The posting
Job Description
This competition is open to all applicants however; internal applicants will be given priority consideration based on minimum qualifications, or a combination of experience, skills, and abilities before external applicants are considered.
Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person. Work primarily takes place at North Campus, Edmonton.
Operating within a cost-recovery framework, the International Visiting Programs Coordinator is responsible for developing programs, creating growth strategies, analyzing performance data, and solving complex operational challenges across all aspects of short-term visiting programs. This position operates in a shared-coordination structure based on programming cycles for short-term professional programs, research internships, and visiting academic cohorts.
This role directly advances the University of Alberta’s strategic internationalization targets, including the Integrated Enrollment Growth Plan (IEGP) and SHAPE strategic framework. Supported client groups include academic visitors, credit and non-credit visiting students, refugee scholars and students under specific scholarship programs, and short-term professional development participants.
Reporting to the Associate Director, the Coordinator oversees program life-cycles end-to-end—including curriculum design, operational logistics, financial monitoring, global stakeholder relations, participant onboarding, and holistic advising. Additionally, this position provides formal direct supervision to casual student staff and interpreters, ensures risk mitigation across program activities, and fosters constructive partnerships across international institutions and internal academic faculties.
Responsibilities
Instructional Design & Curriculum Development
- Curriculum Design: Research leadership development theories and adult learning practices to design non-credit short courses, professional development modules, and custom learning outcomes for international professionals and visiting student cohorts.
- Seminar Delivery: Design and facilitate interactive seminar series and workshops (e.g., North American graduate study preparation, research poster design, intercultural adaptiveness, and volunteer engagement).
- Program Evaluation & Action Research: Design and administer quantitative and qualitative survey instruments to measure program efficacy, conduct action research, analyze outcomes, and implement continuous service improvements.
Stakeholder Relations, Recruitment & Strategic Alignment
- Global & Faculty Partnerships: Build and sustain strategic, collaborative relationships with global partner institutions, overseas universities, foreign embassies/consulates, external funding bodies, and U of A Deans and faculty members.
- Strategic Recruitment & Market Assessment: Perform market evaluations to identify new program opportunities in target regions; collaborate with central communications to produce promotional materials that support international enrollment targets.
- Systems & Alumni Engagement: Utilize digital recruitment tools (Slate), institutional databases (PeopleSoft), and learning management systems (e-Class) to maintain digital resources and drive long-term participant pathways into U of A graduate degree programs.
- Travel: Participate in occasional domestic or international recruitment and partner relations travel.
Program Development, Implementation & Operations
- Customized & Visiting Programs: Coordinate operational logistics for non-credit and credit-bearing visiting student cohorts, including classroom space, transportation, accommodation, catering, interpreters, site visits, and host community events.
- Inbound Internship Placements: Administer end-to-end recruitment, matching, placement, and evaluation processes for inbound research and workplace internships (e.g., UARE, Mitacs, CSC, Global Affairs Canada) in collaboration with host faculty supervisors.
- Vendor & Operational Management: Negotiate and manage third-party service agreements with sponsors and external hospitality vendors.
- Compliance & Risk Mitigation: Ensure all programs, events, and participant activities strictly comply with institutional health and safety standards, eligibility guidelines, and academic integrity policies.
Student & Participant Advising, Support & Crisis Response
- Holistic & Intercultural Advising: Provide academic, personal, and cross-cultural advising to short-term visiting students, interns, and scholarship recipients; conduct structured orientation, arrival, and mid-term check-in appointments.
- Admissions Processing & Course Disputes: Evaluate and process incoming visiting applications; negotiate with Department Chairs and Professors to resolve course registration disputes and enroll visiting students in restricted courses.
- Crisis Management & At-Risk Support: Serve as a primary point of contact for participants experiencing distress (adjustment, housing, mental health); assess risk and coordinate referrals with central campus wellness units.
