Director of Academic and Workforce Integration

meaningful work-integrated learning experiences.

The Director will serve as a bridge between faculty, academic departments, students, employers, and the regional
business and nonprofit community. The position will cultivate and manage a portfolio of employer and community partners, develop sustainable
partnership frameworks, support the creation and development of Advisory Councils, and work with faculty and academic leaders to identify
opportunities for connecting experiential learning with curricular pathways.

The Director will also oversee Career Services which
includes two direct reports-an existing Career Services Coordinator and a new grant-funded position for a Co-op and Internship Coordinator.
The Career Services office under the guidance of the Director will work collaboratively with Enrollment Management and Student Engagement
Division, department chairs, including the faculty in the Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) program to strengthen the College's
employer relationships, career preparation, and workforce connections.

The Director will monitor regional workforce trends and
economic developments to identify emerging industries, occupations, and employer needs that may create opportunities for LaGrange College
students and graduates.

The Director does not exercise curricular authority. Any credit-bearing experiential learning opportunity,
transcripted designation, course modification, academic program change, or new program requirement will be developed and approved through
the College's established academic governance processes.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Employer Partnerships and Work
Integrated Learning

• Serve as the College's strategic liaison with regional employers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and
  community partners.
• Develop and maintain a diverse portfolio of employer and community partnerships that provide meaningful
  opportunities for students.
• Cultivate relationships with organizations willing to host students in internships, co-ops,
  project-based placements, and other work-integrated learning experiences.
• Develop sustainable partnership frameworks that establish
  clear expectations, responsibilities, communication processes, and outcomes for the College and participating
  organizations.
• Represent the College at appropriate business, civic, professional, and community events to strengthen institutional
  visibility and relationships.
• Develop strategies to increase awareness of LaGrange College among regional employers and demonstrate
  the value of engaging with the College and its students.
• Maintain regular communication with employer partners and evaluate the
  effectiveness of partnerships
• Provide strategic leadership for the development and expansion of institutional internship, co-op,
  and other work-integrated learning opportunities.
• Establish processes for identifying, developing, documenting, and maintaining
  employer-sponsored experiential learning opportunities.
• Work with employers to define meaningful student responsibilities, learning
  opportunities, supervision expectations, and desired outcomes.
• Support the development of scalable and sustainable models for
  internships, co-ops, and project-based placements across the College.
• Identify barriers that may limit student participation in
  experiential learning and collaborate with appropriate College offices to address them.

Faculty and Academic Collaboration

• Serve as a bridge between faculty and employers to facilitate meaningful connections between academic learning and workforce
  needs.
• Collaborate with faculty, department chairs, and program coordinators to identify employer partnerships and experiential
  opportunities relevant to academic programs.
• Help faculty and academic leaders understand emerging workforce needs and employer
  expectations without exercising curricular authority.
• Facilitate employer input that may inform academic departments' consideration
  of experiential learning and workforce relevance.
• Support academic units in developing relationships with employers appropriate to
  their disciplines and student learning goals.

Advisory Councils

• Coordinate the development and ongoing support
  of Advisory Councils composed of employers, community leaders, alumni, faculty, and other appropriate stakeholders.
• Assist academic
  programs and departments in identifying appropriate Advisory Council members.
• Develop guidelines and expectations for Advisory
  Council participation and engagement.
• Coordinate Advisory Council meetings, communications, agendas, and follow-up
  activities.
• Track recommendations and opportunities emerging from Advisory Councils and communicate relevant information to
  appropriate College leaders and academic units.

Career Services, Workforce Intelligence, and Enrollment Partnerships

• Provide leadership and oversight for Career Services.
• Strengthen connections between Career Services, academic programs,
  employers, alumni, and community partners.
• Expand employer participation in career fairs, recruiting, internships, co-ops,
  mentoring, networking, and other career-development activities.
• Support strategies that improve students' career readiness and
  connections to employment and graduate opportunities.
• Collaborate with faculty and academic departments to promote career
  preparation throughout the student experience.
• Develop systems for tracking employer engagement, student participation, placements,
  and outcomes.
• Monitor regional workforce trends, industry developments, employer needs, and economic shifts.
• Identify
  emerging industries, occupations, and skill areas in which LaGrange College students and graduates may have opportunities for employment and
  professional growth.
• Develop and maintain relationships with regional workforce-development organizations, chambers of commerce,
  economic-development organizations, employers, and other relevant partners.
• Provide timely information regarding workforce trends
  and emerging opportunities to the VPAA, faculty, academic departments, Enrollment Management, Career Services, and other appropriate College
  leaders.
• Use workforce information to identify opportunities for new employer partnerships, experiential learning placements,
  student projects, and career-development initiatives.
• Maintain close working relationships with Enrollment Management to
  communicate the career and workforce advantages of a LaGrange College education.
• Collaborate on initiatives that demonstrate the
  connection between a liberal arts education, experiential learning, career preparation, and post-graduation opportunities.
• Support
  employer and community partnerships that may contribute to student recruitment, engagement, retention, and career outcomes.
• Assist
  in identifying employer-sponsored or community-supported opportunities that enhance the student experience.

