Location:
Student Life, Swarthmore College
Modality:
In-Person
Position Length:
Academic Year (Fall - Spring)
Work Hours and Commitment:
This position requires approximately 20 hours/week, some evening & weekend hours required.
Pay Rate:
$0.00/month
Additional Compensation:
Housing, Meal Plan, Transit Pass
Overview
The Swarthmore College Office of Student Life, through the Associate Dean/Director of Case Management/Director Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative seeks persons genuinely interested in making a significant contribution to student life through living and working at Swarthmore College. The Graduate Assistant of Student Life is expected to foster a living and working environment aligned with the college’s Non-Discrimination Policy.
The Graduate Assistant for Student Life (GASL) at Swarthmore College collaborates with students, faculty, and staff to supervise project management, student programs, documentation, assessment/planning, and developing extracurricular experiences that foster a sense of community and opportunities for the personal growth of community members. As directed by the Associate Dean/Director of Case Management/Director Inclusive Excellence Fellows Initiative (AD), the GASL commits to developing student leaders that are ready to engage in a diverse and global world.
The GASL will be an integral part of the Student Life team. The GASL will support the AD in a number of different research, assessment, planning, and administrative projects. They will assist to develop initiatives that support open expression, campus conflict management, staff/faculty/student connectedness, restorative justice, and healing justice work. The GASL will serve as a part of the leadership team for the Inclusive Excellence Fellows Initiative. They will work with the AD to enhance operational areas, including academic advising, and campus wide diversity, equity and inclusion programming. The GASL may participate in the planning and implementation of student activities related programs. In this role, the Graduate Assistant helps to shape the quality of the co-curricular experience for all students through flexible professional development opportunities as desired including student activities, residence life, and overall higher education.
Position Length:
The GASL position is a one academic year appointment over the 2025-2026 academic year. The position can begin as early as August 1, 2025 (date established jointly upon hire) and runs through the end of Classes. Link to Swarthmore’s Academic Calendar.
Remuneration:
Swarthmore College will provide living accommodations and board, in the form of a College meal plan, when classes are in session. Swarthmore College will also reimburse the GASL for the Penn Regional Rail SEPTA semester pass, if purchased by the student.
Considerations:
International students must be authorized to work in the U.S. in an off campus position. Check with your graduate and international student office to verify eligibility. Students outside of Penn’s Graduate School of Education may not be eligible.
Additional Information:
Associate Dean/Director of Case Management/Director Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative
The Associate Dean/Director of Case Management/Director Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative provides leadership and coordination of various student support services, with a specific focus on collaboration between residential, academic, Title IX Team, and student conduct concern reports.
The Associate Dean, through her role in the Office of Student Life, has the following responsibilities include:
- Student academic and personal advising.
- Supporting students through the Student Conduct and Title IX process.
- The administration of the Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative guiding students that offer College wide projects that support the creation of a diverse and inclusive community.
- Participating on the secondary emergency on-call system and support staff on the Tier 1 on call system.
- Working closely with the Office of Student Engagement.
- Co-advisor for the senior class officers on the planning and implementation of Senior Week, Last Collection, and Commencement.
About the Office of Student Life Partnership
The Office of Student Life reports to the Department of Student Affairs (DoSA) through the Senior Associate Dean and Director of Student Life. The Office of Student Life also houses the Office of Student Engagement which is newer and continuing to evolve. This office merges Residential Communities and Student Activities & Leadership into one functional area. The current staffing structure includes an Associate Dean and Director of Student Engagement, a Director for Residential Communities, a Director of Student Activities and Leadership, an Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership, four Residential Community Coordinators, and an Administrative Assistant.
Supervisor/Contact
Michelle D. Ray - Associate Dean; Director, Case Management; and Director, Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative
mray2@swarthmore.edu
Required Duties
Research and development of open expression, campus conflict management, staff/faculty/student connectedness, restorative justice, and healing justice practices (40% of applicants time, on average, per week)
- Complete, review and advance a research project (including benchmarking {especially at Penn} and community focus groups - interviews) to explore the feasibility of creating open expression, retroactive justice, and/or healing justice programs to support the Swarthmore community.
- Work with the Swarthmore community to develop and implement these types of programs to support students to creatively and successfully express their feelings and views aimed at positive change in the Swarthmore community.
- Work with the Swarthmore community to develop programs beyond the institutional practices of student conduct to remedy student conflict and promote greater understanding and healing.
- Work closely with the supervisors to assist with assessment and planning for Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative and case management practices, including open expression, restorative justice and healing justice platforms.
- Development of processes, promotion materials, and manuals within this area.
Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative (IEF Initiative) (50% of applicants time, on average, per week)
- Work with IEFI leadership in support of running the program and supporting the students.
- Assist in the development and facilitation of student training programs.
- Assist in the coordination of the communications and logistics of the IEFI, including staff orientations, meetings, social media, and in-service training.
- Serve as liaisons to support students seeking assistance and advice regarding leadership, program development, event conception, and implementation through staff accessibility.
- Assist to coordinate the documentation, assessment, and planning for the IEFI
- Assist with financial management - keep good documentation and financial processing of budget expenditures.
- Help to develop ways to integrate the IEFI within the Student Life Partnership and our overall division.
- Work closely with the supervisors to assist with assessment and planning for the Inclusive Excellence Fellow Initiative.
- Development of processes, promotion materials, and manuals within this area.
Division Support (10% of applicants time, on average, per week)
- Provide support for various departmental functions and events.
- Provide logistical support for room bookings, budgetary management, student reimbursements, and other administrative duties, as assigned.
- Perform research on best practices related to the IEFI and Case Management and Student academic advising.
- Communicate appropriately, effectively, and in a timely manner with all College constituencies.
- Assume other responsibilities as assigned by supervisor.
Preferred Qualification and Essential Skills
The ideal candidate for the GLAS position will possess:
- A Bachelor’s degree (required).
- Experience with a small liberal arts institution (preferred).
- Experience with student conduct, student conflict, restorative justice, and healing justice practices (preferred).
- Experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion and social justice practices (preferred).
- Experience with assessment and planning (preferred).
- Significant leadership experience.
- Graduate program acceptance (Higher Education & Student Affairs or related program).
- Effective interpersonal skills, ability to work autonomously and with diverse groups of students, and has knowledge of student learning and development.
Application Instructions
Please send a copy of your resume to Michelle Ray (mray2@swarthmore.edu) to request an interview for this position.