Senior Director, Campus Recreation Centers

Senior Director, Campus Recreation

The University of Illinois Chicago is seeking a student-centered, highly collaborative, strategic, culturally competent, and skilled leader to serve as the Senior Director of Campus Recreation within the newly created Office of Student Health and Well-being. With enhancing student health and well-being as a core institutional priority, this is an opportunity for a strong administrator and systems-based thinker to play a central role in developing creative, state-of-the-art programs and services that foster a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility and promote physical fitness comprehensively among students, faculty, staff, and the community surrounding UIC.

Campus Recreation offers a comprehensive suite of programs and services that promote active lifestyles, enhance well-being and support student success. Across two facilities and an outdoor feel complex, Campus Recreation offers intramural sports, premium fitness classes, sports clubs, personal training, massage therapy, fitness testing, Esports, a climbing wall, and a comprehensive aquatics program to the UIC community. We have a strong commitment to student development through our professional development program serving over 300 student employees who support our robust programs and services.

The Campus Recreation staff includes assistant/associate directors, program directors, program coordinators, graduate assistants, and student employees. We are committed to promoting a holistic definition of well-being focusing on the whole person, the whole educational experience, the whole institution, and the whole community. We are commitment to cultivating and maintaining a welcoming community that fosters inclusion, belonging, equity, and accessibility. We are committed to the highest standards of competency in meeting the needs of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including differences of culture, race, ethnicity, national origin, class, gender identity, gender expression, ability, age, body size, immigrant status, and sexual orientation. Campus Recreation is part of the Division of Student Affairs.

Position Description:

Under the administrative direction of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Health and Wellness/Executive Director, Counseling Center, The Senior Director of Campus Recreation Centers is responsible for the comprehensive fiscal, physical, and developmental aspects of UIC’s wellness and recreation programs and services. The Senior Director of Campus Recreation promotes UIC’s Campus Recreation facilities (i.e. Student Recreation Facility, The Sport and Fitness Center, The Outdoor Fields Complex and the Outdoor Court) in a unified, cohesive, and meaningful manner, cultivating a high-end customer and student experience at all locations. This position works closely with the health and wellness center leaders, including the Wellness Center and the Counseling Center.

Key Responsibilities/Duties:

• · Serve as key member of the UIC Health and Wellness leadership team.
• · Lead all aspects of the campus recreation programs and facilities, which includes ensuring the maintenance and cleanliness of facilities, pools, outdoor facilities, and intramural fields.
• · Oversee and administer programs offered through Campus Recreation facilities.
• · Manage a team of professionals, graduate assistants, and over 300 student employees.
• · Hire, train, supervise, evaluate, and develop professional staff.
• · Serve as a mentor and resource to encourage and ensure continued professional development of the team.
• · Plan, present, and manage the departmental annual operating budget in excess of $7 million, including revenue generation.
• · Direct the use of all resources to best serve the UIC community.
• · Ensure fiscal compliance with UIC policies and procedures.
• · Raise funds for future recreation projects.
• · Oversell all physical operations pertaining to Campus Recreation.
• · Administer improvement and major renovations and new construction projects.
• · Develop, implement, and interpret policies and procedures related to the successful management of facilities and programs.
• · Interpret and explain UIC policies and procedures to team members and ensure alignment.
• · Encourage student engagement in efforts to promote student well-being and/or provide peer support to community members seeking opportunities to advance well-being at UIC.
• · Conduct strategic planning and develop relationships with student leaders and other campus constituencies.
• · Work collaboratively with the Wellness Center, Counseling Center, and other Student Affairs departments, academic departments, and deans’ offices to deliver high quality campus recreation programs and services that support student well-being.
• · Work collaboratively with stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, staff, and community partners) to make Campus Recreation a hub for engagement.
• · Develop and administer long- and short-term plans for the department to include programs, services, and facilities aligned with University goals and metrics.
• · Lead assessment initiatives and identify trends in the field to determine priorities for operations.
• · Prepare and submit periodic reports to enable planning, direction, and evaluation of recreational programs and facilities.
• · Represent UIC on appropriate committees and at conferences on the national, state, and university levels.
• · Represent and promote the department throughout the university community through cooperative programming, partnerships, and committee participation.
• · Administer all risk management policies and procedure pertaining to the UIC operation.
• · Perform essential duties in emergencies and other university emergency closings.
• · Be available to report to work as needed during university emergency closings with appropriate notification of a department administrator.
• · In collaboration with Advancement and community partners, identify opportunities for revenue growth in line with the overall strategic direction of Campus Recreation.

Minimum Qualifications:

• · Bachelor’s degree in a wellness or recreation related field.
• · 8 or more years of progressive experience.
• · Master’s degree in higher education, sports management, business administration, exercise science or equivalent can substitute 1 year of professional experience.
• · 10 or more years full-time experience in collegiate recreational sports programs and facility management preferrable.
• · Experience writing end-of-year reports, supervising staff, developing budgets, policies, and marketing plans, and managing a variety of innovative programming such as population-specific, online, or e-sports initiatives.
• · Understanding of current and future college health, wellness, and recreation trends.
• · Success in identifying new revenue streams.
• · Demonstrated involvement/leadership with national organizations such as ACHA, NIRSA, and/or NASPA.
• · Strong leadership and problem-solving skills, excellent verbal and written communication and marketing capabilities.
• · Ability to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships.
• · Ability to interpret and comply with FERPA and other policies and legal statutes governing higher education.
• · Proficiency in interacting with and relating to a culturally diverse community.
• · Professionally handle sensitive and confidential information.

University Description: UIC is a large urban Research 1 university with a primarily commuter, though increasingly residential, student population of more than 34,000 and recognized as one of the most diverse universities in the U.S. More information is available at https://www.uic.edu/about/

Required Application Materials: Cover letter, vita, and the names and contact details for three professional references.

For fullest consideration, please submit an online application that includes an uploaded cover letter and resume as well as the names and contact information of three references by April 14^th, 2023, via the university online application system, through the following link:https://apptrkr.com/4008858

The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer, dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. We strongly encourage applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans.

The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit: https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=4292&pageId=1411899

Offers of employment by the University of Illinois at Chicago may be subject to approval by the University’s Board of Trustees. The University of Illinois at Chicago may conduct background checks and other pre-employment assessments on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. Background Checks will be performed in compliance with state and federal law.

As a qualifying federal contractor, the University of Illinois System uses E-Verify to verify employment eligibility.

University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes.