| Position Title |
Care Specialist |
| About the University |
Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.
Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.
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| About the Department |
The University Residences Department supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity. |
| About the Position |
About the Position:
The Care Specialist position is a unique live-in position focused on addressing resident needs related to critical issues that may present barriers to their personal and academic success. The Care Specialists are part of the Residence Life professional staff team and work collaboratively with housing staff and campus partners to successfully meet the needs of residents. The Care Specialist seeks to facilitate wellness in the residence halls through preventative and responsive initiatives and establishing a visible presence within the residential communities The Care Specialists provide critical support, case management, intentional referrals, education and consultation support. This position will report to the Assistant Director for Residence Life, Care and Conduct.
Position Responsibilities: As part of the Care Specialist team, the Care Specialist will:
• Provide case management to help individual residents develop immediate and ongoing action plans that are culturally and developmentally appropriate
• Provide support during crisis situations involving residents (during regular work hours and as part of on-call rotation)
• Provide intentional referrals and/or facilitate connecting residents to campus and community resources
• Provide education and consultation support to Residence Life and University Residences staff
• Serve in a collaborative capacity with critical campus partners (ad hoc and on-going basis)
This position works a Monday through Friday schedule with shortened business hours to allow flexibility in response to after-hours coverage needs. This position requires significant evening and weekend commitments throughout the year, and extended hours during peak times of the academic year (move-in).
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Completes regular assessment (care case statistics, program effectiveness, etc.) as directed by the Assistant Director for Residence Life, Care and Conduct.
20% Campus-Wide, 24-Hour “On-Call” Responsibilities:
15% Resident and Staff Education, Prevention, and Outreach:
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Providing care-related trainings for residence life staff and student staff within the residence life training program (professional staff training, student staff training, all-staff meetings, in-services, etc.). Topics may cover areas such as communication, wellness, and crisis intervention.
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Participate in annual University Residences events/activities with high resident, staff, and stakeholder contact (staff trainings, move-in, student staff selection, orientations, student recruitment events, etc.)
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When appropriate, communicate with stakeholders (university staff, partners, families, etc.) related to care cases and crisis management.
Position Assignment: The Care Specialist will be provided with a two-bedroom apartment in one of the communities on campus. The apartment is fully furnished, and utilities are included. On campus parking permits are available for purchase.
This is an 11-month permanent cyclic position. (August - July).
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| Required Qualifications |
- Master’s degree in higher education, social work, counseling, or closely related field.
- Two years of experience working in residence life, social work, counseling, crisis management, student wellness, or a related field; experience can include a practicum placement.
- Experience in and competency working with diverse populations with regard to race, ethnicity, ability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- Demonstrated effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- Experience providing risk assessment, crisis response, and crisis follow up.
- Ability to work independently.
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| Preferred Qualifications |
- Experience in or knowledge of student development and operations within student affairs.
- Experience providing outreach programming.
- Demonstrated experience training, supervising, or mentoring employees, students, or volunteers – 18-25 age range.
- Strong organizational and project management skills, with excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines while responding to frequent interruptions.
- Knowledge of the JED Foundation’s Steve Fund framework.
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| Conditions of Employment |
All employees must comply with our Immunization policies, including Proof of Rubeola Measles Immunity within 60-days of hire. Please reach out to HR@wwu.edu if you need information regarding medical or religious exemption and applicable accommodations.
This position requires a fingerprint background check.
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| Salary |
Hiring range is $53,833 - $61,908 (11-months) based on experience and qualifications. Through longevity position tops out at $69,982. |
| Benefits Information |
Benefits Overview for Administrative Professional Position.
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| Application Instructions |
Application materials should address your experience related to the position responsibilities and the required and preferred qualifications.
All applicants must submit an online application which will address:
1. In your cover/application letter and your resume, include how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
2. A separate inclusion statement (max. length one page) addressing your demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion, in addition to the ability to create an inclusive residence hall community. In the statement, please include examples of your past work that demonstrate your commitment to equity and inclusion in addition to describing how you will contribute to further implement these values at Western Washington University through the position responsibilities outlined above.
3. Please include the names and contact information of three professional references including a current or past supervisor.
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| Closing Date Notes |
Position open until filled, priority given to applications submitted before June 25, 2025 |