Academic Advisor

Lees-McRae College; Banner Elk (NC); On-site; USD 48,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Lees-McRae College invites applications for the staff position of Academic Advisor. The Academic Advisor provides holistic, student-centered advising that supports academic student success, persistence, and timely degree completion.

This role collaborates with BCSS, faculty advisors, Academic Affairs, and Financial Aid to ensure coordinated student support. This full-time on-site role includes advising, planning, and teaching responsibilities, with potential evening hours and collaboration

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience with college advising or student services.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Maintain an advising caseload of 100–150 undergraduate students.
• Provide holistic, developmental advising aligned with NACADA.
• Assist students in developing four-year academic plans and degree progress.
• Coordinate initial course scheduling and support registration with faculty.
• Help students understand general education, major requirements, and graduation criteria.
• Monitor progress, conduct proactive outreach, and maintain advising records.
• Coordinate tutoring services and collaborate with campus offices.
• Teach up to 9 credit hours annually in First Year Seminar or related courses.

Skills

Advising

Student development

Communication

Collaboration

Teaching

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

Banner

Canvas

Microsoft Office

Job description

Lees-McRae College is a private, four-year college located in the mountains of Banner Elk, North Carolina. The college is known for its strong commitment to student success, experiential learning, and a close-knit academic community. With small class sizes and a collaborative campus culture, Lees-McRae provides students with personalized support and meaningful opportunities for academic and personal growth.

Summary/Objective

Lees-McRae College invites applications for the staff position of Academic Advisor. The Academic Advisor provides holistic, student-centered advising that supports academic student success, persistence, and timely degree completion. This position comes with teaching responsibilities consistent with the NACADA Academic Advising Core Competencies Model, the Advisor integrates conceptual knowledge of student development, informational expertise in institutional policies and degree requirements, and relational skills to build meaningful advising relationships.

The Academic Advisor serves as a key partner within Lees-McRae’s student success ecosystem, collaborating with the Burton Center for Student Success ( BCSS ), faculty advisors, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Business Affairs, and Financial Aid to ensure coordinated, proactive support for students. The Advisor helps students navigate academic requirements, develop educational plans, and connect with campus and community resources.

This role supports a coordinated student success model and emphasizes proactive outreach, developmental advising, participate in early alert and intervention systems, promote student engagement, and collaborative student support. This position also coordinates tutoring services within the Student Success Center.

Key Responsibilities

Advising Program Leadership and Strategy

• Contribute to the development and implementation of a comprehensive academic advising program aligned with Lees-McRae’s student success model and NACADA best practices.
• Contribute to advising policies, procedures, and initiatives that improve student retention, progression, and degree completion.
• Help ensure consistent, high-quality advising experiences across undergraduate programs.

Student Advising and Academic Planning

• Maintain an advising caseload of approximately 100–150 undergraduate students, including first-year, transfer, exploratory, and at-risk students.
• Provide holistic, developmental advising that supports academic planning, goal setting, degree completion, and awareness of financial and academic policies.
• Assist students in developing and maintaining four-year academic plans aligned with academic, career and graduate education goals.
• Coordinate initial course scheduling for incoming students and support registration processes in collaboration with faculty.
• Help students understand general education, major requirements, and graduation criteria.
• Monitor academic progress and engagement, conduct proactive outreach to students experiencing difficulty, and maintain accurate advising documentation in institutional systems.
• Interpret and communicate institutional policies, degree requirements, and academic procedures.
• Coordinate with appropriate campus offices to ensure transfer credits are evaluated and recorded accurately to support effective advising.

Student Success Support and Retention

• Participate in institutional retention initiatives, including early alert and academic intervention processes.
• Provide outreach and advising support to students on academic warning, probation, or identified as at-risk.
• Connect students with appropriate campus resources such as tutoring, accessibility services, counseling, financial aid, payment planning, and career services.
• Coordinates tutoring services, including assisting in training peer tutors, for student success.

Collaboration and Campus Partnerships

• Work closely with BCSS staff and faculty advisors to coordinate student support services and ensure continuity of advising as students transition into academic majors.
• Serve as a liaison between students and key campus offices including Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Financial Aid, and Business Affairs.
• Assist with advising support during key academic milestones such as orientation, course registration, and major declaration.

Student Development and Teaching

• Teach up to 9 credit hours annually, typically in First Year Seminar and/ or courses supporting new or transfer students.
• Apply student development theory and NACADA advising principles to foster student responsibility, decision-making, and academic ownership.
• Support diverse student populations through inclusive advising practices and contribute to advising assessment and continuous improvement.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has supervisory responsibility for peer tutoring program.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 pm on site. This is not a remote position. Some evenings, holidays, and/or weekends might be needed.

Travel

No travel is expected for this position.

Additional Eligibility Qualifications

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

At-Will Employment Disclaimer

This job description is not intended to be a contract of employment. Employment with the Company is at-will, which means that either the employee or the Company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or notice, subject to applicable law. The Company reserves the right to revise, modify, or change job duties and responsibilities as business needs dictate.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred (Higher Education, Counseling, Student Affairs, Education, or related field).
• Experience working with college students in advising, student services, or a related role.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• 1-3 years experience with developmental advising and NACADA competencies or experience working with students to promote student success initiatives.
• 1-3 years experience in a small college or student-centered environment.
• 1-3 years experience using student information systems and advising technologies.

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).