Director of Health Promotion and Prevention, Wellness Services

Job Details

PRIMARY DUTY: The Director of Health Promotion and Prevention provides strategic leadership for university-wide health promotion, prevention, and student wellbeing initiatives through the Department of Wellness Services. This position is responsible for developing, implementing, assessing, and sustaining evidence-based programs and campus-wide prevention strategies that support student success, engagement, retention, safety, and holistic wellbeing. The Director works collaboratively across the university and community to foster a campus environment that promotes health, resilience, belonging, and academic success through health promotion practices aligned with industry best practices. As a key member of the Wellness Services Leadership Team, the Director of Health Promotion and Prevention contributes to strategic planning, policy development, assessment, and continuous quality improvement related to student wellbeing, prevention, health promotion, and student success initiatives to ensure the delivery of evidence-informed, responsive, and impactful wellness and prevention services for Northwest students.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Provide strategic leadership for university-wide health promotion and prevention initiatives focused on student success, wellbeing, engagement, and retention through the development, implementation, and assessment of evidence-informed programs and population-level prevention strategies aligned with university priorities and industry best practices.
2. Serve as Wellness Services’ lead for Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD), violence prevention, and mental health/suicide prevention initiatives by coordinating campus-wide education, prevention programming, outreach, training, and intervention efforts designed to support student wellbeing, safety, and academic success.
3. Maintain university compliance with the Department of Education’s Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Regulations (EDGAR Part 86), including oversight of required prevention programming, assessment practices, and biennial reporting.
4. Responsible for providing BASICS training (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) for identified students on an individual basis.
5. Lead and sustain collaborative prevention partnerships through active participation in Partners in Prevention (PIP) and leadership of Maryville Partners in Prevention (MVPIP), including strategic planning, coalition development, program implementation, reporting, and assessment activities.
6. Collaborate with key stakeholders on- and off-campus to develop a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to health and well-being for students
7. Utilize assessment, evaluation, and data-informed practices to measure program effectiveness, identify student wellbeing needs, support continuous quality improvement, and inform strategic planning and prevention initiatives, including administration of campus health and wellbeing assessments such as the Missouri Assessment of College Health Behaviors (MACHB).
8. Develop, implement, and sustain student engagement and peer education initiatives that promote student leadership, health literacy, resilience, help-seeking behaviors, and overall student wellbeing through presentations, outreach programs, trainings, and campus-wide wellness initiatives.
9. Hire, train, supervise, and evaluate Health Promotion and Prevention staff, graduate assistants, interns, peer educators, and student employees while contributing to strategic planning, assessment, policy development, and collaborative leadership efforts as a member of the Wellness Services Leadership Team.
10. Oversee the Health Promotion and Prevention budget.
11. Work with the Grants Coordinator to identify and procure grant funding for health promotion projects.
12. Other duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS:

Education: Master’s degree in public health, health promotion, or related field

Experience: 3 years of progressive responsibility in health promotion or related field. Previous experience in higher education health promotion, prevention, or student wellbeing initiatives, including leadership of programs, assessment efforts, outreach initiatives, and cross-campus and community collaboration, is preferred but not required.

Skills: Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to lead, supervise and motivate others, ease in public speaking and commitment to excellence in all areas of education and provision of services, ability to build and sustain effective collaboration with university and community partners.

WORKING CONDITIONS: Work will take place in multiple campus and community sites with varying temperatures and accommodations; working some evenings/weekends; some travel is required.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: This position will potentially supervise professional staff, graduate assistants, student employees, and student peer educators.

TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEMANDS: lifting of boxes and materials of up to 50 pounds