Associate Director Of Housing & Technology

To enrich education through diversity, The College of New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse staff committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment, and strongly encourages applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans.

Job Title:  Associate Director of Housing & Technology
Job Category: Non - Unit
Post Date: February 2, 2024
Close Date:  N/A
Salary:  For non-unit positions, salary commensurate with experience and is accompanied by a competitive benefits package.

Position Summary:

The Student Development Unit of Student Affairs provides a wide variety of services aimed at developing the personal, social and academic life of each student and creates opportunities to become an integral part of a diverse community and grow through their common experiences. This unit is also responsible for management of several of the campus' revenue enterprises. The departments in this unit include Residential Education & Housing, Student Life, and Co-curricular and Leadership Development. These areas are leveraged to expand students' education (i.e. leadership development, student conduct, learning communities, joint initiatives with campus partners) and support the overarching mission of the College.

Reporting to the Director for Residential Education & Housing, the Associate Director for Housing & Technology is responsible for managing processes related to all aspects of Housing, including strategic leadership of the housing portfolio, student room assignments and billing. Chief initiatives include but are not limited to the day to day management of the housing office customer service experience, housing software (StarRez), housing occupancy data, student billing and implementing the annual housing lottery. The position is also responsible for building the system architecture in housing software (StarRez) for applications, meal plan selection, room selection, billing and reporting applications, learning communities/special interest housing, management of virtual room tours and reports.

The Associate Director is an integral part of the Department Leadership Team, which includes two Associate Directors of residential education, the Director of residential education and housing and the business manager to create a comprehensive housing experience. This position will lead all tasks related to residential housing, including but not limited to, writing correspondence, composing language for website, and student housing portal, managing data upkeep in the housing software, and communication with students, parents, and department heads. The Associate Director is the person primarily responsible for employing excellent customer service skills, strong marketing capabilities and data-analytical skills for developing projections, effectively filling beds and helping students and parents be informed about the on campus living experience. 

Main Responsibilities:

 Housing Operations:

• Direct and lead housing assignment's day to day student services, including room and board change processing, transfer placements, Accessibility Resource Center housing accommodation requests, billing and adjustments, contract cancellation requests, housing appeals, meal modification requests, and information distribution.
• Support the Residential Education & Housing Office's daily operations (office coverage, telephone coverage, email/chat coverage). Provide balanced educational and customer service approaches to addressing concerns from students and families around housing related items.
• Serve as the primary information source for current and prospective residents regarding housing options. Work closely with Admissions to market housing to incoming students.
• Work closely with Residence Directors and Operations Coordinator in the coordination of room changes.
• Create a vision and implement early move-in process for Drop & Go, pre-Welcome Week student groups, international students, and athletes, including communication to group coordinator, athletic department, while maintaining accurate move-in data in StarRez, and running reports for campus partners (facilities, campus police, etc.) of all early arrivals.
• Write and verify process reports (imports and exports) are functioning properly.
• Work closely with facilities in the coordination of room preparedness for opening or during the year, when there is room turn-over. This includes scheduling and running monthly facilities meetings to coordinate major processes and collaborate on responding to concerns and issues. 

Technology:  

• Build, execute, and manage the housing lottery and room selection process, including setting the calendar and communicating with students and parents, distributing timeslots, completing room changes, and configuring the StarRez portal. Adapt accordingly as we adjust to new communities (grad housing, Mercer students, etc.).
• Elicit, translate and document institutional needs into project requirements. Develop acceptance criteria, process flow diagrams, and other necessary project documentation. Design, develop, and implement road maps, plans and proposals that address the functional needs of users as it relates to projects and reporting requests. Identify associated priorities, opportunities and risks.
• Manage integrity of Housing module including backend user security
• Maximize usage of StarRez by employing features and tools that increase efficiencies and the user experience.
• Identify ways to allow StarRez to better communicate with PAWS, Transact and other campus technology to build efficiencies around billing.

Reporting & Business Analyst Responsibilities:

• Ensure systems are used and data is structured to support the highest level of reporting and strategic planning needs of the organization.  Ensure data integrity to maintain consistency and accuracy of data collected from or passed on to various systems.
• Developing reports that allow campus leadership to develop effective budgets based on projection and retention data.
• Verify data in various connected systems including Blackboard and PAWS (PeopleSoft).
• Provide occupancy statistics and other reports as needed. Generate statistical reports and analysis on space usage & occupancy used in decision making by the department, such as, in regards to facilities projects, future renovations, and future new builds. Manage the housing projections (projections through occupancy). Manage data that impacts budget planning processes. 

Supervision:

• Select, train, and supervise the Housing Operations Coordinator and Housing Program Assistant.
• Provide leadership for the Housing Operations Coordinator, Housing Program Assistant, and Housing Student Managers to issue timely reports, rosters, and interfaces to Residential Education, dining, other departments and to provide strong customer service to students. Ensure front line workers are updated in a timely manner on how to respond to calls about new processes and operations.
• Provide leadership for the Housing Operations Coordinator and Housing Program Assistant to work with Res Ed staff to implement summer and break housing assignments, rosters, and other housing assignments related logistics.
• Assist in training Housing Student Managers.

