa sponsorship.

For more information on Capital University, visit our website at www.capital.edu.

Capital University offers a rich benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, retirement, family education benefits, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and free parking.

Capital University is an equal opportunity employer. Capital University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion, sex, gender, age, disability, veteran status, or other characteristics protected by the law.