Assistant Director for Student Research Programs

Position Number: 003521

Department: University College (Adm)

Employment Type: Permanent - Full-time

Months Per Year: 12

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Assistant Director for the Office of Undergraduate Research ( OUR ) at UNC Charlotte supports efforts and programming aimed at supporting faculty, staff, and students’ participation in undergraduate research at UNC Charlotte. The Assistant Director will serve as the program manager for part of the university’s portfolio of undergraduate research programs, liaison for on-campus partners and events, and support student engagement in professional development opportunities. This position is responsible for implementing and managing digital tools to collect student applications, facilitate student research presentations, and support professional development activities that build essential career competencies among students.

Beyond these initiatives, the position will dedicate a portion of their time to building program engagement by delivering presentations, facilitating small group discussions, hosting drop-in support services, and providing individual coaching as needed. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in experiential learning, student engagement, and career development, with the ability to effectively manage programs and interact with student populations.

• Serve as the Assistant Director for OUR’s portfolio of research experiences for undergraduate students. This involves participating in student recruitment for undergraduate students; matching students with mentors based on the students’ discipline and areas of research; and creating and facilitating professional development training for students.

• Provide support, training, and consulting, in conjunction with the Director, to faculty mentors working with students. Develop and maintain best practices in supporting students in the research process, implement mentoring agreements, creating the necessary training and development structures for the onboarding of students and faculty.

• Manage the scholars program and process that includes process collateral, processes/policies, recruitment of student researchers, and program assessment. Will work in collaboration with the OUR team to meet these objectives.

• Collaborates with the entire team on operations, budget, strategic planning, and assessment of program impact.

• Will be responsible for teaching research internship courses.

• Attends weekly staff meetings, training and planning meetings, and event team meetings.

• Collaborates with the OUR team in order to plan and execute on-site events, research conferences and symposia, other related events, as well as campus-wide programs, and assists with communication of these initiatives.

• Serves on Division and University committees and participates in Division and University-wide programs and events as appropriate.

• Serve as a liaison for campus partners that support OUR student programming and channels of opportunity and external entities that are interested in collaborating on initiatives and innovation that increase the awareness of research in students.

• Supervise student workers on student-focused awareness, communication, and branding efforts for undergraduate research across campus.

• Collaborate with the director in strategically connecting to Colleges/Schools at Charlotte, working towards expanding access to research for students and removing barriers while expanding the network of mentors.

• The Assistant Director will also attend local, regional, and national conferences to promote the university’s initiative, as appropriate.

• Engage with students through clubs and organizations interested in learning about research, activating opportunities for students to attend conferences and symposiums.

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Experience / Education:

• Master of Science or Master of Arts degree and 1 year of experience working in higher education.

Preferred Education Skills and Experience:

• Doctorate.

• The capacity to independently manage and coordinate activities in a complex environment.

• Organizational and problem-solving skills to manage multiple initiatives and ensure program success.

• Demonstrated expertise in the student development process with undergraduates and awareness of key competencies needed.

• Experience managing student programs including recruitment, engagement, and outcome tracking.

• Experience with research programs, experience mentoring undergraduate students, and/or understanding of experiential education in university settings.

• Experience with program development and large event coordination.

• Experience in creating and implementing professional development seminars and/or training workshops for large audiences.

• Experience with quantitative data analysis, data visualization, database management, and using relevant digital tools.

• The ability to work collaboratively with students, faculty, and administrators.

• The ability to think critically and creatively to engage all individuals.

• Strong verbal and written communication, organizational, management, delegation, and presentation skills required.

• Experience with standard Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, and basic statistical analysis