Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Dean of Learning Support

Class: Management | Exempt status: Exempt | Grade: O

grad with arms raised in celebration

Under the direction of management, the Dean of Learning Support has overall responsibility and accountability for providing leadership in long-range planning, program development, problem solving, and staff development for Learning Support areas including the Libraries, Academic Support & Instructional Tutoring, and Testing Services.  The Dean of Learning Support responds to inquiries from College departments, educational institutions, the community, students, and/or external agencies and supervises managers, faculty, academic professionals, classified, technical/support, and student staff.

Leadership competencies

  • Advances Racial and Social Justice
    Actively works toward the elimination of racism and social oppression; utilizes culturally responsive practices and processes to achieve equitable student and employee outcomes
  • Drives Vision and Purpose
    Participates in the creation of and executes a vision for the College’s mission balancing compliance with flexible, multimodal, inclusive delivery of financial services.
  • Drives Engagement
    Initiates and drives authentic exploration and engagement cross-departmentally to arrive at collaborative solutions that lead to employee and student success.
  • Accelerates Agility and Innovation
    Analyzes systems, policies and practices and commits to continuous program improvement through the strategic use of culturally responsive data.
  • Builds Partnerships
    Partners to solve problems, adapts communication and approaches, supports healthy conflict, and develops strong relationships with associated areas to advance institutional goals.

Our mission

To support student success by delivering access to quality education while advancing economic development and promoting sustainability in a collaborative culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our vision for equitable student success

Recognizing the unique value, perspectives, strengths, and challenges of every person who comes to PCC for education, all students will achieve their academic goals through equitable support, quality instruction, clear guidance to persist, and an unwavering commitment to completion shared by the entire College community.

Learn more

YESS logo

Yes to Equitable Student Success (YESS)
Our roadmap to dismantling barriers and building inclusive systems of education and support.

Strat plan

Strategic planning
The College’s overall map for ongoing planning and strategic actions.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Provides leadership in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of the Learning Support areas for the college including the Libraries, Academic Support & Instructional Tutoring, and Testing Services.
  2. Collaborate with Academic and Career Pathways, Teaching & Learning, Curriculum, and Assessment, Effectiveness & Planning, Academic & Student Affairs Operations, and student affairs leadership as needed, as well as other key leaders across the college.
  3. Designs, develops and implements strategic priorities and programming to expand the support services to students through Libraries, Academic Support, and Testing.
  4. Provides leadership and direction in the design, development, and implementation of services areas to the entire College community.  Utilizes best practice to create innovative programming for tutoring, embedded/supplemental instruction and testing services.
  5. Manages resources, people, and service delivery centers/facilities for all campuses, centers, and the virtual environment.
  6. Monitors the development of technologies and practices that will enhance College services for the Libraries, Academic Support, and Testing.
  7. Represents the Teaching & Learning Support division and the Learning Support areas at local, regional, and national levels as assigned.
  8. Ensures culturally responsive and inclusive operations that center on historically underserved and marginalized communities; accountable for flexible service delivery modalities that support access and equitable student outcomes.
  9. Exercises leadership in achieving optimal organizational efficiency and effectiveness, including initiatives to improve work processes and enhance systems and staff performance.
  10. Develops, oversees, analyzes, and makes budget decisions in alignment with College strategy, values and priorities. Forecasts funds needed for staffing, equipment, materials, and supplies. Assumes institutional authority for applicable grants and contracts.
  11. Builds and maintains collaborative and productive partnerships across Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, administrative/systems services, and shared governance bodies in order to integrate institutional effectiveness, planning efforts, and holistic student support.
  12. Provides leadership for College-wide strategic initiative execution.
  13. Supervises management, academic professionals, classified staff, technical/support, and/or student staff. Evaluates, supports, and provides guidance on professional development plans and goals for assigned areas of responsibility in accordance with practices, policies, and collective bargaining agreements. Hires, evaluates, trains, disciplines and recommends dismissal of staff as necessary.
  14. Implements and promotes advancement of the district’s equity goals and assists in the hiring of staff that reflects the diversity of the district. Enhances equity-minded talent management, including recruiting, hiring, and employee retention practices.
  15. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Environment

Work environment includes frequent disruptions and changes in priorities. Work is generally performed in an office environment with frequent interruptions and irregularities in the work schedule. Working hours may vary and occasional evening or weekend work is required. Frequent travel to other locations is required. No special coordination beyond that used for normal mobility and handling of everyday objects and materials is needed to perform the job satisfactorily.

Minimum Qualifications

Master’s Degree and eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience related to the area of assignment, providing program/project management or program/project coordination. Four (4) years of higher education management/supervisory experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of:
  • Supervisory principles;
  • Policy and procedure development and implementation practices;
  • Best practice in Library Services, Testing, and Tutoring principles and practices of student support services;
  • Student retention strategies;
  • Budgeting, financial and business management principles and practices;
  • Applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, codes, and/or statutes;
  • Analytical methods and techniques;
  • Program/project management principles and techniques.
Skills in:
  • Supervising diverse staff;
  • Coordinating activities with other internal departments and/or external agencies and vendors;
  • Communicating technical information to non-technical audiences;
  • Managing projects;
  • Monitoring compliance with applicable policies, procedures, rules, and regulations;
  • Interpreting and applying applicable laws, rules, and regulations;
  • Analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, projecting consequences of proposed actions, and making recommendations in support of goals;
  • Planning and implementing program components;
  • Compiling and analyzing data;
  • Conducting needs analysis;
  • Conducting outreach activities;
  • Preparing collateral and marketing materials;
  • Interpreting complex documents and data.
Ability to:
  • Work with diverse academic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of community college students and staff;
  • Utilize computer technology for communication, data gathering and reporting activities;
  • Communicate effectively and culturally responsively through oral and written mediums;
  • Assess the consequences and outcomes of program initiatives;
  • Monitor legal and regulatory changes.

New

4/2021

Portland Community College is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other protected class.