Grant
Implementation, Assessment and Reporting

• Support implementation of the Title III grant activities associated with academic and
  workforce integration.
• Establish and maintain systems for tracking employer partnerships, internships, co-ops, experiential learning
  opportunities, Advisory Councils, student participation, and related outcomes.
• Monitor progress toward grant objectives, milestones,
  and performance measures related to work-integrated learning and employer engagement.
• Maintain appropriate documentation of
  grant-funded activities and outcomes.
• Provide regular progress reports and updates to the VPAA/Title III Project
  Manager.
• Collaborate with the Title III Project Coordinator and External Evaluator to provide required data and documentation for
  grant evaluation and reporting.
• Identify challenges, barriers, and opportunities for improvement and recommend appropriate
  strategies to the VPAA/Title III Project Manager.
• Assist in documenting the institutionalization and sustainability of successful
  employer-engagement and work-integrated learning initiatives beyond the grant period.

Qualifications and Training

• Master's degree in higher education, business, workforce development, career services, or a closely related field from an accredited
  institution.
• Minimum of three years of professional experience in employer engagement, partnership development, career services,
  workforce development, experiential learning, or a closely related area.
• Demonstrated success establishing and developing
  institutional internship, co-op, or other work-integrated learning programs.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and sustain
  relationships with employers and community organizations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated
  project-management and organizational skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products and related technology.
• Ability to
  work effectively with faculty, administrators, students, employers, and community partners.

Preferred Experience

• Experience working in a liberal arts college or small-college environment.
• Experience in higher education
  administration.
• Experience developing employer advisory councils or industry advisory boards.
• Experience overseeing or
  administering Career Services.
• Experience developing internship or co-op programs across multiple academic
  disciplines.
• Experience working with regional workforce-development or economic-development organizations.
• Experience with
  grant-funded programs and federally funded initiatives.
• Experience collecting and reporting student employment, internship,
  experiential learning, or career-outcome data.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

The successful candidate will
demonstrate:

• Exceptional relationship-building and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to establish trust and
  credibility with employers, faculty, students, and community leaders.
• Strategic thinking and an entrepreneurial approach to
  developing partnerships.
• Strong project-management skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to translate employer and
  workforce needs into meaningful opportunities for students.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both academic and business
  audiences.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Ability to analyze
  workforce and employer trends and translate findings into actionable opportunities.
• Ability to work collaboratively across academic
  and administrative divisions.
• Understanding of and respect for shared governance and established academic
  processes.
• Commitment to liberal arts education and the integration of academic learning with career preparation.

Key
Areas of Responsibility

The Director will be accountable for:

1. Expanding the College's portfolio of
   meaningful employer and community partnerships.
2. Increasing opportunities for students to participate in internships, co-ops, and
   project-based experiential learning.
3. Establishing sustainable systems and processes for work-integrated
   learning.
4. Strengthening connections between faculty, academic programs, employers, and workforce needs.
5. Developing and
   supporting effective Advisory Councils.
6. Providing leadership and oversight for Career Services.
7. Identifying emerging
   workforce opportunities relevant to LaGrange College students and graduates.
8. Strengthening the College's visibility and
   relationships within the regional business and nonprofit community.
9. Tracking and documenting outcomes associated with Title
   III-funded activities.
10. Keeping the VPAA/Title III Project Manager informed of progress, accomplishments, challenges, and
    opportunities.

Position Scope and Academic Governance
The Director is responsible for facilitating
connections among the College, employers, and the broader workforce community but does not possess independent curricular authority. The
Director may recommend, facilitate, and support experiential learning opportunities; however, any opportunity involving academic credit,
transcripted recognition, course changes, program requirements, or other curricular matters must proceed through the College's established
academic governance and approval processes.