Associate Director for Student Culture and Engagement

Job Description Summary Department: Adele H. Stamp Student Union – Center for Campus Life

Reports To: Director, Adele H. Stamp Student Union

Supervises Directly: Assistant Director for Student Engagement, Manager of MICA, two MICA Program Coordinators, the Unity Center, and Scholar in Residence

Supervises Indirectly: Program coordinators, administrative staff, Graduate Legal Aid staff, graduate assistants, interns, and undergraduate student employees

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union (STAMP) and serving on STAMP’s senior leadership team, the Associate Director for Student Culture and Engagement provides strategic, administrative, and programmatic leadership for a portfolio focused on student connection, belonging, culture, transition, and success. The portfolio encompasses Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA), the Unity Center, and Student Engagement programs that serve graduate, transfer, off-campus/commuter, and veteran/military-connected students, as well as Graduate Legal Aid.

The Associate Director establishes a cohesive strategic direction across distinct units, ensuring STAMP actively supports populations historically facing barriers to participation while honoring the unique mission, expertise, and community of each area. The role leads cross-functional campus partnerships, supervises multidisciplinary staff and academic scholars, serves as a primary relational responder for campus expressive activities, and oversees portfolio budgeting, assessment, and strategic alignment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

30% — Portfolio Leadership, Supervision, & Staff Development --Supervisory Leadership: Directly supervise the Assistant Director for Student Engagement, Manager of the Unity Center, two MICA Program Coordinators, and Scholar in Residence. Provide indirect leadership to program coordinators, administrative staff, Graduate Legal Aid staff, graduate assistants, interns, and student employees. --Personnel & Team Administration: Oversee recruitment, onboarding, coaching, performance evaluation, leave approvals, workload sustainability, succession planning, and professional development across all three direct reports in the portfolio. --Scholar in Residence Direction: Provide strategic supervision to the Scholar in Residence, bridging academic inquiry and student affairs. Establish annual priorities and measures of success; align teaching, scholarship, research, advising, and grant-supported work with portfolio goals; and translate academic partnerships into co-curricular opportunities while respecting scholarly autonomy. --Organizational Culture: Cultivate a culture of trust, accountability, shared learning, and collaboration. Enable staff to share resources and expertise across functional lines without diminishing population-specific programs and service integrity.

40% — Student Culture & Engagement --Portfolio & Unit Oversight: Lead programs, services, and space utilization across MICA, the Unity Center, and Student Engagement areas (supporting graduate, transfer, off-campus/commuter, veteran/military-connected students, and Graduate Legal Aid). --Program & Community Development: Design and evaluate responsive initiatives that promote belonging, leadership, and smooth academic/social transitions across diverse student populations. --Targeted Access & Equity: Partner with unit leaders to identify and remove systemic barriers to participation, developing outreach strategies for historically underrepresented or non-traditionally engaged student groups without treating any population as monolithic. --Academic Integration: Integrate scholarly work, faculty/staff learning communities, and interdisciplinary partnerships into Unity Center and MICA programming. --Specialized Program Oversight: -Support the Assistant Director for Student Engagement in administering Graduate Legal Aid, ensuring appropriate staffing, fee-funding stewardship, utilization tracking, service continuity, and administrative boundaries. -Ensure Graduate Student Life maintains appropriate collaborative support for the Graduate Student Government while keeping primary focus on broader graduate student engagement.

15% — Campus Partnerships, Expressive Activity, & Institutional Engagement --Relational Response for Expressive Activity: Serve as a primary relational responder and co-facilitator in STAMP’s expressive-activity management process. Maintain clear communication with organizers and student leaders, share policy and resource information, co-facilitate event planning, coordinate STAMP support staff, and lead relational de-escalation. (Note: Event and Guest Services retains primary responsibility for event operations, facility scheduling, and policy enforcement). --Institutional Advocacy & Representation: Represent STAMP on divisional and university committees focused on student success, culture, access, and campus climate. --Stakeholder Engagement: Convene academic departments, administrative units, the Graduate School, alumni, and community partners to streamline resources, consult on cultural responsiveness, and coordinate support for emerging student needs.

