The Georgia Institute of Technology is seeking a highly collaborative, strategic, culturally competent, and skilled leader to serve as the Senior Director of the newly created Center for Mental Health Care & Resources. With student engagement and wellbeing as a core tenet of the institution’s Strategic Plan, this is an opportunity for a strong administrator and systems-based thinker with a deep understanding of the oversight of mental health services to have a significant and long-term positive impact on the lives of students.

The Senior Director will lead and sustain efforts to integrate two units – the Center for Assessment, Referral and Education (CARE) and the IACS-accredited Counseling Center – into one new accredited department that will embrace a transformative approach to proactively promoting mental health, advancing an ethic of self-care and of shared community responsibility for health/wellness, and providing a multiplicity of appropriate referrals and interventions – both clinical and non-clinical in nature – for a wide range of mental health-related concerns, diagnoses, and issues. In addition, the Senior Director will oversee the development, implementation, evaluation, and ongoing improvement of all programs and services. Effectiveness in the role will require ongoing communication and engagement of a number of stakeholders with similar mission and goals, including the Department of Psychiatry (housed administratively in Stamps Health Services), the VOICE confidential victim-survivor advocates (reporting through Health Initiatives), and a number of governmental and community-based organizations that either currently provide supplementary services to our students or have the potential to.

Through innovation, creativity, and a consultative spirit, the Senior Director will provide campus-wide leadership on mental health-related issues which align with the vision and action strategies of the Student Engagement and Wellbeing plan. This individual will advocate for and enable the optimal provision of services within a multi-campus system encompassing over 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students who attend Georgia Tech – 26,000 of whom attend the main campus in Atlanta. The incumbent will provide vision in the cultural transformation of Georgia Tech – inclusive of programs, policies, practices, protocols, places, people, and philosophy – to better integrate an authentic focus on mental health promotion into the academic mission, with the goal of improving various student outcome metrics, both academic and health-related in nature. As part of this goal, the Senior Director will develop and deliver ongoing initiatives both independently and in collaboration with other departments in the Division (including the Wellness Empowerment Center) and across the Institute that focus on increasing mental health awareness, promoting mental health behaviors, and cultivating attitudes and beliefs that lead to improved mental health outcomes.

Finally, the Senior Director will need to have the proven ability to develop and sustain productive partnerships with professionals and departments across the Institute, including but not limited to Academic Affairs, including all of the colleges and schools; Administration and Finance; Institute Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Institute Communication; Institute Relations; and Intercollegiate Athletics.


About Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Tech is situated on a beautiful campus in the heart of Atlanta, a diverse and vibrant city with excellent economic and cultural strengths. Ranked as the 7th best public university, Georgia Tech provides a technologically focused education to undergraduate and graduate students. Equipped with the extremely rich resources of an outstanding student body and faculty; strong partnerships with business, industry, and government; and support from alumni and friends, Georgia Tech is designing a future of global preeminence, leadership, and service. The Institute is a member of the University System of Georgia (USG), the Georgia Research Alliance, and the Association of American Universities (AAU).


Position Summary

The Senior Director of the Center for Mental Health Care & Resources has comprehensive responsibility for providing clinical, fiscal, programmatic, policy and administrative vision, direction, and accountability in overseeing and managing the day-to-day operations and overall delivery of effective mental health programs and services, while also providing direct clinical service and care to students as needed – in particular, for triage/crisis/emergency-called-to-campus situations. The Senior Director leads, supervises, develops, and supports an experienced and dedicated team of multi-disciplinary mental health providers in providing a comprehensive, complementary, coordinated range of high-quality programs and services designed to respond to the entire spectrum of mental health needs for a diverse undergraduate and graduate student population. This position serves as the key liaison to administrators, faculty, students, staff, parents, and other stakeholders on mental health issues, national/state/local trends, best and emerging practices in the field, and relevant policies and effective practices.

The Senior Director reports to the Associate Vice President for Student Life & Dean of Students and is a core member of the Division of Student Engagement & Well-Being Leadership Team.


