Director of Health Promotion and Prevention, Wellness Services

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

COMMUNITY

Northwest Missouri State University is located in Maryville, Missouri, a community of 12,000 with a diverse economy and a strong industrial base. Maryville is located 45 miles north of St. Joseph, Missouri, 90 miles north of Kansas City, Missouri, and 110 miles southeast of Omaha, Nebraska. For more information, visit the city’s website at www.maryville.org.

UNIVERSITY

With an enrollment of more than 8,500 students, Northwest is a coeducational, primarily residential four-year university that offers a broad range of undergraduate and selected graduate programs on its Maryville campus and through Northwest Online.

Founded in 1905, Northwest boasts a high retention rate and a graduation rate in the 95th percentile among its peers. Additionally, results of the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory show Northwest students are more satisfied than students at national peers, and 78 percent of Northwest students report they would repeat their university experience, compared to 75 percent of students surveyed nationally at their respective institutions.

Furthermore, the University is a national model for student success and career placement, with 93 percent of bachelor’s degree earners and 98 percent of master’s degree earners securing employment or continuing their education within six months of completing a degree at Northwest, according to the most recent data.

Northwest places a high emphasis on profession-based learning to help graduates get a jumpstart on their careers while maintaining competitive tuition rates and generous financial assistance to help minimize the financial barriers students may face when pursuing a college degree.

Students have opportunities to build their résumés with experiences on campus in nearly every area of study, including the Horace Mann Laboratory School, National Public Radio affiliate KXCV, the R.T. Wright Farm, Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area, a partnership with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or Knacktive, a student-driven integrated digital marketing communications agency. In conjunction with its emergency and disaster management program, Northwest organizes and hosts Missouri Hope, an annual mass casualty training exercise that attracts first responders and emergency workers from throughout the nation and provides hands-on training in preparation for a natural disaster.

The University’s vibrant and diverse learning community also offers more than 150 student organizations, and textbooks and a laptop are included in tuition, saving students an estimated $6,900 over four years. Northwest offers 1,200 student employment positions, allowing students to build professional skills through its internationally benchmarked student employment program.

For more information about Northwest and its performance, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/aboutus/facts/.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Until filled

DATE AVAILABLE: July 1, 2026

TO APPLY: Follow the steps of the online application process. Please contact the Office of Human Resources at 660-562-1121 or email ewilmes@nwmissouri.edu if more information is needed regarding the process.