The Coordinator for Campus Traditions & Student Engagement is a full-time professional staff member within the Office of Student Involvement in the Division of Student Affairs. This position is responsible for implementing student engagement programs, outreach efforts, and coordinated initiatives that expand student connection to UMKC and strengthen student belonging.
The Coordinator serves in a highly visible, student-facing role and is expected to be actively engaged in student spaces, campus events, and outreach efforts. This position focuses on executing high-impact programming that strengthens connection to the institution through a coordinated portfolio of campus-wide traditions, large-scale engagement initiatives, and late-night programming such as Roos After Dark. This includes support for signature efforts connected to Homecoming and intentional partnership-building with Athletics and other campus collaborators.
This work supports the Division of Student Affairs Strategic Plan by advancing student engagement, belonging, retention, and student success through intentional programming, outreach, and assessment-informed improvement. The role also helps coordinate outreach and communication efforts across the Office of Student Involvement, ensuring alignment and visibility for departmental initiatives beyond this role’s direct program portfolio.
Specific duties include, but are not limited to:
Campus Traditions & Event Implementation
- Plan, implement, and evaluate a portfolio of student engagement programs with emphasis on campus traditions, large-scale engagement efforts, and late-night programming.
- Execute assigned events from planning through assessment, including logistics, staffing, event flow, and post-event evaluation.
- Lead signature campus experiences connected to institutional traditions, including Homecoming and other major engagement efforts, as assigned.
- Build and sustain collaborative relationships with campus partners, including Athletics, to strengthen student connection to the institution through shared events and traditions.
- Maintain a visible presence before, during, and after programs to support student engagement and event quality.
Union Programming Board
- Advise the Union Programming Board (UPB) with an emphasis on student development, leadership growth, and organizational effectiveness.
- Provide guidance, structure, and accountability to support strong student-led programming while ensuring students maintain ownership of their ideas, planning processes, and event execution.
- Collaborate with a graduate assistant and student leaders to support the continuity and success of UPB while promoting a student-driven approach to programming.
Marketing, Communications, and Outreach
- Develop and implement outreach strategies intended to engage unengaged and under engaged students, including commuter students and other students who may not naturally connect to existing involvement opportunities.
- Use marketing and outreach tools such as social media, texting platforms, tabling, direct student engagement, print materials, digital media, webpages, and collaborative outreach efforts with campus partners.
- Help create intentional pathways for students to participate in campus traditions and build a culture of spirit, pride, and belonging.
- Collaborate with colleagues within the Office of Student Involvement and Division of Student Affairs to improve visibility of engagement opportunities, programs, and student resources, including initiatives beyond this position’s assigned programs.
- Coordinate consistent promotion of programs and services through shared marketing and communication planning, including supervision of a student marketing team.
Student Leadership Development
- Develop and deliver training related to event planning, program execution, and involvement processes for student organizations and student leaders.
- Provide resources, guidance, and skill-building opportunities that improve the quality and effectiveness of student-led programs.
- Contribute to leadership development efforts that strengthen student engagement and organizational effectiveness across campus.
Supervision, Assessment, and Operations
- Supervise and collaborate with a graduate assistant and/or student staff in executing programs and outreach strategies.
- Evaluate programs and outreach strategies using participation data, student feedback, and engagement trends, and use that information to improve future efforts.
- Manage assigned program budgets responsibly and in accordance with university policies, which include monitoring expenditures and maintaining accurate records related to events and programming initiatives and ensuring effective stewardship of student activity fee resources and/or departmental funds.
Expected Deliverables
- Consistent execution of campus traditions, late-night programming, and other assigned engagement initiatives.
- Visible outreach efforts to increase engagement among commuters and other under engaged student populations.
- Coordinated marketing and communication support that advances visibility for the broader Office of Student Involvement and Division of Student Affairs portfolio.
- Maintain, and/or create all marketing initiatives such as print materials, webpages, digital media, and communications.
- Administration of Office of Student Involvement social media accounts, in accordance with relevant university policies.
- Partnership-building with Athletics, Student Affairs colleagues, and other campus collaborators in support of student connection and traditions.
- Event training resources and developmental support for student organizations and student leaders.
- Clear supervision and effective utilization of a graduate assistant and/or student staff.
- Assessment-informed improvements to outreach and programming efforts over time.
