JOB: Assistant Director

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST HILLEL
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR PROGRAM

Hillel at UMass is a strong and vibrant center for Jewish social, cultural, educational and religious life, both on and off campus. Special features include:
- University-accredited courses on exciting Jewish issues that are offered by and available at Hillel.
- A warm and welcoming Grinspoon Hillel House that is close to campus. It includes a Dr. Max Goldberg Jewish Living and Learning Community which is a residence for up to 26 Jewish students.
- Free Friday night dinners and Shabbat lunches at Hillel.
- A strong and diverse staff of 9 full-time and 2 part-time professionals, including a graphics person, JCSC Fellow, and Israel Fellow.
- Cooperation with Jewish groups at neighboring campuses of Smith, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges.
- As part of a special initiative the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, UMass Hillel has been able to send groups of 75 -100 students on Taglit-Birthright Israel trips accompanied by our staff.
- UMass Amherst Hillel is the only six-time winner of International Hillel's Haber Award for "programs of quality for the Jewish campus community."

The Amherst area offers a vast array of cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities in a setting of great natural beauty, dotted with lakes, rivers, and mountains. If you miss the big city, it’s less than two hours to Boston and three hours to New York, but with five colleges and Northampton – nationally rated as a top city for the arts – in the neighborhood, you will find a great richness of culture, clubs, education, and history right here. Within 45 minutes of campus, there are reform, conservative, reconstructionist, orthodox and Chabad synagogues; three Jewish day schools; the National Yiddish Book Center; and a Jewish Community Center.

Job Overview
The Assistant Director coordinates the programmatic aspects of Hillel, including setting overall goals, initiating new services, and evaluating program effectiveness. The Assistant Director hires and supervises the program staff, convenes program staff meetings, and fosters teamwork, initiative, and creativity. The Assistant Director works with student leaders to foster communication, new initiatives, coordination, and leadership. The Executive Director meets weekly with the Assistant Director for supervision, support, and idea-sharing.

Responsibilities include:

Staff Supervision
∑ Supervise program staff
∑ Set goals and evaluate performance of program staff
∑ Encourage teamwork and mutual support
∑ Coordinate searches to fill program staff positions

Student Leadership Development
∑ Identify training needs of student leaders and implement strategies to address those needs
∑ Recruit a strong cadre of committed student leaders

Program Responsibilities
∑ Assign and coordinate staff advising of student groups
∑ Provide direct support for selected student groups
∑ Support religious dimension of Hillel
∑ Identify unmet needs and devise strategies to address them
∑ Secure grants for specific programs
∑ Initiate, encourage, and/or support large-scale, high visibility programming

Administration and Management
∑ Run program staff meetings
∑ Coordinate publicity with and supervise publicity and graphics staff person
∑ Coordinate day-to-day building and residential operations with house manager and co-supervise Jewish Living and Learning Community resident assistant
∑ Ensure that program budget guidelines are followed

Relations to Campus and Board
∑ Liaison to relevant campus student, administration, and interfaith activities, Five College Hillel and other relevant campus and off-campus groups
∑ Assist the Executive Director in working with the Board of Directors
∑ Staff the Board Program Committee

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:
∑ Creativity, flexibility, and excellent interpersonal, communication, and leadership development skills are essential.
∑ Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
∑ Ability to prioritize and handle multiple assignments.
∑ Three-plus years working with college students and program planning preferred.

Starting Date: Aug 2008.

TO APPLY:
Interested candidates should send cover letter, resume, and list of three references to Saul Perlmutter at saulp@admin.umass.edu.