Director of Student Engagement and Success
Virginia Community Colleges
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Job summary
Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, VA, seeks a Director of Student Engagement and Success to lead a portfolio connecting students with resources, supports, and experiences that promote persistence and achievement.
Reporting to the Dean of Students, you will supervise department leaders across Student Life, Testing Services, ACE, and Career/Transfer Services, driving collaboration, assessment, and student-centered outcomes.
Qualifications
- Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, education, leadership, counseling, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in higher education, student affairs, student success, academic support, or a related field.
- At least three (3) years of experience supervising professional staff, leading teams, or providing leadership for a department, program, or functional area.
- Demonstrated experience providing leadership for student programs or services.
- Experience collaborating across departments or functional areas.
- Experience using data, assessment, or performance measures to inform decision-making.
- Knowledge of contemporary student affairs and student success practices in higher education.
Responsibilities
- Provide leadership and portfolio-level oversight for Student Life and Leadership, Testing Services, the Academic Center of Excellence, and Career and Transfer Services, including budgets, staffing, resources, and operations.
- Establish clear goals, expectations, and accountability while empowering department supervisors to lead the day-to-day operations of their respective areas.
- Coach and support department leaders in staff development, resource management, assessment, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.
- Foster collaboration, innovation, responsible stewardship of College resources, and shared accountability for student engagement and success across the portfolio.
- Promote coordination among departments within the portfolio to connect students with opportunities, resources, and services that support their engagement and success.
- Work with department leaders to identify opportunities for shared initiatives, coordinated communication, effective referrals, and collaboration.
- Support implementation of College and divisional priorities related to student engagement, academic achievement, persistence, completion, career readiness, and transfer.
- Identify service gaps and barriers that may affect students’ ability to access or engage with programs and resources.
- Ensure programs and services remain responsive to evolving student needs across College locations and learning modalities.
- Lead the collaborative development and implementation of a comprehensive new student orientation program that connects students to the College, its resources, expectations, and opportunities for engagement and success.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Working Title Director of Student Engagement and Success
Role Title 12 month - Administrative - In
Role Code 01123-SW
FLSA Exempt
Pay Band 00
Position Number 297FA011
Agency Germanna Community College
Agency/Division Germanna Community College (Div)
Hiring Range $93,391-$116,739 Annually Plus Full State Benefits
No
1-Officials and Administrators
Full Time
Telework options are subject to change based on business needs
Monday-Friday 8:00A.M.– 4:30P.M.
Or as scheduled
No
Germanna Community College is a public, open access institution of higher education in the Virginia Community College System. The College is a dynamic learning organization that serves as a Germanna regional leader and preferred partner where quality learning experiences enable students to participate effectively in the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural life of their communities. Germanna Community College is centrally located in Fredericksburg, VA between Washington D.C. and Richmond and between the Blue Ridge mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. Full of history, the area offers a community rich with diversity, the arts, technology, vineyards, hiking, canoeing/kayaking, and many other activities.
The Director of Student Engagement and Success provides leadership for a portfolio of departments that connect students with the resources, opportunities, academic supports, and experiences that promote engagement, persistence, achievement, and preparation for their educational and career goals.
Reporting to the Dean of Students, the Director supervises and develops the department leaders responsible for Student Life and Leadership, Testing Services, the Academic Center of Excellence, and Career and Transfer Services. The Director establishes shared priorities, promotes collaboration across the portfolio, monitors service utilization and outcomes, and supports department leaders in delivering accessible, responsive, and student-centered programs and services.
The Director leads through department supervisors, who maintain responsibility for the day-to-day operations, staff, programs, and services within their respective areas. The Director focuses on alignment, leadership development, accountability, assessment, and opportunities to strengthen how students engage with resources and services across the College.
The Director serves as a member of the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) Leadership Team and contributes to divisional planning, decision-making, assessment, and initiatives that advance student engagement and success.
- Provide leadership and portfolio-level oversight for Student Life and Leadership, Testing Services, the Academic Center of Excellence, and Career and Transfer Services, including budgets, staffing, resources, and operations.
- Establish clear goals, expectations, and accountability while empowering department supervisors to lead the day-to-day operations of their respective areas.
- Coach and support department leaders in staff development, resource management, assessment, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.
- Foster collaboration, innovation, responsible stewardship of College resources, and shared accountability for student engagement and success across the portfolio.
- Promote coordination among departments within the portfolio to connect students with opportunities, resources, and services that support their engagement and success.
