Field Placement Coordinator

Job Description

Job Description

Field Placement Coordinator

Teacher Education Program

School of Dine Studies and Education

Tsaile Campus

Duty Schedule:

Monday-Friday (8:00 am - 5:00 pm)

Summary/Objective of Position:

The Field Placement Coordinator is responsible for facilitating, coordinating, and managing the field placement experiences for teacher candidates within Diné College's Teacher Education Program in SDSE. This position is responsible for reviewing and ensuring that students, mentor teachers and college supervisors (faculty) comply with licensure, state and national accreditation, school district, and academic degree requirements through field placements.

This position will coordinate with academic and professional faculty, licensure staff, and external stakeholders (school district administrators, teachers, Navajo Nation & state regulators) to support student completion of program degree and state licensure requirements.

Description of Essential Functions of the Position

Disclaimer: This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions associated with the job. While this list is intended to accurately reflect the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Incumbent employee is expected to adhere to the institution's high standards supporting its integrity in compliance with accreditation requirements. Employee is expected to observe and comply with the College's Personnel policy and procedures manual and as approved by the College Board of Regents.

• Primary contact for all Diné College Teacher Education students in Elementary, Associate of Arts in Education, Early Childhood, Science and Math Secondary Education majors for placement in area schools.
• Primary contact for schools hosting Diné College education students.
• Organize Field Practicum and Student Teacher Orientations.
• Communicate to students, school administrators, and faculty any potential scholarships, grant funding, student stipends, and hiring possibilities in local schools with related criteria and responsibilities of each party.
• Accepting applications and reviewing criminal background checks for Field Practicum I, II, III, and Student Teaching students before placement in schools and recommending any conditions on placements and student teaching in consultation with Dine College faculty, administration, and school officials.
• Facilitating placements in K-12 schools.
• Be the primary contact regarding student or teacher, or principal communications to clarify assignments, absences, or conflicts related to placements.
• Be instructor of record for EDU 358 Field Practicum I, EDU 378 Field Practicum II, EDU 478 Field Practicum III, and EDU 498 Student Teaching and co-evaluate all key assignments as part of the Dine College Portfolio process.
• Develop and modify annually Field Practicum and Student Teacher Evaluation forms in consultation with Schools and Faculty, and ensure consistent use and data collection for semester and annual reports.
• Collect, organize, and store data for Education Preparation Program Reports in regard to Field Practicum and Student Teacher placements, Faculty evaluation of field practicum and student teachers' performance, mentor teacher evaluation of field practicum and student teachers' performance, and any related K-12 student data available to show the impact of mentor teacher or field practicum and student teachers' performance.
• Attend regular meetings and maintain relationships with the New Mexico and Arizona Department of Education Offices of Education Preparation Program to ensure Diné College can be authorized and be re-authorized to offer teacher and endorsement certifications in each state.
• Review and update the Field Experience and Student Teacher handbook as necessary, including requirements for criminal background responsibilities, appeal of placement and dismissal processes, application requirements, and teacher verification of program completion and endorsement licensing requirements or changes.
• Communicate and clarify any course-based, field-based assignments of College Faculty with Mentor Teacher, School Administrator, College, Field Supervisor, and Student.
• Travel: makes travel, training, and conference arrangements, and coordinates the approval process and requests through the Finance office and appropriate line of authority.
• Other duties assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Experience

Minimum:

• Bachelor's in Education (K-12 education-related) and two years of administrative/coordinator experience.

Preferred:

• Fluency in Navajo language but not required.
• Demonstrated experience in outreach and networking in an educational or similar setting.
• Familiarity with K-12 education on Navajo Nation.

Knowledge:

• Understanding of K-12 education:
  • Knowledge of the classroom environment, school administration, and teaching standards is essential.
• Licensing and accreditation:
  • Familiarity with state licensing regulations and accreditation standards for teacher education programs is crucial.
• Educational systems and databases:
  • Proficiency in using College databases (Jenzabar) to access and process student date is necessary.
• Curriculum and training design:
  • Knowledge of the principles and methods for developing curriculum and training materials, including online courses delivery, may be required.
• Community resources:
  • An understanding of Navajo Nation and local/regional school systems and the ability to cultivate partnerships with community agencies is beneficial.

Skills:

• Organization and time management:
  • Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, set priorities, and meet deadlines, are vital.
• Communication and interpersonal skills:
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills are needed to interact effectively with students, faculty, school partners, and community members.
• Collaboration and teamwork:
  • The ability to collaboratively with a team, including administration, faculty, staff, and school district personnel, is essential.
• Problem-solving and adaptability:
  • Demonstrated problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing environments and anticipate future needs are important.
• Technology proficiency:
  • Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) and the ability to learn new software quickly are necessary.
• Supervision and Training:
  • The ability to supervise and train student workers may be required.

Abilities:

• Relationship building:
  • The ability to establish and maintain strong working relationships with various stakeholders, including students, faculty, school administrators, and community partners, is crucial.
• Advising and mentoring:
  • The ability to advise and mentor students on program requirements, course sequences, and field placements is important.
• Confidentiality:
  • The ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion is required.
• Leadership and Support:
  • The ability to provide leadership and support in coordinating field experience activities and implementing program goals is valuable.
• Working with diverse populations:
  • A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the ability to work effectively with students from diverse backgrounds, are desirable.

Physical Requirements, Work Environment & Travel:

• Some weekends and evening work may be required.
• Reasonable accommodations are made in an abnormal work environment so that no unusual work expectations are present.
• Travel expectations are normal and require no unusual extended expectations.
• Regular activities require the ability to quickly change priorities which may include and/or are subject to the resolution of conflicts.

Other Requirement(s):

• Must possess a valid driver's license.
• Ability to communicate in a variety of media.
• No prior DUIs, misdemeanors, or convictions.
• Eligible to meet the College's requirements to drive vehicles for meetings, field placement visits, and trainings/conferences.
• Experience working in a higher education setting is preferred.
• Ability to work effectively with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Please upload all documents relevant to the position you are applying for. This should include at a minimum;

(1) Resume,

(2) Three - Letters of Recommendation (Dated within One-Year from the Application), and

(3) Copies of Academic Transcripts.

Other documents may be required for the position, for example, if claiming Navajo Preference upload your CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood) or DD-214 if claiming Veterans Preference. Please upload and appropriately title those documents if the position requires additional certification and/or licensures.

Note: if any documents are missing or not uploaded, your application will not be complete and therefore not considered.