Senior Specialist, Partnerships & Engagement, Office of Signature Learning

Description

The Office of Signature Learning Experiences under in the Office of the Provost and VP(Academic) is currently seeking a Full-time Limited Term Senior Specialist, Partnerships & Engagement for approximately 1 year.

The Office of Signature Learning Experiences (OSLE) integrates key areas of learning - undergraduate research, entrepreneurial thinking, work-integrated learning, and global learning - across academic units at the University of Calgary. With over 36,000 students and diverse disciplinary contexts ranging from engineering to fine arts, OSLE requires strong faculty partnerships to ensure signature learning experiences (SLE) are accessible, relevant, and effectively integrated into students' academic journeys.

The Senior Specialist, Partnerships & Engagement reports to the Manager, Partnerships & Engagement within OSLE. This role serves as a liaison between OSLE and faculty partners across faculties through building strategic relationships with associate deans, department heads, curriculum committees, and program coordinators. The incumbent works collaboratively to understand faculty-specific needs, co-create student major maps that outline SLE within disciplinary contexts, and ensure OSLE programs align with faculty academic standards and curriculum structures.

This position requires frequent interactions with diverse faculty stakeholders across the institution, each with unique disciplinary cultures, curriculum requirements, and governance processes. The role demands exceptional interpersonal skills, cultural competence across disciplines, strong diplomatic abilities, and capacity to manage multiple concurrent faculty partnerships. The incumbent must balance standardization of OSLE programs with flexibility to accommodate disciplinary differences, translate OSLE offerings into faculty-appropriate language and contexts, and build trust with faculty who may have varying levels of familiarity with experiential learning.

• Serve as an OSLE contact for associate deans, department heads, program coordinators, and faculty members.
• Build and maintain strategic, trusting relationships with faculty leadership to understand disciplinary cultures, priorities, curriculum structures, and constraints.
• Conduct regular consultations with faculty partners to understand their needs, gather feedback on SLE programs, and identify opportunities for integration.
• Present SLE opportunities, resources, and support at faculty councils, department meetings, curriculum committees, and faculty development sessions.
• Lead the co-creation of SLE major maps with faculty partners for undergraduate programs across all faculties, mapping how students can engage with undergraduate research, entrepreneurial thinking, work-integrated learning, global learning, and co-curricular opportunities within their programs.
• Collaborate with faculty curriculum committees, program coordinators, and academic advisors to understand program structures, prerequisite patterns, typical student progression paths, and disciplinary learning outcomes.
• Work with faculty to identify optimal timing, sequencing, and entry points for SLE within different disciplinary contexts.
• Work with faculty to integrate SLE into course curricula, ensuring alignment with course learning outcomes and program requirements.
• Support faculty in understanding SLE program requirements, assessment approaches, and student support resources.
• Help faculty design capstone projects, experiential learning assignments, and other activities that can align with OSLE credentials.
• Develop governance documentation, policies, and guidelines that facilitate faculty adoption of SLE programs and ensure clarity around requirements, assessment, and recognition.
• Create faculty-friendly resources including program handbooks, instructor guides, FAQs, and implementation toolkits.
• Draft documentation for university governance committees when OSLE programs require academic approval.
• Facilitate working groups and consultation sessions, and co-design processes with faculty, staff, and students.
• Prepare presentations, reports, and briefing materials for faculty councils, associate deans, and senior academic leadership.
• Support the operational delivery of existing SLE programs (Ready for Entrepreneurial Thinking and Ready for Research badges and emerging credentials) by developing documentation and resources that facilitate faculty engagement.

• Bachelor's degree in education, higher education, or equivalent (required). A master's degree in higher education, curriculum studies, or related field would be an asset. An equivalent combination of education and experience, from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired, will be considered.
• A minimum of 5-7 years of experience in academic program coordination, faculty development, curriculum integration, or experiential learning program management in a post-secondary environment is required.
• Demonstrated…