Collaboration:

• Work with Residential Education and other campus departments such as Accessibility Resource Center, Education Opportunity Fund Program, Dean of Students, Student Health Services, Athletics, Global Affairs, MUSE, Summer Programs, Career & Community Studies, and Conference & Event Services on early arrivals, late stays, break housing (365 Housing) and special accommodations.
• Work closely with Admissions to assist in training Enrollment Services staff on Housing talking points, maintain showrooms and support the coordination of yield events (Lions Day, Accepted Students Day). Participate in online and in person info sessions for prospective parents and students as needed to help prospective students and their families understand the value of living on campus and can make informed decisions about residential housing.
• Maintain communication with Building Services and Facilities in the ongoing administration of the residential area.
• Work closely with Marketing and Brand Management as needed to promote housing applications, value of living on campus and to tell the story of the residential student experience.
• Maintain communication with Enterprise Applications, Student Accounts, Records and Registration, and other relevant offices as needed to ensure the effective management of reports, billing and reconciliation efforts.
• Maintain communications with various vendors (MicroFridge, GradGuard, StarRez, Vizio) as needed to ensure those services are meeting operational and student needs.

Critical Incidents and Duty:

• Contribute to development of critical incident protocol; serve on second tier duty rotation with Director of Residential Education & Housing and the Residential Education Associate Directors.
• Keep Director of Residential Education & Housing informed on a daily basis of critical incidents and/or trends within the residence halls.

Policy & Publications:

• In conjunction with Director for Residential Education & Housing, and Residential Education Associate Directors, update housing-related policies.
• Prepare housing publications, including writing, editing, and taking photographs, as needed.
• Create and send all correspondence with students regarding move in/out procedures & requirements, break housing, housing applications process and other major operations.

Required Qualifications:  

•  Demonstrated computer skills and proficiency in database management and spreadsheet software programs. Experience building, executing and managing all housing assignments processes in a Housing Software program, specifically StarRez.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and strong problem solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills, along with the ability to interact with a diverse constituent population which includes students and parents.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Exceptional organizational skills, along with the ability to complete tasks in an accurate and timely manner despite numerous conflicting priorities and deadlines.
• Bachelors degree required, Master's degree in higher education, student personnel, business administration or a related field. 
• 5-7 years of relevant experience in a residential college or university setting, including related database or data development and management experience. 
• Possess the ability to work in a typical office environment, sitting for extended periods of time, using a computer and telephone. Some walking and ability to navigate stairs. 
• Experience with StarRez, Blackboard, PeopleSoft, Qualtrics & Google Suite of products. 
• Occasional moving and lifting of items under 20 pounds. 

Persons with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations in order to perform the essential functions of the position. If the requested accommodation(s) cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, the applicant may not be eligible for the position.

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Knowledge of student housing software and comfort with learning new technology.
• Experience building, executing, managing Housing Software. 

Employer Qualifications:

• Final offer of employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a background check and reference checks.
• Residency requirement: In accordance with the New Jersey First Act P.L. 2011 c.70, effective September 1, 2011, new public employees in certain positions (faculty exempt) are required to obtain New Jersey residency within one (1) year of employment. Applicants must meet the requirements listed.

About TCNJ

TCNJ is a highly selective institution that has earned national recognition for its commitment to excellence. Founded in 1855, TCNJ has become an exemplar of the best in public higher education and is consistently acknowledged as one of the top comprehensive colleges in the nation. TCNJ currently is ranked as one of the 75 "Most Competitive" schools in the nation by Barron's Profiles of American Colleges and is rated the No. 1 public institution in the northern region of the country by U.S. News & World Report. TCNJ was named the #10 value in public higher education by the Princeton review in 2009 and, in 2006, was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter - an honor shared by less than 10 percent of colleges and universities nationally. A strong liberal arts core forms the foundation for programs offered through TCNJ's seven schools - Arts & Communication; Business; Education; Humanities and Social Sciences; Science; Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science; and Engineering. TCNJ faculty members are teacher-scholars who share a commitment to liberal learning. TCNJ is located within an hour, by train, of New York City and Philadelphia. The College's campus is set on 289 tree-lined acres in suburban Ewing Township and is known for its natural beauty and has 39 major buildings.

Employee Benefits:
As a member of The College of New Jersey Community, you will be a part of an exciting and rewarding public university career. Eligible full-time employees will be able to take advantage of a generous benefits package that includes health, welfare, and retirement benefits, including:

• Comprehensive benefit plans covering medical, dental and prescription plans

• Generous leave entitlements program and Energy Savings Program 

• Employee and depende...