Director of Student Belonging

Fort Lewis College; United States; On-site; USD 77,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Fort Lewis College seeks a Director of Student Belonging to lead college-wide strategies that promote community and student belonging. The role oversees orientation, student government support, and campus partnerships to strengthen retention and student success.

The position requires a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with strong leadership, collaboration, and budget oversight across multiple centers and programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, student engagement, diversity/belonging, or a related area.
• Minimum of three years of supervisory experience, including leadership of professional staff, performance management, coaching, and mentoring.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student success and working effectively with broadly diverse communities.
• Minimum of two years of experience managing complex budgets and multiple funding streams.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and vision for student belonging and engagement centres and initiatives.
• Partner with staff to strengthen collaboration and create opportunities for students to build connections.
• Supervise and mentor a team of directors, staff, and student employees.
• Foster an inclusive culture valued for relationship-building, innovation, and accountability.
• Oversee orientation, ASFLC support, and staff/resources budgeting.
• Establish program strategy, assess effectiveness, and ensure student transition and retention.
• Lead collaboration with campus partners to promote belonging and student success.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Leadership

Diversity & Inclusion

Collaboration

Staff Development

Budget Oversight

Communication

Strategic Planning

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Teams

Outlook

Excel

Job description

Position Summary

The Director of Student Belonging will provide leadership in college-wide strategies that enhance community building and student belonging. This position develops and implements innovative programs and services that promote student engagement, sense of belonging, increase student retention, student leadership development, and advance the educational value of the co-curricular experience. The Director provides strategic oversight for new student and family orientation, oversees the administrative and programmatic support structures for student government, and provides high-level direction for the Department of Student Belonging. This role requires a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, coupled with excellent leadership and collaboration skills.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and vision for the College's student belonging and engagement centres, programs, and initiatives, including the Black Student Resource Center, El Centro de Muchos Colores, Environmental Center, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, Native American Center, and Student Involvement Center.
• Partner with staff to establish shared priorities, strengthen collaboration across areas, and create opportunities for students to build meaningful connections, develop a sense of belonging, and thrive within the campus community.
• Supervise, mentor, and support a team of associate directors, assistant directors, professional staff, and student employees.
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive culture that values relationship-building, innovation, accountability, and professional growth.
• Empower staff leaders to advance their areas of expertise while working collectively toward shared departmental goals.
• Cultivate meaningful partnerships across campus and within the broader community to advance belonging, student engagement, and student success.
• Collaborate with campus leaders, faculty, staff, students, and community organizations to strengthen institutional practices and create environments where all students feel seen, valued, and supported.
• Provide institutional leadership for student and family orientation in partnership with Enrollment Management, Student Affairs, and campus stakeholders.
• Establish program strategy and outcomes, strategize cross-campus implementation, oversee staff and resources, assess effectiveness, and ensure orientation supports student transition, belonging, engagement, and retention.
• Ensure the effective administration and programmatic support of Associated Students of Fort Lewis College (ASFLC) through oversight of organisational processes, resource management, budget administration, and collaboration with the ASFLC-selected advisor and other campus partners.
• Provide oversight and advisory support related to student fee allocation processes in collaboration with appropriate staff.
• Provide fiscal leadership and oversight for the Belonging portfolio, including development, management, monitoring, and reconciliation of complex budgets and multiple funding streams.
• Establish spending priorities, allocate resources across programs and initiatives, monitor expenditures and projections, and ensure funds are administered in accordance with institutional requirements and funding restrictions.
• Lead assessment, planning, and continuous improvement efforts for the Student Belonging Team.
• Utilise student feedback, participation data, and emerging best practices to inform decision-making, evaluate impact, strengthen student outcomes, and ensure alignment with institutional assessment, accreditation, and strategic planning priorities.
• Provide strategic guidance for campuswide learning and training efforts related to belonging and student success, partnering with campus departments and subject matter experts to promote shared learning outcomes and inclusive practices.
• Establish direction and provide oversight for major annual campus-wide events, including Welcome Week, heritage months, and cultural celebrations, ensuring cross-campus coordination, clear accountability, and meaningful outcomes that strengthen students' sense of belonging and connection to the Fort Lewis College community.
• Guide and ensure alignment of campuswide training efforts with institutional priorities for student belonging, working in partnership with campus departments and subject matter experts, including the Reconciliation Department, to promote consistency in learning outcomes and inclusive practices.
• Execute contract negotiations, goal setting, and assessment of key campus contracts and partnerships, including the Durango Transit and Skyhub.
• Maintains knowledge and awareness of digital accessibility including the American with Disabilities Act and Section 508.
• Produces and remediates digitally accessible materials in accordance with FLC standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education, Specialized Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, student engagement, diversity/belonging, or a related area.
• Minimum of three years of supervisory experience, including leadership of professional staff, performance management, coaching, and mentoring.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student success and working effectively with broadly diverse communities, including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA2S+ students, and first-generation students on a college campus.
• Minimum of two years of experience managing complex budgets and multiple funding streams, including budget development, resource allocation, expenditure monitoring, forecasting, and fiscal accountability.
• Demonstrated progressive supervisory and management experience, including hiring, supervising, developing, and evaluating professional staff and experience supervising employees who oversee distinct programs, functional areas, or student staff.
• Demonstrated knowledge of student engagement, student development, belonging, and high-impact practices.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing assessment processes and using data to evaluate outcomes, prepare reports, and guide continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated experience leading programs or initiatives requiring collaboration across multiple departments or organizational divisions.
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Experience using Microsoft Office products, such as Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Excel.