15% — Strategy, Assessment, Resources, & Departmental Leadership --Strategic Planning & Assessment: Establish portfolio goals aligned with STAMP, divisional, and university priorities. Partner with STAMP Assessment and Research to evaluate program reach, student belonging, resource accessibility, and partnership impact to drive data-informed improvements. --Fiscal Stewardship: Provide fiscal oversight for operating, programmatic, student-fee, grant, and donor funds. Identify and pursue external funding opportunities, including grants, sponsorships, and advancement partnerships. --Departmental Leadership: Participate in STAMP-wide strategic planning, leadership team decision-making, policy formulation, critical-incident response, and inter-departmental collaboration across operations, facilities, communications, and student leadership. --Perform other assigned duties as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

Education & Professional Experience --Advanced Degree: Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, education, public administration, organizational leadership, social sciences, or a related field. --Progressive Leadership: 10 or more years of progressively responsible leadership and administrative experience in higher education or student affairs. --Supervisory Expertise: 5 or more years of experience directly supervising professional staff, including managers, supervisors, and multi-tiered teams. --Portfolio Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading a department, center, or portfolio encompassing multiple functional program areas, professional disciplines, and diverse student populations.

Strategic Leadership & Portfolio Governance --Unified Strategic Direction: Proven ability to establish a cohesive portfolio strategy while preserving and respecting the distinct identities, missions, histories, and specialized expertise of individual units. --Organizational Change & Alignment: Experience leading organizational change, program realignment, and cross-functional initiatives that bridge academic and student affairs. --Policy & Regulatory Translation: Ability to interpret and translate evolving institutional, legal, and regulatory requirements into clear, mission-aligned practice and policy.

Student Engagement, Belonging, & Inclusive Practice --Student Development Knowledge: Deep knowledge of student development, engagement, transition, belonging, community development, and co-curricular learning. --Multicultural Engagement & Equity: Advanced expertise in multicultural engagement, cultural centers, population-based student services, and community advocacy, with the ability to apply culturally responsive practices without treating any group as monolithic. --Specialized Student Populations: Demonstrated success advancing access, engagement, and success for graduate, transfer, off-campus/commuter, and veteran/military-connected students, as well as populations historically encountering institutional barriers. --Facility & Campus Space Leadership: Experience opening, operating, developing, leading, or assessing a student center, cultural center, or community-focused campus space.

Specialized Supervision & Academic Integration --Academic & Scholarly Integration: Experience supervising or collaborating with faculty, scholars, and senior educators to align teaching, research, publication, grants, advising, and co-curricular programs. --Boundary Stewardship: Ability to maintain appropriate administrative, supervisory, and organizational boundaries when overseeing specialized professional services and high-expertise staff.

Campus Climate, Expressive Activity, & Crisis Response --Relational Event & Demonstration Response: Demonstrated ability to lead relational responses during expressive activities, demonstrations, and sensitive campus events through proactive communication, relationship-building, de-escalation, and cross-departmental coordination. --Operational Boundary Clarity: Clear ability to distinguish relational and educational responsibilities from operational compliance and enforcement functions, coordinating effectively with institutional authorities. --Discretion & Critical Response: Ability to manage competing priorities, respond to emerging concerns, and exercise high discretion and sound judgment when handling sensitive student, personnel, legal, or institutional matters.

Assessment, Operations & Resource Stewardship --Data-Informed Decision Making: Expertise in program development, learning outcomes, continuous improvement, and leveraging qualitative/quantitative data, research, and student feedback to establish priorities and guide decisions. --Fiscal & Student-Fee Stewardship: Experience managing complex budgets, student-fee funding allocations, and multi-stream operational funds. --Resource Development: Skill in securing and managing grants, sponsorships, fundraising initiatives, and external strategic partnerships.

Communication & Stakeholder Collaboration --Cross-Boundary Collaboration: Proven ability to build productive relationships across academic, administrative, and divisional boundaries, facilitating complex conversations involving differing perspectives and institutional responsibilities. --Multi-Audience Communication: Superior oral, written, interpersonal, and public communication skills across diverse constituencies, including students, faculty, staff, senior administrators, families, alumni, and community partners. --Technical Proficiency: Proficiency with Microsoft Office or comparable productivity, data, and collaboration platforms.

To learn more about the leadership competencies for this role, please visit: https://go.umd.edu/LeadershipCompetencies

Minimum Qualifications Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience: Eight (8) years of residence hall, student engagement, or student affairs management. Three (3) years of experience supervising or managing professional staff.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES: Knowledge of student affairs, resident life, program development and administration, and event planning. Knowledge of undergraduate students’ needs and aspirations. Skill in oral and written communication. Skill in the use of Microsoft Office and Google Workspace products. Ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, regulations, and laws. Ability to multitask while demonstrating a commitment to customer service.

Additional Job Details Required Application Materials: Resume, cover letter, and list of references

Best Consideration Date: November 29, 2026

Posting Close Date: December 6, 2026

Job Risks Not Applicable to This Position

Financial Disclosure Required No For more information on Financial Disclosure, please visit Maryland's State Ethics Commission we