City : Hamilton

Category : Other

Industry : Education

Employer : McMaster University

UNIT DESCRIPTION:

Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement (the College) is a collaborative academic unit between the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University. The College offers a Combined Honours Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Civic Studies and another subject, a program dedicated to developing future leaders equipped to address complex public challenges and to contribute to a strong, inclusive civic culture in Canada. Central to this mission is a commitment to experiential education, connecting students with real-world contexts through community-engaged learning, applied projects, and partnerships with local, regional, and national organizations, culiminating in a fourth-year placement capstone course. Through these experiences, students develop the practical skills, reflective capacity, and collaborative approaches required for meaningful civic action.

The College is seeking an experienced Experiential Education Coordinator to support the design, delivery, and growth of its experiential learning initiatives, including coordinating community and civically-engaged courses and placements, supporting students and instructors, and building partnerships that connect academic learning with civic and professional practice.

The role will work closely with the Academic Director of Wilson College and will serve as a course coordinator for WILSON 2LP0 - Leadership Portfolio: Foundations, WILSON 3LP0 - Leadership Portfolio: Integration and Direction, and WILSON 4A06 - Civic Leadership Placement and Project.

JOB SUMMARY:

Responsible for developing, promoting, evaluating, sustaining and supporting programs, courses and placements related to research, education, career development, community engagement and the development of work ready skills. Responsible for providing pedagogical and technical support to instructors, teaching assistants and students with tutorial sessions. Promotes student development, success and retention and enriches undergraduate education and career development by coaching and providing services to students undertaking experiential placements.  This role will serve as course coordinator and build strategic alliances with faculty, staff, student groups, and the greater community.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Develop, refine and maintain experiential placements for academic courses that meet the academic learning goals of the academic programs.
• Design, adapt, and modify laboratory experiments and tutorial sessions.
• Write and design lesson plans in accordance to the curriculum priorities of the instructor.
• Compose test questions and assignments and prepare solution sheets for review by others.
• Organize and monitor the on-line learning environment for courses in an academic unit, department, or faculty by ensuring that the appropriate course content information is made available to students.
• Manage all scheduling changes, room reservations, and scheduling conflicts.
• Forecast budgets and proposed expenditures for new program proposals and for operating lab and tutorial courses.
• Assist staff with the preparation and set up of equipment and supplies for laboratories and tutorial sessions.
• Train others on proper lab techniques, operating laboratory equipment, and on running efficient and effective tutorial sessions.
• Design and deliver workshops, labs, tutorials and presentations based on research, sound methodology and an understanding of students’ experiences and needs in response to faculty and student needs.
• Work with and advise faculty regarding the development and maintenance of research placements for academic courses that meet the academic learning goals of the academic programs.
• Coordinate all experiential, independent research courses and honour’s thesis placements and serve as course advisor and coordinator.
• Liaise with all stakeholders involved in experiential and employment initiatives to ensure that deadlines and objectives are met.
• Consult with other staff to develop and implement comprehensive program plans that align with the department plan and university policy.
• Review application documents to assess suitability and make decisions on acceptance to various research or experiential placements.
• Provide individual and course-wide coaching services and guidance to students in developing tools for career and academic success, including, but not limited to, development of learning objectives, developing and writing of grant applications, and progress reports, integrating experiential education into academic learning paths, seeking, finding and completing academic placements, interview skills, networking, and negotiation skills.
• Correspond and meet with students to address concerns related to courses including, but not limited to, the resolution of contested grades.
• Review, evaluate and grade student assignments.
• Act as a mediator between faculty and students when dealing with various issues such as special accommodations, scheduling conflicts, and grades.
• Advise registered students of course options and requirements, which require maintaining knowledge of course and program curriculum.
• Conduct mid- and post- placement interviews and facilitate group debrief sessions with students to assist in the evaluation of learning experiences, assess successful achievement of learning objectives and develop future goals.
• Deal sensitively, responsibly and calmly with students who present with serious medical, social, and psychological issues and refer to appropriate care.
• Write and deliver pertinent information for students, faculty and community partners for presentation in print and on-line formats.
• Collect, analyze, assess, and summarize information relevant to the decision making process and developing recommendations for final approval and implementation.
• Promote the program to visitors and representatives both internal and external to the University.
• Review and assess all experiential learning programs to make program modifications to streamline activities.
• Research, identify, implement and evaluate promotional initiatives that augment existing recruitment and experiential programs for students.
• Research and develop content, learning plans, evaluation criteria and assessment methods, and courseware for various courses.
• Write a variety of documents including, but not limited to, reference letters, correspondence of consequence, workshops and course lesson plans.
• Create, implement and maintain policies and procedures related to the programs and support offered.
• Plan and coordinate a variety of events and activities.
• Prepare estimates of time and resources for events and activities.
• Update, maintain and verify statistical information for program participation for the purpose of program review and reporting.
• Update, maintain and verify grade reports.
• Calculate student marks and submit final grades to appropriate areas.
• Develop, implement and interpret evaluation tools to assess the effectiveness of programs as well as new areas of student need.
• Remain current with Canadian and international government legislation, ethical standards, and policy documents which relate to employment, experiential learning, work integrated learning and privacy.
• Understand and remain current with academic policy pertaining to courses in the school regarding placements, registration, and grading.
• Participate on related committees and working groups to promote the work of the program.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in Leadership Studies, Civic Studies, Education, or relevant field in Humanities or Social Sciences
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience

ASSETS:

• Experience teaching experiential, community-based, or skills-based learning 
• Experience in building community-based partnerships in an academic context
• Strong knowledge of universal design for learning strategies
• Demonstrated experience in co-curricular design and development
• Experience designing and implementing reflective or portfolio-based learning that supports student success