Preferred Education, Specialized Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in higher education, student affairs, educational leadership, organizational leadership, or related field.
• Experience supervising professional staff who themselves supervise programs, staff, or functional areas.
• Experience with institutional strategic planning or institutional assessment.
• Experience managing student fees, auxiliary, restricted, grant, or other specialized funding streams, if applicable to this job.
• Experience advising student government or other institutional student governance structures.
• Ability to communicate in more than one language that is common to our student body (English, Spanish, Navajo, etc.).

Reports To / Supervisory Responsibility

Reports directly to the Vice President of Diversity Affairs. Will supervise Assistant Director of the Native American Center, Assistant Director of the Student Involvement Center, Assistant Director of El Centro de Muchos Colores, Assistant Director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, Assistant Director of the Environmental Center, Black Student Resource Center Coordinator, a part-time Administrative Assistant, and student employees.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that an employee can expect while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic). Ability to work in a confined area. Ability to sit at a computer terminal for an extended period of time.

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard reach, stoop kneel to install computer equipment. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Light to moderate lifting is required.

Travel

Less than 5% of travel time expected for the position, for professional development and conferences.

FLSA Status/ Position Type/Expected Hours of Work/ and Salary Range

Exempt Full Time Permanent Full Year Typical Work hours are weekdays from 8-5pm, with some evenings and weekends required for Orientation, events and programs. Compensation The salary range is $76,500 to $85,000, plus a comprehensive benefits package.

About Fort Lewis College

On a sage-brushed mesa overlooking downtown Durango and the La Plata Mountains, Fort Lewis College is Southwest Colorado’s premier public undergraduate research institution. With more than half of the 3,300 students identifying as people of color, FLC’s academic programming and campus life thrive on nurturing safe, diverse spaces for intellectual exploration and helping people achieve their career goals. A Native American-serving, Non-Tribal Institution, FLC is committed to promoting economic development in neighboring tribal communities and connecting students with the education they need to be the change in the world they want to see. Degree programs span the arts, business, education, health sciences, humanities, and social and natural sciences. Coursework builds on the natural, cultural, and historical resources found around the Four Corners region. Students work closely with faculty on research projects with real-world implications. Like the mountain town it resides in, FLC promotes a culture of work-life balance for students, faculty, and staff. Skyhawks enjoy unparalleled access to a healthy outdoor lifestyle thanks to 300 days of sunshine a year and more than 300 miles of hiking and biking trails in and around Durango.

Notice to Prospective Employees

The Fort Lewis College is required by the Clery Act of 1990 to notify prospective employees, current employees, students and applicants where to access our Campus Security Report. The report is updated and published annually in accordance with the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, Federal Student Right-to-Know, the Federal Drug-free Schools and Campuses Act of 1989. This report contains information about: Fort Lewis College's alcohol and other drug policy Sexual assault policy Campus security policies Campus/community resources The Colorado Riot Offense Statute restriction on enrollment Where to find registered sex offender information Crime statistics for the previous three calendar years Reporting crimes The Campus Security Report can be accessed in two ways: By going to the internet website at: www.fortlewis.edu/AnnualSecurityReport Fort Lewis College Student Affairs Office will also provide a paper copy of the annual security report upon request. You can reach them at [phone].

Equal Opportunity

Fort Lewis College does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin, sex*, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, family or domestic status, political beliefs, veteran status, pregnancy, or genetic information. Accordingly, equal opportunity for employment shall be extended to all persons. The College shall promote equal opportunity, equal treatment, and affirmative action efforts to increase the diversity of students, faculty, and staff. The College is dedicated to building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment.

ADAA Accommodations

Any person with a disability as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) may be provided a reasonable accommodation upon request to enable the person to complete an employment assessment. To request a accommodation, please contact Kristin Polens by phone [phone] or email [e-mail] at least five business days before the assessment date to allow us to evaluate your request and prepare for the accommodation. You may be asked to provide additional information, including medical documentation, regarding functional limitations and type of accommodation needed. Please ensure that you have this information available well in advance of the assessment date.