Academic Program Coordinator

Position Overview

The Academic Program Coordinator for faculty engagement establishes, implements, and administers faculty development, mentorship, and recognition efforts under the umbrella of and in alignment with the Self Graduate Fellowship and Self Memorial Scholarship for the Self Graduate Programs department. This is a newly created position for the unit. The faculty engagement work supports recruitment, retention, and professional development training of the graduate student participants.

The Madison and Lila Self Graduate Programs department provides financial support and professional development opportunities for promising graduate student leaders at the University of Kansas. Madison and Lila Self were deeply motivated by the idea that developing and investing in young leaders was vital for a successful future. In 1989, the Self's launched and permanently endowed the flagship program, the Self Graduate Fellowship.

With the addition of a scholarship in 2014, the department now administers two distinct programs: the Self Graduate Fellowship (SGF) and the Self Memorial Scholarship (SMS). Both programs support graduate students at KU and follow the Self's mission to “identify, recruit, and provide development opportunities for exceptional students who demonstrate the promise to make significant contributions to their fields of study and society as a whole.”

Responsibilities are divided across three functional areas:

• Coordinate faculty engagement for Self Graduate Programs.
• Create and host SGF faculty mentor programming, workshops, and learning communities; research session topics and facilitators appropriate for the faculty audience.
• Develop a mentor training package in alignment with university priorities.
• Hold annual orientation and onboarding for new SGF faculty mentors.
• Coordinate with the Assistant Director in faculty mentor and Self Graduate Fellow joint programming.
• Develop, establish, and maintain a Faculty Fellow initiative with an annual project focus for Self Graduate Programs.
• Draft and maintain a faculty mentor agreement that is signed annually for SGF.
• Write and build strategic timeline for SGF faculty mentor communications.
• Visit departmental faculty meetings to promote the Self Graduate Programs and engage with faculty.
• Meet with new to KU faculty from 22 SGF eligible fields to establish an initial connection and future faculty mentor pipeline.
• Connect with Chairs and Directors of Graduate Studies from the departments with Self Memorial Scholars each academic year.
• Pilot a peer faculty mentor program, in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Affairs.
• Serve as staff liaison to the Office of Faculty Affairs, Office of Research, and Center for Teaching Excellence.

• Develop and establish faculty awards that align with donor guidelines; oversee a SGF faculty mentor award, contributing faculty member award, and KU faculty achievement award; implement nomination process, review committee, award ceremony during the SGF Symposium, and financial distribution; maintain record of awards.
• Evaluate and initiate additional faculty recognition efforts.
• In support of recruitment, help connect prospective fellows to KU faculty based on indicated research interests; create a database of research interests expressed by prospective students.
• Maintain record of SGF faculty mentors and Self Graduate Fellows.
• Spotlight SGF faculty mentors on Self Graduate Programs social media platforms.
• Maintain record of research areas sought by prospective students who declined KU admission. Work with KU stakeholders to identify these research gaps/opportunities.
• Maintain record of faculty involvement across unit, including payment and role.
• Support faculty communication and process templates for faculty in SGF nomination and selection processes.
• Support Assistant Director with faculty logistics in SGF Fellow Development Programs and SMS Scholar Development Programs, including researching faculty content and expertise.
• Support Director with SGF Board of Trustees and SMS Advisory Board faculty terms.

• Joint…