Director of Undergraduate Advising and Retention

Vanguard University • Full-time • Costa Mesa, California, United States • $72.50k - $78k / hour • 6d ago

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Undergraduate Advising and Retention provides strategic direction for programs and staff that develop students towards holistic success, leads efforts surrounding Cornerstone, the first-year academic preparation course, and collaborates with other university leaders surrounding issues of student success and retention. Working within the broader umbrella of Student Success and Academic Services, the Director provides leadership across campus for the undergraduate centralized advising model, Student Success Coordinators, and interventions leading towards positive retention growth for first-time, full-time undergraduate students.

To that end, the Director will effectively partner with Enrollment Management on the recruitment of prospective students, with the Academic Resource Center (ARC) to support student success, and with the Registrar's Office to ensure compliance in policies and clear pathways for obtaining a Vanguard education. This position reports directly to the Dean of Student Success and Academic Services.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Spearhead Undergraduate Academic Advising:

• Provide leadership for the centralized undergraduate academic advising model including direct supervision of the Student Success Coordinators (SSC), providing regular professional development opportunities for SSCs.

• Maintain a centralized repository of information for advising team and appropriate faculty and staff.

• Partner with academic Deans and Chairs surrounding discipline-specific advising needs, course scheduling, faculty mentor role development, and holistic support of students.

• Lead process, policy, and guideline management surrounding the student life cycle including academic and career advisement, registration assistance for TUG students, including student's understanding of degree requirements and options within the 3+4-year plans.

• Schedule and facilitate annual communication calendar including emails, orientation meetings for new students and informational meetings, as needed, for continuing students.

• Collaborate with Registrar, department chairs, and core curriculum committee to ensure maintenance of appropriate administrative records including 3+4-year plans, accurate notes, registration checklists, and student files.

• Facilitate communication to effectively advocate for students and develop corresponding processes with Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar and Accounting Operations to ensure timely progress to degree, mitigating challenges for students.

• Collaborate with Career Services on placement of students in research and internship programs, career planning, ongoing training for SSCs in relation to workforce trends.

• Establish a consistent system of exit interviews: Analyze data and prepare reports of exit interview data, withdrawal forms, and key findings for the purpose of current program evaluation and planning for future programs.

• Work with campus partners on the development and implementation of a comprehensive communication plan for academic advising.

• Lead specific academic success strategies as assigned to assess and grow students' academic readiness, student needs for remediation and intervention, and recommend appropriate interventions.

• Represent Student Success & Academic Services at student recruiting, advising, and orientation events including AcReg, Welcome Weekend, and Pre-VU events.

Champion Undergraduate Retention:

• Collaborate with Dean to lead retention efforts of first-time, full-time undergraduate students.

• Become proficient in the use of degree audit software including Deree Tracker, Advise, and Vanguard tools to forecast, monitor, and ensure student persistence with the goal of increasing overall retention and completion rates.

• Serve as part of the probation/disqualification appeal committee for traditional undergraduate students.

• Build reports and queries to inform both internal and external audiences of key retention metrics and data.

• Develop and monitor reports and queries in collaboration with IT and IR, distributing key metrics and data to appropriate offices and constituents and utilizing to make data informed decisions.

• Regularly present retention data, best practices and current university initiatives to administration, staff, faculty, Board members, and committees.

• Actively engage with IR, IT, and Student Development in the collection, analysis, and distribution of university assessments including SSI, BCSEE, and NSSE. Communicate results to appropriate university stakeholders and continually evaluate outcomes to guide strategic planning and interventions. Systematically evaluates current processes, performance, and resources to identify improvement needs related to trends in retention.

• Serve in key leadership role for Cornerstone course for first-time, full-time undergraduates, : develop, implement, and assess curriculum, interventions, and ensure student development in partnership with the Core Curriculum Committee and key faculty members.

• Serve as a member of various university committees surrounding student success and retention.

Collaborate Across and Beyond Campus:

• Work collaboratively with campus offices including Disability Services, Office of the Registrar, Student Development, University Advancement, Grants and Research, Teaching and Learning, and Alumni Relations to identify strategic programming for students to increase undergraduate retention.

• Collaborate with student life and student success staff to assess student trends, campus climate issues, and the needs of different student communities to develop innovative and responsive programs and services.

• Collaborate with academic deans to develop targeted student-learning objectives and assessment measures that capture student learning and provide program evaluation criteria, in coordination with Institutional Learning Outcomes and the Four-Year Discipleship Plan.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

• Vibrant belief in Jesus Christ with ample evidence of personal discipleship.

• Education: M.A. in counseling, psychology, student development, higher education administration, communication, organizational leadership, or related field.

• 4+ years of relevant higher education experience.

• Experience collaborating with administration, faculty, and staff as well as successful leadership and team management experience.

• Alignment with and enthusiastic embrace of the mission, principles, and philosophies of Vanguard University and a lifestyle in consonance with its values. Ability to sign and align with the statement of faith of Vanguard University.

• Project management and organizational skills.

• Computer literacy and proficiency on the Microsoft Office Suite and various analysis programs.

• Working knowledge of student development, academic advising, and student retention.

• Demonstrated commitment as a team player to support and collaborate with senior leadership and faculty colleagues, as well as the initiative and ability to work independently.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills that will result in effective collaboration with faculty and key campus stakeholders for strategic thinking, team building, and managing differences. Healthy self-awareness and high levels of emotional intelligence.

• Regular participation in worship and service within a local church community.

SALARY:

This is a full-time FLSA exempt position.

Salary Range: $72,500 - $78,000 (Annual)

Placement within the salary range is commensurate upon education and experience. Posted salary range reflects anticipated hiring scale for the position. Placement at the upper range is reserved for those that demonstrate the highest level of education and experience necessary for this position. All benefits of current Vanguard Employees would remain the same.

To apply, please visit: https://apptrkr.com/5819305

https://www.jobelephant.com/

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