Before the Interview

• Your interview will take place on Thursday, October 16, 2025 in-person during your designated time sent to you via email by Shari Hayes shari.hayes@louisville.edu.
  • 200 West Broadway Louisville, KY 40202 (JEC Building) Suite 500 (5th floor) will be where your interview is held.
  • Prior to the interview please print and fill out the  Candidate Parking Pass and display this on your front dashboard during the time of interviewing.
  • Please park in the parking garage attached to the JEC building that can be accessed from West Broadway or S 2nd Street. Please park on the first level of the parking garage to easily access the building from the main doors. 

• Please complete the 4-Day Work Week Availability Form before your interview date of 10/16/2025. Metropolitan College follows a 4-day work week model for Student Success Counselors to best support our third-shift student population. As we plan staffing schedules, we ask that you complete this form to:
  • Confirm your understanding of the scheduling expectations for this role, and
  • Indicate your availability for evening hours. There are no wrong answers. We just need a sense of your availability.
    • If offered the position, in collaboration with your supervisor, you will create a 37.5 hour weekly schedule that includes evening availability. This schedule will be designed to meet both the needs of the organization and your individual preferences.
• Please complete a submission of three references using this MS Form before your interview date 10/16/2025. 

Candidate Assignment

Before you develop your ideas, we encourage you to learn more about the MC student experience by reviewing the following resources:

• MC website: www.metro-college.com
• CREW Career Center website: www.crew.cc

Please keep in mind that there is no right or wrong answer. Also CAUTION: Please do not use AI tools to complete this assignment. In the past, we’ve received submissions that were nearly identical, lacked independent creative thought, and did not reflect an understanding of the unique context of the Metropolitan College program. We are looking for your approach, ideas, and project management style. However, you are welcome to indicate how you might strategically incorporate AI tools within the project itself—such as for research, communication, or evaluation—if relevant to your proposed timeline and approach.

Assignment Title:

Managing High-Level Projects at Metro College

Objective

At Metropolitan College, staff are often asked to balance large-scale projects with frontline student services. We want to see how you approach a project from start to finish: how you plan, how you gather and use data, how you move the work forward, and how you incorporate team feedback. In addition, because the work of Metropolitan College is often innovative, projects require creative thought and independent initiative and often is work that has never been done before. Your assignment will help us understand your project management style, problem-solving process, speed of execution, ability to balance competing priorities and your ability to approach a project with limited information.

Timeline:

Project start date is August 1, 2025. Project launch deadline is November 5, 2026.

Background:
Survey data from Metropolitan College (MC) students indicates that the number one barrier to academic success is lack of sleep, largely due to the demands of working part-time third shift while managing college coursework and personal responsibilities. Currently, other than discussing time management and mental health resources, MC nor UPS have any specific resources or services that address this concern.  Based on the recent student survey results, MC needs to do something to address this concern expressed by our students to support their success.

Your Task:
You have been tasked with developing a project timeline to address this issue in a meaningful way. Your goal is to outline how you would organize and manage a project that responds to this challenge. The initiative is expected to be implemented during the Spring 2026 term. You are meeting with your supervisor in July to present your project timeline. You are not expected to solve the problem or propose a specific solution. Instead, demonstrate how you would structure and manage the project from start to finish. There is no budget to support this work.

Your presentation is to model a brief meeting with your supervisor in which you present a project timeline of how you will address these results from the MC student survey. Your project timeline should include the following components:

1. Project Goal: A clear, concise statement of the intended outcome

2. Key Phases of the Project: Break the project into logical phases. For example:

·        Discovery & Research

·        Stakeholder Engagement

·        Solution Design

·        Pilot Planning

·        Implementation Preparation

·        Launch

·        Evaluation & Feedback

3. Milestones & Deliverables: For each phase, identify:

·        Major milestones (e.g., “Complete student focus groups”)

·        Key deliverables (e.g., “Draft of proposed event”)

4. Timeline

·        Clearly identify when each phase and milestone will occur.

·        The timeline should begin the month of August and lead up to implementation.

·        Be mindful that your timeline should include the fact that you are also balancing this project work with other projects and providing services to your student cohort.  So be realistic with how you plan your time.

5. Roles & Responsibilities

·        Identify who would be involved (e.g., student success counselors, community organizations, UPS, etc.).

·        Clarify what roles they would play in each phase.

6. Evaluation Plan

·        Describe how you would assess the success of the initiative post-launch (e.g., surveys, academic performance tracking, sleep quality self-assessments).

Evaluation Criteria

Your submission will be evaluated on:

• Clarity and structure of the timeline
• Logical sequencing of project phases
• Realistic and thoughtful planning
• Demonstrated understanding of project management principles
• Creativity in organizing the work (not in solving the problem)
• Optional Enhancements (examples…)
• Sample data points or mock-up visuals (charts, outlines, trackers, printed items).
• Reflection on how this approach highlights your personal strengths in project management.
• Indicate questions or direct support you might ask of your supervisor during this meeting.

Presentation Details

• Format: 5-minute presentation modeling how you would present a project timeline in a meeting with your supervisor for this project you are overseeing.  
• Tools: Computer and projector will be available. You are welcome to provide whatever resources or handouts you would include when meeting with your supervisor.
• You will be required to send your presentation after the interview on 10/16/2025 to reno.davis@louisville.edu.