Student Activities Coordinator: Salary and Career Facts
Explore the career requirements for student activities coordinators. Get the facts about job duties, education requirements and salary information to determine if this is the right career for you.
What Is a Student Activities Coordinator?
A student activities coordinator oversees the activities, clubs and school-sponsored events of college life. They plan and supervise the printed or digital publications of events taking place on campus, ensuring they are posted and removed before and after the events take place. They are also responsible for ensuring the budget for campus activities is never exceeded. Take a look at the table below for some quick facts about this career.
<table border="1"><tr><td><b>Degree Required</b></td><td>Associate's for community college; bachelor's for 4-year school; master's may be preferred</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Training Required</b></td><td>Experience in student activities during college may be helpful</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Key Skills</b></td><td>Interpersonal, organizational, computer and problem-solving skills</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Median Salary (2020)</b></td><td>$43,202*</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Job Outlook (2020-2030)</b></td><td> 16%** (for recreation workers)</td></tr>
</table><p><i>Sources: *PayScale.com; **U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i>
</p><h3 id="section---WhatDoINeedToBecomeAStudentActivitiesCoordinator"> What Do I Need to Become a Student Activities Coordinator?</h3><p>Since coordinators plan numerous events for college students, they must be highly organized and able to work effectively with staff and students. You should enjoy event planning, recruitment and extracurricular activities. Some community colleges require you to have an associate's degree; however, 4-year colleges typically require you to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatAreMyPotentialJobResponsibilities"> What Are My Potential Job Responsibilities?</h3><p>Coordinators are responsible for planning and executing extracurricular events on and off campus. The size of the school and the budget allotted to student activities can determine the extent of your job duties. You should be an excellent communicator with the ability to work with and supervise many people including office staff, students, faculty and school administrators. You typically work under a director of student activities or another campus life administrator, such as a dean of student services.
</p><p>Coordinators are the liaisons between students, faculty, staff and the public and ensure communication between all involved with each club. You may be responsible for the inception of new clubs. You might also need to recruit and train advisers, plan meetings and oversee club finances.
</p><p>Your job may encompass planning major school events such as homecoming, various dances, senior events and summer programming. These events require you to work with various groups to promote each function.
</p><h3 id="section---CanIMakeALivingAsAStudentActivitiesCoordinator"> Can I Make A Living as a Student Activities Coordinator?</h3><p>Since coordinators work for schools, the potential pay rate varies by location and type of school. <i>PayScale.com</i> reported that the 10th-90th percentile salary range for this position was approximately $34,000-$60,000 as of 2021. The median annual salary was $43,202 that same year.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeRelatedAlternativeCareers">What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?</h3><p>Although being a student activities coordinator is somewhat of a niche occupation, you have a few similar career options, such as being a recreation worker. As a recreation worker, you would be responsible for organizing recreation activities in either a public or private agency or with a recreation facility. You may also be interested in being a residential advisor, where you would be responsible for organizing and overseeing activities in either a college dorm setting or group homes. You would also be responsible for maintaining order, and ensuring that the rules of the living space are followed by residents, as well as being a mediator in the event of any conflict between residents. Another career option would be becoming a recreational therapist, where you would be in charge of planning various exercise or recreational activities for patients in hospitals. These plans will need to be medically-approved and should help improve the mental and physical state of the patients.</p>