Pre-College Student Support & Operations Manager, Pre-College Programs

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Job Description Summary
Wake Forest University seeks an experienced, empathetic leader to oversee student support, summer staff, and daily operations for our Pre-College Programs. In this dynamic role, you'll be the primary driver of a safe, engaging environment for high school students experiencing campus life, balancing year-round operational logistics with intensive, live-in residential leadership during the Summer Immersion Program.
This position blends direct student care, staff leadership, and program operations, making it ideal for someone who has worked closely with high school students and families in a residential, camp, or school setting and enjoys both the people side and the logistics side of the work. You'll lead the response to student conduct and safety issues, serve as the primary point of contact for escalated parent and guardian concerns, and directly supervise residential staff, approaching challenging situations with empathy, sound judgment, and clear expectations.
During the summer, you'll live on campus and serve as the go-to overnight responder for student concerns and emergencies. Year-round, you'll lead staff recruitment and training, manage program logistics, and support both the Summer Immersion Program and the College LAUNCH for Leadership Program. This role requires experience working directly with high school-aged students and their families, the ability to balance student support with accountability, and the organizational skills to manage complex program logistics.
Job Description
*This position is not eligible for sponsorship of non-immigrant or immigrant visa status through Wake Forest University. All eligible applicants are encouraged to apply.
The Student Support & Operations Manager will support Pre-College Programs, including:
Summer Immersion Program: A week-long, residential exploration of a career pathway or field of study for high school students.
College LAUNCH for Leadership: A program expanding access to higher education by helping high school juniors build leadership skills, social awareness, and college readiness.
Essential Functions:
1. Student Support & Care Coordination
Student Support: Serve as a primary resource for high school students experiencing homesickness, roommate conflicts, peer concerns, or difficulty adjusting to program participation and living away from home.
Care Coordination: Identify concerns affecting student well-being or participation and connect students with appropriate university resources in coordination with parents or guardians and program leadership. Refer concerns requiring clinical assessment or treatment to qualified professionals.
Staff Guidance: Ensure summer staff understand student support expectations, approved arrangements, and when to escalate concerns.
Inclusion & Belonging: Foster an inclusive environment in which students feel respected, connected, and comfortable seeking help.
Follow-Up: Document support actions and follow up with students, families, and staff as appropriate to assess whether concerns have been resolved or require further assistance.
2. Evening Programming & Residential Experience
Visible Evening Leadership: Maintain an active, visible presence in residence halls and evening programming, providing real-time staff supervision, responding to student concerns, and leading incident responses.
Spaces & Scheduling: Coordinate reservations, setup, recreational facilities, and event spaces used for residential programming.
Activities & Workshops: Plan and oversee engaging, age-appropriate evening activities and workshops in collaboration with summer staff.
Supplies & Equipment: Manage the purchasing, tracking, storage, and distribution of residential experience supplies, technology, signage, and evening activity materials.
Student Engagement: Ensure staff actively lead activities, encourage participation, and create opportunities for students to have fun and build connections and a sense of community.
Program Communication: Ensure students and staff receive clear, timely information about evening schedules, activity locations, participation expectations, and changes.
Residential Environment: Oversee the student residential experience and coordinate with staff and campus partners to maintain clean, safe, and welcoming shared spaces.
Program Improvement: Use student feedback, staff observations, and participation trends to adjust activities and strengthen the evening experience.
3. Program Operations & Logistics
Operational Planning & Coordination: Lead year-round operational planning and summer implementation, including housing, campus spaces transportation, supplies, technology, staffing logistics, and student arrival and departure.
Campus Partnerships: Coordinate program services and resolve operational needs with Conference Services, Dining Services, Facilities, Information Systems, Parking, and other university partners.
Housing & Residential Logistics: Oversee room and roommate assignments, room changes, keys and access cards, residence hall inspections, inventory, maintenance requests, and check-in and check-out procedures.
Systems, Rosters & Resources: Use Slate, Google Classroom, and other university systems to maintain student and staff information, assignments, rooming lists, attendance records, schedules, communications, and program resources.
Documentation & Reporting: Maintain appropriate records of student concerns, incidents, support actions, disciplinary outcomes, and operational issues. Track unresolved matters, communicate approved student arrangements to appropriate staff, and provide timely updates to program leadership in accordance with university procedures.
Analysis & Continuous Improvement: Analyze and present residential programming data and feedback from students, parents or guardians, and staff. Recommend improvements and identify technology and automation opportunities that strengthen program effectiveness, accuracy, communication, and operational efficiency.
4. Staff Recruitment, Training & Supervision
Summer Staff Recruitment: Develop and implement recruitment strategies for Wake Forest undergraduate and graduate students serving as Teaching Assistants (TAs), Student Engagement Interns (SEIs), Marketing Interns, Operations Interns, and Residence Life Coordinators (RLCs).
Selection & Onboarding: Coordinate interviews, hiring processes, required onboarding steps, and role expectations in collaboration with the designated supervisors of each position.
Staff Training: Design and lead a comprehensive training week for 40+ undergraduate staff members, supplemented by asynchronous preparation and ongoing training. Address student support, adolescent development, safety, conflict resolution, disciplinary procedures, escalation, professionalism, inclusion, parent communication, and program operations.
Direct Supervision: Directly supervise RLCs and SEIs, establish assignments and coverage expectations, and provide regular coaching, feedback, and performance evaluations.
Staff Accountability: Lead staff meetings and individual check-ins, address performance concerns promptly, and coordinate corrective action with program leadership through established staff procedures.
College LAUNCH Staffing: Recruit College LAUNCH alumni to serve as mentors, volunteers, and work-study staff. Coordinate onboarding and training with College LAUNCH program leadership, clarify role expectations, and support performance monitoring and follow-up.
Staff Evaluation: Conduct mid-summer and end-of-program assessments to evaluate staff performance and improve recruitment, onboarding, training, and supervision.
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