First Generation Strategic Initiatives Manager
About Undergraduate Education at Michigan State University
Undergraduate Education at Michigan State University advances institutional efforts to support undergraduate student success, academic innovation, access, and inclusive excellence. Through strategic leadership, collaboration, and evidence-based practice, Undergraduate Education works to improve the undergraduate experience and advance student outcomes across the university.
Undergraduate Education plays a key role in advancing MSU's next chapter in student success through the development of the newly approved Spartan Success Center (SSC). The Spartan Success Center represents a major institutional investment in undergraduate persistence, success, and belonging at MSU. Supported by a $5.2 million renovation of approximately 12,500 square feet in the Hannah Administration Building, the center will serve as a centralized hub for academic advising, career services, success coaches, academic support and other student success and wellbeing units, with a particular emphasis on first-generation and transfer students. The center offers a pivotal opportunity to align and amplify student success efforts across campus focused on the five areas of student success. It will serve as a visible platform for strengthening coordination, advancing equity-minded practice, increasing retention, and demonstrating MSU’s commitment to holistic, institution-wide student support.
Position Overview:
Reporting to the Assistant Dean for Student Success Operations and Policy, the First-Generation Strategic Initiatives Manager provides strategic leadership, vision, and operational oversight for university-wide efforts supporting ~ 10,000 first-generation undergraduate students at Michigan State University in order to increase retention and close opportunity gaps. Serving within the Office of Undergraduate Education, this role serves the voice of First-Gen students for initiatives and policies, along with operations associated with Spartan Success Center. This position will work in close partnership with leadership of the Transfer Student Success Center to ensure a coherent, equitable, and student-centered experience across the undergraduate lifecycle.
The First-Generation Strategic Initiatives Manager leads identity-affirming, asset-based programming and institutional strategies that remove structural barriers, demystify higher education systems, promote health and wellbeing and strengthen belonging, persistence, and degree completion for first-generation students. This role balances population-specific leadership for retention and success with shared accountability for the overall Spartan Success Center mission, ensuring that no student experiences institutional structure as a barrier to their success.
Key Responsibilities
Advising, Strategic Leadership & Student Lifecycle Support (50%)
- Advance an asset-based, non-deficit approach to first-generation student success that recognizes cultural wealth, resilience, and family/supporter systems.
- Develop, advise, and evaluate activities devoted to increasing the retention of first-generation college students, aligned with our 5 opportunity areas of success (Self-Discovery of Purpose, Educational Success, Developing Sense of Belonging, contributing to an Empowered Community, and Developing Wellbeing).
- Design, advise, and monitor first-generation student academic progress and support across key transition points, including pre-entry, arrival and orientation, early-term adjustment, mid-career momentum, critical transitions, near completion and guidance for reentry.
- Lead advocacy efforts for policies, practices, and systems that advance equity and improve outcomes for first-generation students in academic planning and educational decision-making.
- Lead initiatives and initiate referrals and coordinated connections to campus resources that demystify the hidden curriculum, strengthen institutional navigation, and build academic and professional confidence for first-generation students.
- Provide leadership and management of the First-Generation Student Success Center aligned with MSU’s institutional priorities for student success, five opportunity areas for student success, equity, and degree completion.
- Co-lead the development and ongoing refinement of the Spartan Success Center’s shared vision, and student experience principles in partnership with leadership of the Transfer Student Success Center, in collaboration with academic advisors, colleges, and campus partners and under the overall direction of the Assistant Dean for Student Success Operations and Policy.
Administration, Collaborative Leadership & Center Operations (30%)
- Serve as a peer leader and collaborative partner with leadership of the Transfer Student Success Center, maintaining clear role distinction while sharing accountability for a unified student success ecosystem.
- Hire, supervise, and develop professional and student staff within the First-Generation Student Success Center.
- Ensure first-generation students experience a “no wrong door” model of support through shared intake, warm handoffs, and coordinated interventions across the Spartan Success Center and campus colleagues.
- Manage and strategically plan the First-Gen Center operating budget.
- Participate in shared decision-making related to space, staffing norms, student flow, crisis response, and cross-center initiatives.
Outreach, External Partnerships & Advocacy (10%)
- Serve as a lead campus representative and advocate for first-generation student issues on-campus and through involvement with the national FirstGen Forward initiative and other external networks (Big 10, University Innovation Alliance, etc.) as appropriate.
- Contribute to alumni identity development, engagement and mentorship pipelines that reinforce long-term belonging and institutional connection.
- Establish partnerships with on-campus and off-campus community stakeholders to develop first-generation student success initiatives.
- Partner with campus units including Admissions, Financial Aid, Advising, Registrar, Student Affairs, and academic colleges to address structural barriers impacting first-generation students.
- Represent the First-Generation Student Success Center in institutional committees and working groups.
- Lead first-generation student recognition initiatives, including family-inclusive celebrations and milestone events.
Research, Assessment & Storytelling (10%)
- Develop and monitor meaningful indicators of first-generation student success inclusive of and beyond retention and graduation (e.g., belonging, navigation confidence, momentum) to inform strategic decision-making, policy and procedural reform within the First-Gen Student Success Center and campuswide.
- Analyze and interpret data on first-generation college students to inform practices within the First-gen center and broader campus community.
- Contribute directly and indirectly to the research goals and efforts of the unit, co-presenting outcomes, insights, and impact narratives to senior leadership, donors, and external stakeholders.
- May consult with, collaborate with, supervise, train and otherwise support faculty, students, and other stakeholders in the pursuit of aligned research endeavors.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Masters -Higher education, student affairs, counseling, social work, public policy, or related field
Doctorate -Related field or terminal degree/equivalent experience
- Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, social work, public policy, or related field.
- 10 years of progressive leadership experience in student success, academic affairs, student affairs, or a related area.
- Demonstrated experience supporting first-generation students through equity-centered, asset-based approaches.
- Familiarity with student success frameworks, transition theory (for first time in college and/or transfer students), or ecological approaches to student development.
- Experience facilitating cross-campus collaborations and initiatives.
- 5+ years of experience supervising professional and student staff.
- Experience with strategic budget planning.
- Demonstrated success using data to inform strategy and communicate impact
- Doctoral degree in a related field or terminal degree/equivalent experience
- Experience in a large, complex, or research-intensive university environment.
- Experience leading as part of a collaborative leadership team
- Experience with grants, donors, and philanthropy
A complete application packet will contain a resume or CV, cover letter and contact information for three professional references.
https://undergrad.msu.edu/
Founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university, Michigan State University (MSU) enrolls over 50,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. MSU is known internationally as a major public research university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Home to nationally ranked and recognized academic, residential college, and service-learning programs, MSU is a multifaceted community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, scientists and leaders.
The Office of Undergraduate Education seeks to help lead MSU's undergraduate student success initiatives by operationalizing MSU's stated beliefs that every student it admits has the capacity to learn, thrive, and graduate and that it is MSU's responsibility to provide an environment with the academic, social, wellness, and financial support our students need to persist in college and succeed after graduation.
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
