At UIndy, we cultivate a vibrant, close-knit residential community on the Southside of Indianapolis. Serving a diverse student body of over 4,200 total students, our department oversees the vibrant home-away-from-home for 1,700 campus residents. We bridge classroom learning with everyday community through six distinctive residence halls housing approximately 900 students, alongside three bustling apartment complexes home to 800 upper-division students. Joining our team means shaping an engaging, inclusive environment where dynamic educational programming, student leadership development, and meaningful relationships empower Greyhounds to thrive.
The Director of Housing and Residence Life serves as the senior executive leader for the University's comprehensive residential enterprise within the Division of Student Affairs and Student Success. Reporting to the Associate Dean of Students, this role provides vision, strategic alignment, and operational leadership across all residential life programs and housing operations for UIndy's 1,700 on-campus residents across our six residence halls and three apartment communities.
The Director directly supervises professional staff members, including the Associate Director for Residence Life and the Coordinator for Housing Operations, fostering a high-performing team dedicated to student engagement, wellbeing, belonging, and success. As the administrative head of the department, the Director bridges business operations with student development, ensuring an integrated residential experience that supports institutional enrollment and student success goals.
This is a live-off position, including occasional evening and weekend responsibilities, shared collaboratively with the Housing and Residence Life team. The incumbent of this role serves in the senior-level on-call rotation, providing administrative support and crisis intervention during after-hours emergencies.
REQUIREMENTS/MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Education: Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, Student Personnel, Counseling, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Experience: Minimum of 5 years post-master's progressive, full-time professional experience in Residence Life and/or Housing Operations.
- Supervision: Proven experience directly supervising full-time professional staff.
- Technical Aptitude: Demonstrated experience managing complex databases or housing software systems.
- Crisis Management: Experience serving in an on-call capacity and responding to campus emergencies.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Leadership: 3+ years of experience managing multi-tiered supervisory structures or leading departmental operations.
- Software Expertise: Advanced proficiency in housing management software (e.g., Housing.Cloud), student conduct systems (e.g., Maxient), and occupancy analytics.
- Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated success in developing retention-focused initiatives, living-learning communities, or streamlining complex operations.
- Budgetary Oversight: Significant experience managing departmental, operational, and programmatic budgets.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Associate Director of Residence Life
- Coordinator for Operations
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
Strategic Leadership & Organizational Vision
- Provide strategic direction and administrative vision for Housing and Residence Life, aligning operational systems and residential life initiatives with institutional priorities.
- Directly supervise, mentor, and evaluate professional staff (Associate Director for Residence Life and Coordinator for Housing Operations), promoting professional growth, clear performance benchmarks, and departmental accountability.
- Formulate and execute multi-year strategic plans, policy frameworks, and residential living-learning strategies aimed at enhancing student persistence, sense of belonging, and retention.
- Lead departmental assessment efforts by designing data-informed evaluation metrics regarding occupancy trends, student satisfaction, facility utilization, and learning outcomes.
Housing Rate Setting, Fiscal Leadership & Auxiliary Contracting
- Establish annual housing room-and-board rates, rate tiers, and occupancy financial models in coordination with division and institution leadership.
- Oversee all apartment leasing and contract processes, in partnership with the Coordinator for Operations, serving as the senior contract manager for university-managed and third-party apartment properties.
- Develop and implement a marketing plan designed to increase housing occupancy and revenue growth.
- Direct comprehensive departmental operating budgets, prioritizing strategic allocation of funds for residential programming, facility upgrades, operational technology, and staff development.
- Serve as the senior university liaison for auxiliary campus partnerships, ensuring high contract performance standards for dining service administration and third-party property management.
- Champion capital improvement projects, space allocation priorities, and long-term facility master planning in collaboration with Facilities Management.
Enterprise System Administration & Operational Infrastructure
- Serve as the primary System Administrator for all housing and auxiliary software platforms (e.g., Housing.Cloud), ensuring system stability, workflow optimization, user permission control, and data integrity.
- Partner with Information Technology to direct technical data integrity efforts, system upgrades, custom reporting, and automated data synchronization between the housing enterprise system and the Student Information System (SIS/Banner).
- Oversee the end-to-end administration of housing contract workflows, room selection engine configurations, fee schedules, damage assessments, and break housing processes.
- Establish policy standards and governance for campus-wide residential access control systems and key management protocols in partnership with IT and Campus Police.
- Guide the operational direction of campus facilities within the unit's portfolio, such as the Schwitzer Student Center and the Fitness Hub, ensuring alignment with student needs.
Crisis Management, Compliance & Student Support
- Participate in the senior-level administrative on-call rotation, providing leadership and directive guidance during critical after-hours campus emergencies.
- Collaborate closely with the Associate Dean of Students, Greyhound Support Team (BIT), and student conduct officers to support residential students of concern and manage high-level behavioral interventions.
- Ensure departmental compliance with all federal, state, and institutional mandates, including Title IX, FERPA, Clery Act, and VAWA guidelines.
- Build strong collaborative partnerships across Academic Affairs, Student Affairs & Student Success, University Events, Disability Resources, and Financial Aid to promote a holistic student experience.