Vanderbilt Pre-College Area Coordinator (Summer 2027)

Fore more information about Vanderbilt Pre-College, please visit https://pty.vanderbilt.edu/workatprecollege/ .
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Location: Nashville, TN
Type: Residential
Reports to: Director of Pre-College Programs

Job Description:

A Precollege Area Coordinator serves as an in-residence floor leader and supervisor. At PTY Precollege, small groups of middle and high school students are led by Residential Proctors. Each Residential Proctor is responsible for activities, check-ins, and first-line support for students.

The Area Coordinator (AC) serves as “a proctor for the proctors” by providing support and supervision to Residential Proctors and serves as the bridge between Residential Proctors and the leadership team. Additionally, the AC serves as the primary operational leader for their assigned residential area, coordinating staffing coverage, supervision plans, communication flow, risk mitigation, and student support efforts to ensure a safe, engaging, and well-managed residential experience. Area Coordinators reside in the residential hall with students and staff.

This is a residential position that requires flexible weekend hours on Check-in/Check-out Days and during weekends of program operation. Approximately 55-75+ hours per week is typical, including weekend shifts. Specifically, check-in weekends will involve working a full afternoon through late evening on Sundays, and check-out will encompass full morning shifts on check-out days (6:30AM-12PM).

Area Coordinators should expect to assume responsibility for real-time decision-making, including incident response, staff scheduling adjustments, and communication during rapidly changing situations. Flexibility is essential in this position.

Area Coordinators are leaders responsible for overseeing residential operations, staff mentoring, student supervision, and community management in collaboration with other senior leadership team members.

Perks:

Your summer includes:

- Gain significant experience in student development, residential life, mentorship, community building, and youth leadership.
- Making a difference through investing in the lives of gifted and high achieving young scholars.
- Working at one of the most prestigious universities in the nation.
- Loving what you do while building your resume.
- Joining a team of dedicated staff who are passionate about developing talent in academically advanced students.
- Competitive compensation with meals and private room in residence hall included.

Expectations:

Within their wide array of duties and responsibilities, Pre-College Area Coordinators are expected to:

- Provide timely and accurate status updates to PTY leadership regarding the residential community, including student concerns, supervision, and operational challenges.
- Meet regularly with the leadership team to provide information and ideas for maintaining a positive, healthy community of students and staff.
- Supervise Residential Proctors in all aspects of their roles, including performance coaching, accountability, and mentorship.
- Grow and maintain Residential Proctor morale and performance through routine group-level and 1:1 meetings and conversations, fostering a respectful and positive team culture.
- Assist directors with mediating staff conflicts and facilitating collaborative problem-solving among proctors and program staff.
- Uphold all expectations for Residential Proctor roles and responsibilities.
- Step in to cover Residential Proctor duties when necessary.
- Maintain situational awareness of student and staff locations, status updates, and accountability throughout the day and evening.
- Monitor residential environments and shared spaces to ensure student safety, appropriate behavior, and proactive supervision.
- Ensure the quality and effectiveness of nightly proctor meetings as well as filling in to lead these meetings as needed.
- Support full-time staff in facilitating clear communication of policies, schedule changes, operational updates, and student concerns.
- Possess cultural sensitivity awareness and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Lead an initial Floor Group Meeting for students on the opening night of each session to set clear standards and policies. Reinforce program expectations and policies throughout the session as needed.
- Exercise strong organizational skills to coordinate staffing assignments, attendance tracking, and supervision plans for residential activities and special events.
- Demonstrate thoughtful, timely, and professional verbal and digital communication proficiency.
- Utilize Microsoft Teams and other communication platforms to disseminate critical information and ensure timely acknowledgement and follow-through from staff members.
- Develop, monitor, and adjust daily supervision schedules to ensure adequate staffing coverage, break coverage, activity support, and compliance with student supervision ratios.
- Handle unexpected student issues, including but not limited to: student illness, violations of stated community code of conduct, student support and encouragement.
- Be highly mature and able to assist with the management of a residential community of a summer academic program for teens. Management duties may include: responding to student safety concerns, behavioral/health issues, student conflicts, supervision, and other emergent concerns, escalating as necessary to full-time leadership.
- Brainstorm, with Residential Proctors, ideas for working with students who may be struggling academically, socially, emotionally, physically, or otherwise, referring to the leadership team as needed.
- Assist with incident documentation, follow-up communication, and reporting procedures as directed.
- Engage willingly as a team player with humor, enthusiasm and a compassionate understanding of middle and high school academically advanced students as well as the Residential Proctors and other staff members who support them.
- Enthusiastically adapt and pivot as needed to ensure optimal, engaging, and safe student experiences.
- Work closely with Operations, Student Support, Activities, and Leadership staff to accomplish program goals and address problems in a timely and effective manner.
- Serve as a role model for all staff and students by building a respectful residential community.
- Uphold and enforce all federal, state, university, and program policies as outlined in staff and student handbooks and other referenced materials.
- Thrive in a fast-paced, demanding work environment that requires continuing flexibility, a positive and caring attitude, and collaboration.
- Adhere to PTY Precollege’s policies related to confidentiality.
- Assume other program related responsibilities as assigned by administrative staff.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will:

