Civic Engagement Coordinator

About North Park

Founded in 1891, North Park University is a Christian university affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church of over 3,200 students from around the country and the world. Located for over 125 years on the land of the Miami and Potawatomi tribes in what is today Chicago’s northside, NPU has recently been designated a Hispanic Serving Institution and is committed to serving diverse populations. Elevating North Park University’s core distinctives of Christian, city-centered, and intercultural, NPU values diversity among its faculty and is committed to building a racially and culturally diverse intellectual community, and strongly encourages the nomination and candidacies of persons who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color regardless of gender.

North Park University is located in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the United States. It is nine miles from downtown Chicago. The North Park campus has often been referred to as an oasis in the heart of the city – a place where students from urban, rural, and suburban backgrounds alike can call home. And all of this within the major metropolitan backdrop of Chicago: one of the world’s largest and most diversified economies, renowned for its museums and music, and voted best large city in the U.S. for four years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler.

Mission

The mission of North Park University is to prepare students for lives of significance and service through education in the liberal arts, professional studies, and theology.

Vision

Building on our core institutional identity—Christian, city-centered, intercultural—our vision is to create a university of uncommon character and enduring excellence, where faith, learning, and service meet.

Position Summary

The North Park University Center for Civic Engagement’s mission is to advance a city-centered ethos on campus and augment North Park University’s commitment to the just flourishing of cities.

The Center for Civic Engagement is seeking a Civic Engagement Coordinator to facilitate on and off-campus programming that supports Catalyst, the embodiment of our city-centered core distinctive. Each year, the Catalyst program serves nearly 2000 students and interacts with over 100 community partners.

The Civic Engagement Coordinator facilitates Catalyst Courses which provide robust experiential learning opportunities throughout the semester. These afternoon courses are designed to allow enough time for students to travel to locations throughout Chicago to experience, learn from, and serve the city. Catalyst Courses provide structure and support for students to apply the theory learned in the classroom with practice outside the classroom.

The Civic Engagement Coordinator is also responsible for supporting other campus-facing programs as needed, including:

● Catalyst Semester, a learning community that centers civic engagement through city-focused classes, practica with community-based organizations, and experiential learning sessions.

● Catalyst on Campus, campus-wide programming that brings relevant local conversations across the city to campus.

Reporting to the Director for Civic Engagement, the Civic Engagement Coordinator works collaboratively with student employees and volunteers to coordinate and implement experiential learning sessions that impact student learning and align with civic engagement student learning outcomes. The position oversees and coordinates all logistical operations and risk management related to these sessions. The Civic Engagement Coordinator implements assessment of civic engagement outcomes that map to the university’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs).

For this role, the most of following skills are essential:

1. Collaboration and Teamwork: Ability to work effectively with undergraduate employees and volunteers.
2. Coordination and Organization: Strong skills in planning and implementing experiential learning sessions.
3. Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills for clear and effective interaction.
4. Leadership: Capability to lead and motivate a diverse team of young adults.
5. Civic Engagement Knowledge: Understanding of civic engagement principles and how to integrate them into learning outcomes.
6. Project Management: Ability to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.
7. Problem-Solving: Aptitude for addressing challenges and finding effective solutions in advance and in the moment.
8. Flexibility and Adaptability: Willingness to adjust plans as needed to meet changing circumstances.
9. Interpersonal Skills: Strong skills in building and maintaining positive relationships.
10. Educational Expertise: Knowledge of experiential learning methodologies and their impact on student development.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of student volunteers and student workers while creating pathways for student input in all programming
• Design and coordinate experiential learning sessions centering civic engagement while implementing effective processes and protocols
• Assess and evaluate program and implement findings for continuous improvement

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree is required and/or two years of experience in higher education, nonprofit, or equivalent
• Demonstrated experience in program management with high attention to detail; ability to multitask and coordinate logistics in a fast-paced environment
• Creativity in bridging faculty academic interests with student learning outcomes through experiential learning
• An awareness of power dynamics and the ability to center campus and community aspirations and preferences with a DEI lens are essential
• Driver’s license

Preferred Requirement:

• Proficiency in Spanish and English

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Prescription Plan
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Tuition Remission
• Helwig Recreation Center