Assistant Director, Co-op Programs & Student Development (Indianapolis)

The Assistant Director, Co-op Programs & Student Development will provide leadership for Purdue’s to 10 ranked co-op program, serving College of Engineering students in Indianapolis. This includes supervision of student employees involved with programming to prepare and maximize students’ learning through cooperative education opportunities. The position is responsible for program implementation, administration of the various models of co-op certificates, advising, mentorship, and development and coordination of internships and co-ops with domestic and global companies both for undergraduate and graduate students. 

The Assistant Director will continually assess professional skills readiness and competencies in conjunction with university learning outcomes. This position will coordinate with faculty and administration within each academic program of Purdue Indianapolis to create and implement policy and procedures for the cooperative education certificate programs.  This position will work collaboratively with faculty to develop specific curricular opportunities to develop skills for cooperative education, including coordination of work-integrated learning experiences and ENGR 103 Intro to Professional Practice. 

This role will provide leadership on experiential learning and understand academic plan of study in order to aid in employer recruiting needs, while developing opportunities for companies to engage with students via recruitment events, classroom engagement, etc.

This is a hybrid position (4 days on-site / 1 day remote) 

Purdue University in Indianapolis is part of Purdue University West Lafayette, with multiple locations throughout the city of Indianapolis. It bookends America’s Hard Tech Corridor, which extends from West Lafayette through new investments in Lebanon’s LEAP Innovation District to downtown Indianapolis. It positions our students, faculty and staff in close proximity to top businesses and leading industries, providing new and unique executive education and internship opportunities. Its chief academic officer is David Umulis, senior vice provost and professor, who reports to Provost Patrick Wolfe, and its chief operating officer is Daniel Hasler, former Indiana secretary of commerce. 

Purdue University has achieved excellence at scale, ranking among the top four U.S. universities in agriculture, graduate engineering and number of utility patents and, across all leading American universities, as No. 1 in undergraduate STEM enrollment. That level of achievement now extends to all parts of Indianapolis. Responding to the strong need expressed by central Indiana business and community leaders for more highly skilled talents in science, technology, engineering and health care disciplines, we will ambitiously grow enrollment to establish a new pipeline of Boilermaker talent to our capital city. Degrees granted and tuition will exactly mirror those in West Lafayette – and all degrees, programs, departments, schools and colleges will be eligible to be considered for a Purdue University in Indianapolis presence. As an extension of the residential West Lafayette campus, Purdue Indy will have multiple locations throughout the city of Indianapolis.

The Office of Professional Practice at Purdue University administers a wide range of work-integrated experiential learning programs and programming to prepare students for industry. This includes the Co-op program, GEARE Global Engineering Training Program, Interns for Indiana, Milestones Technical Skills training modules, and several professional skills and industry knowledge courses. The Office of Professional Practice is leading the way in the development of certificates programs to better prepare students for specific industry sectors. Via the work of the Office of Professional Practice, Purdue is ranked by U.S. New and World Reports as the #9 university in the U.S. for co-op and internship programs (#4 amongst public institutions, and #1 in the Big Ten.)  The Office of Professional Practice is dedicated to student development preparing students for success after graduation. Staff at the Office of Professional Practice are given a high-level of autonomy and creativity is encouraged. Travel and professional development opportunities are highly encouraged and supported.  Check us out at https://www.opp.purdue.edu/

Education and Experience:
Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in engineering, technology, education, communication, or relevant field
• A minimum of four (4) years of experience in education, higher education, student service and/or teaching

Preferred:

• Career services experience or experience leading experiential learning programs

Skills:
Required:                

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Experience with work-integrated learning 
• Experience teaching courses and training instructors
• Experience with building relationships
• Experience organizing events
• Project management experience
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software
• Strong interpersonal skills for relating effectively with a diverse group of students, faculty, university staff, alumni, and employers
• Must show ability to build, develop, and cultivate relationships across campus and regionally with a variety of constituents
• Must possess strong communication (written/oral) as well as interpersonal skills.

• Purdue University will not sponsor employment authorization for this position  
• A background check will be required for employment in this position
• FLSA: Exempt (Not Eligible for Overtime)
• Retirement Eligibility:  Defined Contribution Waiting Period
• Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply
• Benefit Statement: Purdue University offers a substantial Benefit Package including medical, dental, and vision insurance as well as a generous paid time off package for sick and vacation days