Career Center

Duration: Full time (10 months) School Year per contract (plus 5 days in June)

 Reporting to: Principal

FLSA: Exempt

Schedule: Monday through Friday (plus scheduled events)

Hours: FT (7:50 am to 4:00 pm)

Mission:

Rooted in the Catholic Dominican tradition, St. Agnes Academy challenges young women through exceptional academic preparation and transformational experiences to lead with integrity, joy, and a commitment to social justice.

Job Purpose:

The office of Community Culture is integral to the mission of St. Agnes Academy. We are committed as a Catholic institution to assessing the equity and inclusion of our policies, procedures, philosophies, and practices. We endeavor to create fair, accountable, authentic, and sustainable spaces that value and increase the diversity within our community. This institutional commitment will equip us to better understand one another and grow together as a community dedicated to God. The initiatives overseen by the director of community culture work to create a community of respect among students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Faith, Community, and Dominican Charism

• Ensure that the four pillars of a Dominican education (prayer, study, community, preaching) are developed and promoted among the school community
• Develop an active faith community and model Christian values
• Incorporate prayer and spiritual formation within the student, faculty/staff and parent communities
• Uphold and implement the Dominican charism and the Houston Dominican Sisters’ congregational goals

The main responsibilities will include:

Student Culture and Programs:

• Provide strategic leadership in areas of diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice
• Ensure that St. Agnes Academy’s commitment to equity and inclusion is evidenced in all areas of the school, including activities, interpersonal interactions, and curriculum offerings
• Enhance the ways in which the entire school community supports under-represented groups and  their families
• Proactively engage with constituents to ensure that students feel a sense of belonging, safety and support
• Develop and support a student Diversity Council
• Support and develop student leadership in matters related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice
• Plan, develop, and market diversity, equity and inclusion-centric education, programs, and events for faculty, staff, students and families including but not limited to: Diversity Summit, Cultural Pageant, Multicultural Open House, community culture Civitas programming, Crucial Conversations with students and colleagues, MLK Day programming, Virtual HBCU Fair, International Food Festival, Black History Month Assembly, and other relevant cultural programming in coordination with one of the school’s affinity groups
• Assist the Dean of Students as an advocate/mediator in student conflicts
• Consult with the Faculty-Staff Advisory Committee (FSAC) and Discipline Board, as needed

Recruitment and Retention of board members, administration, faculty, staff, students:

• Work with Admissions Office to develop and implement innovative recruitment strategies to attract a larger number of diverse applicants
• Work with Principal and Human Resource Department to implement strategies that attract a larger number of diverse candidates for employment
• Assist in on-boarding newly accepted non-majority families through welcome events and communicate regularly with parents and students to assess equity-centric concerns
• Consult with the Financial Aid Office within the financial aid processes as well as throughout the students four years and attend financial aid committee meetings, as needed
• Assist the Academic Dean and Director of Campus Ministry in on-boarding newly hired employees through the New Hire Formation Program
• Provide support and programming for non-majority employees through Employee Resource Groups and Crucial Conversation offerings
• Collaborate with Director of Human Resources to serve as an advocate and/or mediator in conflicts of a discriminatory basis
• Work with Director of Alumnae Relations to develop and maintain relationships with non- majority alumnae and past parents to include in community programming

Administrative and Teaching Responsibilities:

• Participate on the Principal’s Team and fulfill administrative responsibilities required of the team.
• Teach one full year academic class in your area of expertise or equivalent (as required of all administrators)
• Develop, facilitate, or procure programming or speakers for awareness and skill building training sessions with students, parents, the board, administration, faculty, and staff.
• Make recommendations to the Principal and Head of School for department policies, practices, and programs that support the Community Culture initiatives
• Work with the Academic Dean and the Associate Deans to share results of research on new best practices that address common classroom challenges in teaching about cultural competence, awareness, racial microaggressions, identity, social difference, and inequality; train teachers how to incorporate into their classrooms
• Work with the Academic Dean, Associate Dean of Curriculum, and Curriculum Review Representatives on a quarterly basis to ensure curriculum reflection tool is still equitable and relevant
• Work with the Director of Volunteer Programs to cultivate parent organizations for our underrepresented groups and serve as a liaison between these parent organizations and the Agnes community
• Research, identify and respond to the specific needs of St. Agnes Academy’s diverse communities: people of color, LGBTQ, economically disadvantaged, recent immigrants,
• Participate as required in areas such as public speaking on behalf of the school, in-service trainings, class retreats, advising, workshops and conferences
• Work with the Director of Communication to ensure that St. Agnes Academy’s commitment to the equity and inclusion of minoritized individuals is evidenced in all official documents, reports, and promotional materials
• Collaborate with focus groups to assess yearly goals within the three-year Community Culture Action Plan
• Work with Head of School, Principal, and other administrators to update the Community Culture Action Plan every three years
• Work with the admissions office to maintain current records of school diversity related efforts, statistics, policies, and programs

Qualifications:

• A knowledge of and commitment to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the missions of the Dominican Sisters of Houston and Agnes Academy
• A Bachelor’s degree; Master’s preferred
• A minimum of 3-5 years of experience in a related field, and classroom teaching experience
• Practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church, preferred
• Able to work with a high level of independence and autonomy and to exercise a high degree of initiative, influence, discretion, and judgment in decisions impacting the community
• Demonstrated ability to engage others in difficult conversations and manage conflict
• High degree of comfort working with a wide variety of competing constituents including board members, administrators, faculty, staff, and students.
• Engaging and approachable
• Highly organized and self-directed
• Strong writing and public speaking skills
• Completion of Safe Haven training

Work Environment:

This job operates in a professional/educational environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and other technology.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit at desk area, communicate via phone/face to face, manually input data into a computer, walk to different office areas, reach with hands and arms, and lifting a minimum of 25 lbs.