Hilltop Child Development Center

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Important Information

To inquire about volunteer opportunities, contact Machaela Whelan.

Executive Director Position Description

Position Overview:
Hilltop Child Development Center, a preschool and childcare program serving 250+ Children of KU students, faculty, and staff as well as the public, seeks an Executive Director. Hilltop serves a diverse group of children, and Center provides developmentally appropriate practice grounded in positive and strong relationships with families. The Director manages all staff and administration; ensures the fiscal integrity of the program; implements the strategic plan, ensures adherence to all local, federal, and NAEYC regulations; oversees the maintenance of the building and grounds; hires, supervises, and evaluates all staff and administration; plans staff development; represents Hilltop in the university community and the greater Lawrence community; and ensures Hilltop provides opportunities for research, student training, and service learning. This position reports to the Board of Directors.

Overview of Hilltop:
Hilltop serves the University in many ways. First, the Center provides quality child care and education for a wide age range of children whose parents study, teach, or work at the University. As many of Hilltop's parents are students, Hilltop's service is directly related to the University's outreach and affirmative action goals. As the number of students with young children increases, the need for high quality campus child care will continue to grow.

Goals of the Center:

• To provide a safe, positive, healthy, and emotionally secure learning environment for children.
• To provide a high quality, developmentally appropriate program for children.
• To provide a daily curriculum that encourages and supports children to actively engage, explore, experiment, observe, talk, absorb, relate, and process a wide variety of developmentally appropriate materials and activities.
• To maintain and hire a well-qualified staff dedicated to understanding and meeting the needs of young children.
• To encourage family involvement in the program in as many ways as possible.
• To systematically assess all aspects of the program to facilitate continuous improvement.
• To base our program on the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.

Required Qualifications:

• Master's in Early Childhood Education or Child Development (or related field if Bachelor's degree is in Early Childhood Education or Child Development), along with three years of combined experience as a Program Director, Assistant Director, or Executive Director in a center licensed for more than 100 children.  OR
• A Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development, along with seven years of combined experience as a Program Director, Assistant Director, or Executive Director in a center licensed for more than 100 children.
• Three years of full-time teaching experience at the infant, toddler or preschool level.
• High quality writing and communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well with others.
• Demonstrated experience integrating technology into day-to-day activities.
• Training or experience in business management procedures.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Higher education teaching experience in early childhood education.
• Classroom teaching experience at kindergarten or primary levels.
• Experience with Creative Curriculum.
• Experience working on community projects or on community boards.
• Research or research supervision experience.
• Experience leading planned giving and programming efforts.
• Experience with NAEYC accreditation.

Job Duties:

Supervision (40%)

• Develops supervisory standards for the Center
• Ensures adherence to National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation standards
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Licensing regulations
• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) regulations
• Local and state fire codes
• Building maintenance and repairs
• Health and safety protocol
• Assumes ultimate responsibility for hiring, supervising and evaluating all staff in accordance with Hilltop's personnel policies.
• Provides direct supervision and support for staff administrators and their responsibilities, including enrollment and financial management, CACFP regulations, programming, and staff evaluations.
• Oversees the development of staff development programs.
• Ensures adherence/compliance to federal, state and local employment laws; Hilltop personnel policies and practices; and regularly reviews the policies with the Board.

Family and Public Relations (25%)

• Advocates for the Center within the university and the community.
• Builds and maintains liaisons with university departments, affiliates, and families.
• Builds and maintains professional relationships with area organizations and the community as appropriate.
• Ensures Hilltop is providing opportunities for research and student training, service learning and student employment.

Leadership (25%)

• Provide teambuilding and professional development for staff.
• Ensures the fiscal integrity of the program.
• Supervises the enrollment process and financial management of the program.
• Identifies other possible sources of funding for the Center, including grants.
• Takes an active role, in partnership with the board and other staff, in fundraising efforts for the center
• Along with the board, implements the Center's strategic plan.

Miscellaneous (10%)

• Other duties as necessary.

To apply for this position, email materials to Student Affairs or mail them to:

Student Affairs
C/O Hilltop ED Search
University of Kansas
1450 Jayhawk Blvd., 133 Strong Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045

Deadline to receive applications is April 30, 2013. If there are questions, please contact Becki Carl Stutz, Board President (785-550-9035).