- Work with department leaders to identify opportunities for shared initiatives, coordinated communication, effective referrals, and collaboration.
- Support implementation of College and divisional priorities related to student engagement, academic achievement, persistence, completion, career readiness, and transfer.
- Identify service gaps and barriers that may affect students’ ability to access or engage with programs and resources.
- Ensure programs and services remain responsive to evolving student needs across College locations and learning modalities.
- Lead the collaborative development and implementation of a comprehensive new student orientation program that connects students to the College, its resources, expectations, and opportunities for engagement and success.
- Monitor service utilization, student participation, effectiveness, and outcomes across the portfolio, using data to identify trends, gaps in access, and opportunities to strengthen student engagement and success.
- Establish expectations for department leaders to assess programs and services and use data, student feedback, and other findings to guide continuous improvement.
- Work with department leaders to align staffing, service delivery, programming, technology, resources, and student-facing spaces with student needs and patterns of utilization.
- Identify opportunities to improve processes, leverage technology, share resources, and increase the accessibility and operational effectiveness of programs and services.
- Communicate portfolio-level accomplishments, challenges, trends, and outcomes to the Dean of Students and other stakeholders, while ensuring departmental practices comply with applicable College, VCCS , state, and federal requirements.
- Serve as an active member of the DSA Leadership Team and contribute to divisional planning, decision-making, assessment, and strategic initiatives.
- Collaborate with colleagues across Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Workforce Development, and other College areas to strengthen connections among student services and academic experiences.
- Represent the Student Engagement and Success portfolio on College committees, workgroups, and initiatives assigned.
- Facilitate connections between departments within the portfolio and internal or external partners when appropriate.
- Support the Dean of Students in advancing divisional priorities and responding to emerging student needs.
- Perform other duties as assigned in support of the College and Division of Student Affairs.
- Regular travel among Germanna Community College locations is required to support programs, services, meetings, and College activities.
- Periodic travel is required for Virginia Community College System (VCCS) meetings, including participation in the Council of Deans and Directors and other system-level meetings, committees, or initiatives as assigned.
- Active participation in relevant professional development activities and Student Affairs professional associations is required as part of the position’s ongoing professional growth and contribution to the field.
- Occasional overnight and out-of-area travel may be required for VCCS meetings, conferences, professional development, and other College-related responsibilities.
May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor.
- Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, education, leadership, counseling, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in higher education, student affairs, student success, academic support, or a related field.
- At least three (3) years of experience supervising professional staff, leading teams, or providing leadership for a department, program, or functional area.
- Demonstrated experience providing leadership for student programs or services.
- Experience collaborating across departments or functional areas.
- Experience using data, assessment, or performance measures to inform decision-making
- Knowledge of contemporary student affairs and student success practices in higher education.
- Understanding of the mission and student populations of community colleges.
- Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach, and develop professional staff and department leaders.
- Ability to provide leadership across multiple functional areas while empowering supervisors to manage their respective departments.
- Ability to foster collaboration, alignment, and shared accountability among teams with distinct functions and expertise.
- Ability to analyze utilization, assessment, and outcome data and use findings to improve programs and services.
- Ability to lead and support change in response to evolving student and institutional needs.
- Strong leadership, communication, organizational, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to build effective partnerships across organizational and functional boundaries.
- Demonstrated commitment to accessible, responsive, and student-centered programs and services.
- Seven (7) or more years of progressively responsible higher education experience, including experience supervising professional staff or department leaders.
- Experience working within a community college or other open-access higher education environment.
- Experience providing oversight across multiple student affairs or student success functional areas.
- Familiarity with student engagement, academic support, testing, career development, transfer services, or related student success functions.
- Experience leading programmatic or organizational change.
- Experience with budget management, resource allocation, assessment, or operational planning.
No
Yes
Travel between campuses will be required.
FAC_2103P
General Public - G
1
10/20/2026
11/19/2026
www.germanna.edu
Email jcave@germanna.edu
The selected candidate’s offer is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background investigation, which may include: fingerprint checks, local agency checks, employment verification, verification of education, credit checks (relevant to employment). Additionally, selected candidates may be required to complete the Commonwealth’s Statement of Economic Interest. For more information, please follow this link: http://ethics.dls.virginia.gov/
The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, political affiliation, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or other non-merit factors.
The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA and ADAAA), to provide, reasonable accommodation to applicants in need of access to the application, interviewing, and selection processes when requested.
VCCSuses E-Verify to check employee eligibility to work in the United States. You will be required to complete an I-9 form and provide documentation of your identity for employment purposes.
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