Reporting to the Dean of Students, the Assistant Dean of Student Support and Community Standards is the University’s Chief Student Conduct Officer and a leader in providing support to students in distress. The Assistant Dean provides leadership to the Office of Community Standards (OCS), the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT), and the Basic Needs program. Together, with other key stakeholders across the Division, the Assistant Dean fosters a coordinated, community-of-care approach to promote student well-being, safety, and accountability.

The Assistant Dean leads a team of professional and student staff. The Assistant Dean provides leadership to the Division regarding compliance with federal and state regulations while playing a pivotal role in leading efforts to review and implement policies that directly affect the lives of students. The Assistant Dean leads efforts to promote, enforce, and oversee the Student Code of Conduct and promote a safe, inclusive, and supportive campus community.

Duties/Responsibilities

Leadership and Supervision (30%)

• Provide direct supervision, ongoing development, and performance evaluation to the Assistant Director of Community Standards, Basic Needs Coordinator and Case Manager, and Administrative Coordinator for Community Standards. Indirectly supervise the Student Conduct Coordinator, student employees, and interns.

• Oversee and administer the university-wide conduct system, including all related processes and administrative functions for academic and non-academic misconduct, involving students and recognized student organizations; set parameters for and provide direction to residential conduct processes administered by Residential Life; and ensure processes are fair, transparent, procedurally sound, and educationally purposeful.

• Recruit, train and support faculty, staff, and students to serve in the capacity of Chairpersons, Panel Officer, Appellate Officers Conduct Advisors, and Investigators, and decision makers in service of the University’s conduct system.

• Ensure designated units and personnel vested with authority to review and adjudicate allegations of prohibited conduct have the appropriate knowledge, skills, training, and resources necessary to fulfill student conduct related responsibilities.

• In collaboration with the Dean of Students and Executive Director of Strategy and Operations, monitor and maintain awareness of area budgets to ensure expenditures align with institutional and divisional strategic priorities.

• Support the Dean on division-wide planning, policy development, and organizational stewardship; exercise delegated decision-making authority in the Dean's absence for the Dean's portfolio, crisis response, and student-related issues, within clearly defined parameters and in coordination with divisional leadership. Serve as the primary contact for parents, attorneys, outside advocacy groups, and other stakeholders regarding sensitive and complex student conduct related matters.

Resolution Processes (25%)

• Serve as or appoint designated university officials to assume the role of Chair and preside over University Hearings in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Student Code of Conduct; act as gatekeeper and determine the relevance and admissibility of evidence, questions, and witnesses, and maintain the decorum of participants throughout proceedings.

• Act as an Administrative Hearing Officer to review cases, determine responsibility, and impose sanctions or remedies as appropriate; or serve as an Appellate Officer to affirm, modify, or remand original disciplinary determinations.

• Design, implement, and facilitate structured, remedies-based alternative dispute resolution programs to address conflicts and concerns, either in lieu of formal adjudication or in conjunction with traditional disciplinary outcomes.

• Collaborate with Housing and Residential Life, the Civil Rights and Equity Office, the UNH and Durham Police Departments, University Recognizing Agents, academic colleges, component campuses, and the Office of General Counsel; provide high-level guidance to designees across area conduct systems, as appropriate.

• Advise and consult on routine, sensitive and complex matters related to student conduct concerns and processes.

Student Support and Behavioral Intervention (25%)

• Chair the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT), coordinating multidisciplinary assessment, case management, and interventions for students of significant concern.

• Support the Basic Needs Coordinator and Case Manager in their oversight of the Basic Needs program, ensuring students have access to essential resources and wraparound support services that promote belonging, persistence, and well-being.

• Serve as a key contact for students and families navigating complex personal, financial, or institutional challenges, connecting them with appropriate resources and support.

• Collaborate with campus partners including Psychological and Counseling Services, Housing and Residential Life, College Dean's Offices, and community organizations, with clearly defined roles and referral expectations, to ensure a holistic and responsive support network for students in need. Maintain clear referral pathways and coordinate with Health and Well-Being functions, Housing and Residential Life, and college Dean's offices to ensure students enter the appropriate level of support without duplication of services.

