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POSITION SPECIFICS
The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Mentoring is hiring a VIP Program Specialist for a new initiative: Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP). The program s pecialist will provide management, administrative coordination, communication, assessment, and outreach to support the growth, quality, and sustainability of VIP at Penn State. As this is a newly created role, the incumbent will build the structures needed to establish, grow, and sustain these projects over time. VIP is a university-identified priority: multi-year, faculty-led, curricularly integrated projects that support student growth as they work in teams to contribute to project objectives across multiple semesters, frequently in collaboration with external stakeholders.
Responsibilities Include:
Identifies infrastructure needs and cultivates resources — data collection, software, collaborators — to support VIP project development across Penn State, while serving as point of contact for faculty leaders and student teams
Works with the Oversight Committee, Faculty Champion(s), and faculty leaders to define VIP elements, ensure VIP consortium compliance, and build faculty trainings and communities of practice
Conducts outreach to raise VIP awareness among students, faculty, departments, and other stakeholders, and builds structures that promote equitable access to VIP opportunities
Collaborates with faculty VIP leaders to create and manage the VIP website and related communication and access structures
Creates and manages data collection from VIP projects and faculty mentors to assess outcomes, tracking enrollment, completion, and satisfaction metrics
Represents Penn State at internal and external meetings, supports special projects, recommends process improvements, and may directly supervise part-time, student, or temporary employees
Preferred Qualifications:
Master's degree
Strong written and oral communication skills: Ability to produce written materials for internal and external stakeholders, manage web content, and communicate program value to prospective faculty and students
Able to build structures and processes from scratch for a newly created program, manage multiple concurrent responsibilities (outreach, reporting, faculty relations), and keep initiatives moving
Comfortable cultivating and maintaining relationships across very different audiences: faculty leaders, students, university committees, external community/industry/government partners
Basic competency in designing data collection processes, tracking metrics (enrollment, completion, satisfaction), and using that data to inform program improvements
MINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS
Bachelor's Degree
1+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted
Required Certifications:
None
BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
Penn State does not sponsor or take over sponsorship of a staff employment Visa. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S.
SALARY & BENEFITS
The salary range for this position, including…