- Possess at least a bachelor’s degree.
- Have extensive residential life and/or summer program experience at the secondary school or college level.
- Have experience supervising, coaching, or mentoring staff members in a residential, educational, youth development, or summer program setting.
- Have extensive leadership and/or team building experience.
- Be able to live in the summer residence hall with students and Residential Proctor staff.
- Demonstrate exceptional maturity and character.
- Have experience communicating with parents or key stakeholders of an organization.
- Embody a strong team player mentality and sense of humor.
- Be able to successfully and positively communicate with individuals of all ages, experiences, and roles.
- Have experience managing sensitive student situations involving behavior, health, accommodations, or crisis response.
- Successfully pass the Vanderbilt University criminal background check and online training for working with minors.
- Agree to adhere to all duties before, during, and after the program as outlined in the staff materials.
- Be able to traverse distances of at least one mile, including stairs, with or without accommodation.
- Must be able to lift and/or maneuver at least 40 lbs. with or without accommodation.

Benefits

Compensation:

$20.00/hr (plus housing and meals while Vanderbilt Pre-College is in session)

*This position is eligible for the returning PTY seasonal staff incentive (/precollege-positions/#incentive).
**This position is eligible for the Master’s Degree/ Educator or Counselor Certification incentive (/precollege-positions/#incentive).

Program Dates and Times:*

- Leadership Team Training Dates:

Mid-May (Final dates to be determined)
Three total 1-hour Zoom orientation meetings
June 1 – June 4
Training Hours are 8:30AM to 5:00PM
- All Staff Training Dates:
June 7-11, July 10 Training Hours are 8:30AM to 5:00PM
- Student Program Dates:
June 13 - July 24
Staff Break Week (Off Duty): July 4 – July 9
- For a detailed schedule, please see https://pty.vanderbilt.edu/precollege-staff-schedule/ (/precollege-staff-schedule/).
- The typical standard weekday shift is 6:30am-8:30am and 2:30pm-11pm in addition to extensive weekend hours. Please note that hours may vary slightly depending on session assignments. Area Coordinators work 1-2 hours each morning in supervising the residential halls as students wake up as well as escorting students to breakfast.
- Please note, Vanderbilt Pre-College requires all residential staff to live in the residence hall. This means all staff are expected to remain in the residence hall overnight for each and every night of assigned session with the exception of agreed upon 24-hour time-off periods (applicable only to VSI 2-week sessions). These 24-hour time off periods will be clearly communicated at the onset of each session; they will be different for each staff member in order to maintain the correct adult to student ratios that are in compliance with Vanderbilt University’s Protection of Minors policies.

*dates subject to change