Student Programs Coordinator

Student & Campus Life (SCL) inspires transformation in all Cornell students on their journey of individual, academic and personal evolution. Our division is comprised of leading student affairs experts who support our campus on pressing student life matters including public service, health, wellbeing, connection and belonging, residential living, food services, sports, recreation, career services, and student activities and organizations including sorority and fraternity life. We provide support and services to roughly 25,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students on multiple campuses in the U.S. and abroad.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Engagement and Land-Grant Affairs advocates for Cornell?s role as the land-grant university for New York state and monitors and collaborates on responses to the governor?s initiatives in higher education and economic development. This Office is responsible for a broad range of relationships and academic programs and initiatives that further Cornell?s public engagement mission globally, locally, and across New York state, where Cornell serves as the state?s land-grant university.

Based in Ithaca, N.Y., the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement builds service and community-engaged learning as a hallmark of the Cornell student experience by empowering students through campus and community collaborations to create a more just and equitable world. The center plays a key role supporting community-engaged learning and public service across the university. The center brings high-impact practices such as, community-engaged learning, and service-oriented programs to students, faculty, and staff while increasing opportunities for partnerships in local, national, and global arenas.

Leveraging the existing strengths of Cornell?s public engagement agenda, the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement presents a new model and direction for higher education - one in which community-engaged learning (CEL) and service is deeply ingrained, fully institutionalized and effectively taught and implemented. Through this center, students graduating from Cornell will enter the world as educated global citizens who practice respect and empathy; seek collaboration, cooperation and creativity; embrace differences and diversity in all aspects of their personal, professional and civic lives; and are dedicated to working with others to help solve some of the world?s most intractable problems.

The Student Programs Coordinator supports the Director and Assistant Director of Student Programs in running and expanding the Pre-Orientation Service Trip (POST) Program, advising and supporting student groups, and advancing the Center?s reimagined student programs model. This position provides direct oversight of the POST Program offered annually for incoming first-year students, leading the recruitment and training of the POST student leadership team who support student participants transition into Cornell and provide an introduction to the fundamentals of CEL and the variety of CEL opportunities provided by the Einhorn Center. This role collaborates with the Student Programs team and other Einhorn Center staff to develop recruitment and training materials, steward community-based partnerships, and ensure adherence to risk management and administrative requirements associated with the POST Program. Additionally, the Student Programs Coordinator assists the Director of Student Programs in expanding the POST program to a year-round offering, providing ongoing service opportunities beyond the main program in August. The Program Coordinator implements and coordinates efforts to strengthen a consistent, comprehensive, and Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) centered advisement framework across the Center?s 16 student-run organizations. In addition, this role contributes to curriculum implementation, advising support, and leadership development infrastructure. A key component of this role is supporting a tiered student leadership structure that expands capacity through a train-the-trainer model and allows students beyond those housed by the Einhorn Center to access important CEL content.

Success Factors

• Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills across diverse communities.
• Ability to navigate sensitive or potentially polarized topics with diplomacy and neutrality.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Adaptability in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Organizational skills to systematize processes, data, and evaluation tools.
• Team-oriented mindset with a commitment to equity and mutual benefit in partnerships.
• Clear understanding of the role of community-engaged learning in student development.

Please note: This position is a 2 year term appointment. It may be ended or extended based on organizational need, funding or performance. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor?s Degree and 2-4 years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong organizational and administrative skills.
• Strong interpersonal and oral, written and electronic media communication skills.
• Strong computer skills, including desktop applications.
• Must be able to meet the travel requirements of the position, including having reliable transportation or having and maintaining a valid driver?s license along with the ability to meet Cornell?s driving requirements. Comfort and experience driving a 12-passenger van.
• Ability to work independently and take initiative.
• Must exercise sound and ethical judgment when acting on behalf of the University.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Role requires regular evening commitments with occasional weekend availability required during certain program offerings, and university-wide events.

Preferred Qualifications

• 2-4 Years experience in higher education student facing programs
• Demonstrated student engagement experience, including student programs creation and advising that benefit communities as well as students and university-based academics.
• Experience with community-based not-for-profit organizations, community development, or extension.
• Exposure to sponsored research and the broader impacts approach used by federal funders.
• Comfort with using program evaluation and assessment information or data to improve programming.