Director of First-Year Seminar (FYS)

Merrimack College seeks a mission-driven administrator and educator to serve as the Director of First Year Seminar (FYS). Housed within the Office of Mission and Ministry, this 12-month administrative role oversees the operational implementation of Merrimack's foundational core requirement, FYS1947: Who Am I?. The Director ensures operational efficiency and a unified vision across dozens of course sections each semester.

About Merrimack College

The only Catholic, Augustinian institution of higher education in New England, Merrimack College is a private, independent, coeducational institution with more than 4,100 undergraduate, 2,500 graduate students, and 50 doctoral students from 48 states and 63 countries. The College features more than 160 career-focused undergraduate, professional, and graduate programs, all taught by exceptional faculty who are passionate about their subject and student success. The College has six schools: arts and sciences, engineering and computational sciences, nursing and health sciences, education and social policy, the Girard School of Business, and the graduate school of counseling and social work. The College’s suburban 220-acre campus is located just north of Boston in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Merrimack is a Master’s Colleges and Universities/Larger Programs (M1) institution in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Merrimack is one of the fastest-growing educational institutions in the country and has steadily climbed in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of Best Colleges, ranking 38th in the Regional Universities North category in 2026. Merrimack is an NCAA Division I athletic institution.

Responsibilities

Program Operations & Administrative Leadership

• Direct logistical and operational functions of the FYS program (including section scheduling, coordinating teaching teams, classroom resource allocations).
• Supervise the Associate Director of FYS, Graduate Fellows, and student workers.
• Lead programmatic assessment efforts, collecting data on student learning outcomes, program efficacy, and first-to-second year retention metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Manage the operational budget for the FYS program, authorizing expenditures and strategically allocating resources.
• Partner with campus units to support large-scale first-year programmatic milestones, including Orientation, Conversations with Warriors, Wellness Week, and the Campus Passport.
• Represent FYS on multi-departmental campus retention committees and student success task forces.
• Support the Associate Vice President of Mission & Ministry to recruit, onboard, and support faculty and staff instructional teams across all sections of FYS1947, and to assess and update the FYS curriculum.

Teaching & Instructional Excellence

• Teach four (4) undergraduate courses per academic year under a 2/2 fall/spring distribution.
• Incorporate high-impact educational practices within the classroom, serving as a model instructor for other FYS faculty.
• Facilitate student self-exploration, critical thinking, and engagement.
• Maintain regular office hours to support enrolled students academically and personally.

Requirements

• Terminal degree preferred (master’s degree considered) in an academic discipline aligned with the liberal arts and core curriculum fields.
• Experience in administrative roles, preferably in higher education leadership, core curriculum administration, student success units, or mission-driven student programming.
• Demonstrated record of excellent undergraduate classroom teaching experience.
• Proven capacity for high-level administrative logistics, schedule coordination, and budget management.
• Deep understanding of first-year student development theory, high-impact practices, and university retention strategies.
• Strong alignment with Merrimack’s Augustinian identity and community-oriented educational values.

Schedule

This is a 12-month, full-time, on-campus administrative position. Employees are essential to provide a fully on-campus, residential college experience for students and the community.