Compliance, Assessment, and Policy Development (20%)

• Serve as the primary advisor to the Dean of Students in the development, revision, maintenance and discontinuation of student policies contained in the Student Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities Handbook; support all efforts to promote and educate the community on key changes.

• Collaborate with policy owners and responsible offices to ensure the University maintains a comprehensive and compliant set of student-facing policies, and information is organized categorically in a centrally located policy library.

• Support the Division of Student Life in monitoring internal and external compliance environments and identifying risks and vulnerabilities related to the Stop Campus Hazing Act, Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, Drug-Free Schools and Community Act, FERPA, Title IX, and other relevant laws.

• Maintain and publish the Campus Hazing Transparency Report; a biannual public record documenting substantiated hazing allegations involving established or recognized student organizations, prepared and updated in compliance with federal requirements under the Stop Campus Hazing Act, § 485(f) of the Higher Education Act.

• Stay abreast of legal, regulatory and accreditation developments and advise senior leadership on their implications for Student Life.

• Implement a comprehensive plan for benchmarking, assessment and evaluation of student conduct processes and programs within their portfolio to ensure programs, policies and processes are effective, equitable, prompt, and educational.

• Utilize data-drive approaches to measure progress, strengthen effectiveness, and make improvements; communicate conduct trends and their implications to senior leadership and campus stakeholders to support institutional decision-making.

Minimum Acceptable Education & Experience:

• Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, Student Life, Counseling, Law or a related field

• 5-7 years’ experience in student conduct or other related experience including experience with conflict/dispute resolution, mediation, investigations, and/or legal practice

• Experience supervising others

• Experience supporting students in distress

• Experience working with students in a college or university setting

Required Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Leadership abilities to include strong conflict resolution, mediation, restorative justice and policy interpretation

• Strong working knowledge of Title IX, FERPA, due process, and student conduct best practices

• Demonstrated knowledge of student development theory, student conduct administration and federal/ state compliance mandates

• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive practices

• Strong interpersonal and communications skills

• Strong organizational, planning, analytic, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including effective public speaking

• Excellent judgment to include managing sensitive and confidential information; ability to handle sensitive cases and ability to exercise judgment about when to seek legal advice

• Ability to effectively manage projects and balance multiple priorities while maintaining a positive outlook and working effectively in a collaborative environment

• Apply data-informed decision making to assess trends, evaluate initiatives, and implement policies that promote student success, safety and accountability

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience managing a budget, including identifying and leveraging alternative funding sources (e.g., donor support and gift funds)

• Experience with Maxient or similar conduct databases

• Experience assisting, facilitating, and/or leading investigations

• Experience with organizational conduct processes

• Experience with restorative justice and/or alternative dispute resolution practices such as mediation or conflict coaching

Applicant Instructions: 

Applicants should be prepared to upload the following documents when applying online within the My Experience: Resume/CV section of the application: (Maximum of 5 Documents)

• Resume/CV

• Cover Letter

• Contact Information for 3 Professional References

Applications that are missing any of the required items may not move forward for consideration. Additional uploaded documents not requested in the position announcement will not be reviewed.

The University of New Hampshire is an R1 Carnegie classification research institution providing comprehensive, high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs of distinction. UNH is located in Durham on a 188-acre campus, 60 miles north of Boston and 8 miles from the Atlantic coast and is convenient to New Hampshire’s lakes and mountains. There is a student enrollment of 13,000 students, with a full-time faculty of over 600, offering 90 undergraduate and more than 70 graduate programs. The University actively promotes a dynamic learning environment in which qualified individuals of differing perspectives, life experiences, and cultural backgrounds pursue academic goals with mutual respect and shared inquiry.

EEO Statement

The University System of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access employer. The University System is committed to creating an environment that values and supports diversity and inclusiveness across our campus communities and encourages applications from qualified individuals who will help us achieve this mission. The University System prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or marital status.

Compensation Pay Range:

$84,220.00 - $150,920.00

The pay range for this position is listed above. Actual offer will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity, in addition to relevant business considerations. More information on benefits can be found here: USNH Employee Benefits | Human Resources

Location:

Durham