Key Responsibilities:

  • Initiate, lead, and sustain Institute-wide cultural change and transformation efforts designed to improve health and wellness outcomes for students in the areas of mental health and the socioecological factors which impact mental health in the higher education setting, including issues related to identity and inclusion;
  • Work closely with various departments, programs, organizations and stakeholders in pursuit of health-related transformation, with a special emphasis on genuine collaboration with students, student groups, and student leaders from a broad range of identities and perspectives;
  • Provide supervision, recruitment, onboarding, training, accountability, performance management, professional development, and evaluation of a diverse team of professional and support staff;
  • Strategically manage the operational budget and priority-setting for fiscal, space, and personnel resource utilization, in alignment with all applicable policies, procedures, and standards of ethical practice;
  • Direct and coordinate clinical and consultative services, including but not limited to case management, crisis intervention, outreach, facilitating access to self-care modalities, community partnerships, academic partnerships, telehealth options, peer-based efforts, resource referral, and consultation with students, faculty and staff, while encouraging innovative and emerging models of program and service delivery and integration with other core student services across the Institute, including but not limited to academic support, advising, registration, basic needs, residential life and dining services, student activities, student employment, and student involvement programs;
  • In consultation with the Directors of CARE and the Counseling Center, oversee the maintenance of applicable accreditations from the American Psychological Association and the International Association of Counseling Services; and lead both CARE and the Counseling Center in the strategic planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and continual improvement of comprehensive behavioral health initiatives that incorporate multicultural diversity, inclusivity and social justice concepts and principles;
  • Serve as an active and engaged member or leader of relevant division-wide, Institute-wide, and campus-community committees and/or work groups to provide input based on relevant expertise and experience, including but not limited to the Student of Concern Committee that assesses, intervenes, and/or provides timely resources and support for students displaying concerning behavior or experiencing problems that might negatively impact their success at the Institute; the Georgia Tech Student Mandatory Student Health Fee Committee; and the Well-Being Work Group in support of the Institute’s Strategic Plan.


Required Qualifications

  • Graduate degree in a related field, including clinical or counseling psychology, counseling, social work, public health, healthcare administration, or higher education administration.
  • At least 10 years of administrative experience in a college counseling or similar mental health setting with increasing leadership and oversight responsibilities, including at least 5-7 years of experience overseeing clinicians.
  • A proven record of effective, impactful experience in a college counseling or similar mental health setting, serving a population with a diverse range of identities and backgrounds, in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, socioeconomic status, disability, etc.
  • Evidence of having participated in campus-wide transformational and/or cultural change efforts to improve student outcomes.
  • Strong fiscal management/budget skills.
  • Proven ability to supervise and manage employee relations with a diverse team of professionals both in terms of identity, training, background, and professional expertise.
  • Well-developed skills of team management, coalition-building, and responsive operational leadership in highly complex, fast-paced environments earmarked by ambiguity.
  • Ability to appropriately assess training and in-service needs and to provide consultation and arrange/deliver/facilitate training, seminars and professional development activities as needed.
  • Experience working within a culturally diverse community; demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and ability to develop and maintain inclusive environments
  • Excellent public speaking, interpersonal, communication, and critical thinking skills.
  • Knowledge of related accreditation and certification requirements.
  • Knowledge of codes of ethics of the American Psychological Association and the standards of the International Association of Counseling Services, Inc.


Preferred Qualifications

  • Doctoral-level degree in Counseling or Clinical Psychology from an APA accredited program.
  • Licensed as a psychologist in the state of Georgia or currently licensed in another state and eligible to attain licensure within one year.
  • Familiarity with the unique challenges and opportunities of delivering mental health care and resources within a public higher education setting.
  • Evidence of having served a primary, leading role in campus-wide transformational and/or cultural change efforts to improve student outcomes.
  • Twelve or more years of providing administrative supervision for a team of mental health providers.
  • Experience in a college or university mental health setting.
  • Experience or past participation with a clinical training program (i.e., doctoral internship, postdoctoral fellowship, advanced practicum training program) within a college or university counseling center.
  • Expertise in crisis intervention and working with a broad range of presenting problems and constituencies.
  • Expertise in current and emerging college-age mental health issues, as well as best and emerging practices which can positively impact student outcomes.
  • Experience with electronic record keeping.


Application Process

Georgia Tech has partnered with Keeling & Associates, LLC, in this search process. Requests for confidential conversations about the position prior to application are welcome and should be directed to Jeff Ewing (jfewing@keelingassociates.com) or Shadia Sachedina (ssachedina@keelingassociates.com), the Keeling & Associates consultants leading this search. Nominations of colleagues who may be interested are also welcome and can be sent to the consultants noted above.

Application materials should include a resume and a letter of interest and must be sent, preferably as PDFs, to recruiting@keelingassociates.com. The subject line of the email should read “Georgia Tech – Senior Director.” The review of application materials will begin soon and will continue until the position is filled; we encourage submitting application materials by January 9, 2023, in order to receive full consideration.

Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services.  Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities. Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions.  This prohibition applies to faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including affiliates, invitees, and guests.

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