- Refugee & Scholarship Settlement: Deliver specialized onboarding, settlement services, and volunteer management for unique scholarship recipients and refugee scholars/students.
Budgetary & Administrative Management
- Fiscal Accountability: Monitor program expenditures against approved operational budgets to meet net revenue projections within a cost-recovery framework.
- Financial & Narrative Reporting: Verify vendor invoices, track project contributions, and compile statistical and narrative progress reports for internal leadership and external funding agencies.
Staff Supervision
- Team Leadership: Perform direct supervisory responsibilities for part-time casual student employees and interpreters (0–4 staff), including recruitment, onboarding, training, task scheduling, performance assessment, and daily task management.
Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Education: Post-secondary degree required; a Graduate degree in Education, Management, International Relations, or a related field is strongly preferred.
- Professional Experience: Minimum 5 years of progressive professional experience in program management, higher education administration, or curriculum development.
Specialized Knowledge & Language Competencies
- Language Skills: Spoken and written English fluency required. Proficiency in a second language and significant experience living, studying, or working in a cross-cultural environment required. Mandarin language proficiency is strongly preferred.
- Chinese Higher Education Expertise: Strong familiarity with Chinese higher education systems, foreign institutional structures, and student mobility trends.
- Instructional Design Capability: Proven ability to build short-term professional development curriculum for higher education administrators and international professionals within a global comparative context.
- Intercultural Competency: Deep understanding of intercultural communication theory, student development theory, and adult education principles.
Technical & Administrative Skills
- Technical Systems: Proficiency across PeopleSoft, Slate, Google Workspace, learning management platforms (e-Class), database systems, and web publishing tools.
- Problem-Solving & Negotiation: Strong conflict resolution and negotiation skills, particularly in navigating academic course access with faculty and managing at-risk student situations.
- Organization & Flexibility: Exceptional multi-tasking and project management capabilities. Ability to work flexible hours during peak programming cycles (occasional evening/weekend hosting).
Application Instructions
Click "Apply Now" to submit your resume and cover letter.
This position is subject to all applicable terms and conditions of the collective agreement between the Governors of the University of Alberta and the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).
This position offers a comprehensive benefits package.
About Us
The University of Alberta, its buildings, labs and research stations are primarily located on the territory of Néhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Nakoda (Stoney), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Anishinaabe (Ojibway/Saulteaux), lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 and homeland of the Métis. The University of Alberta respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems and cultures of all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide.
Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people - from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more.
At the University of Alberta, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process for all candidates. If you require accommodations to participate in the interview process, please let us know at the time of booking your interview and we will make every effort to accommodate your needs.
We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.
All University employees have a responsibility to foster a workplace that prioritizes safety in all its forms—physical, cultural, and psychological. This is achieved by promoting a safe environment, adhering to all safety laws, policies and procedures, completing all required safety training, identifying hazards and implementing controls, reporting incidents, and contributing to a culture of belonging and respect, while endeavoring to ensure that all colleagues feel valued and safe to express their thoughts, perspectives and concerns.
The University of Alberta is committed to creating a university community where everyone feels valued, barriers to success are removed, and thriving connections are fostered. We welcome applications from all qualified persons. We encourage women, First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons, members of visible minority groups, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and all those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas and the University to apply.
L’Université de l’Alberta s’engage à créer une communauté universitaire où chaque personne se sent valorisée, où les obstacles à la réussite sont éliminés et où des connexions enrichissantes peuvent se développer. Nous accueillons les demandes de toutes les personnes qualifiées. Nous encourageons les femmes; Premières nations, Métis et Inuits; membres des groupes minoritaires visibles; personnes handicapées; personnes de toute orientation sexuelle ou identité et expression de genre; et toutes les personnes qui peuvent contribuer à la diversification des idées et à l'université à postuler.
International Education & Enrolment (IEE) supports the university community in the development and delivery of impactful international experiences and opportunities to foster global citizenship.
