Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

UW-Madison College of Engineering; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 99,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at UW-Madison College of Engineering provides strategic leadership to enhance undergraduate student success and ensures high-quality services across student-facing units.

This role collaborates across Academic Affairs, supervises multiple units, and aligns programs with college and university priorities, while guiding data-driven improvements and effective stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in student affairs, academic administration, or a related area
• Minimum of 3+ years leading and supervising staff
• Proven experience advancing student success initiatives with measurable impact
• Experience implementing academic or student affairs policies and procedures
• Experience working across departments in a complex organization
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Experience using data and assessment to inform decision-making

Responsibilities

• Advises and collaborates with the Dean, Associate Dean, and/or Office of the Provost on critical issues, representing the functional area of supervision at appropriate meetings and events as requested; and serves on and/or leads various program and/or university committees as directed
• Serves on various university review committees, working with a wide range of constituencies including the Faculty Senate, Deans and Associate Deans, General Counsel, and University Leadership
• Monitors on-going assessment and continuous improvement of academic programs and services by guiding the establishment of annual goals, ensuring progress towards goals is met, articulating challenges, and reporting on annual outcomes and achievements for programs and services
• Supports special initiatives and/or grant-funded programs that require senior leadership attention with respect to program design, planning, coordination, and interaction with internal and external stakeholders
• Facilitates collegial, collaborative working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, partners with administrative and academic departments to support initiatives, and gathers input from key stakeholders to support recommendations
• Establishes priorities that align with the strategic directives of the assigned school or college and ensures units effectively carry out duties in a way that best supports the academic mission of the university; provides direct supervision of department /program leadership staff and monitors compliance with laws, regulations, university policies, procedures, and relevant contractual obligations
• May exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 FTE or equivalent employees

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Collaboration

Data-driven decision making

Education

Master's degree

Tools

Student information systems

Reporting tools

Assessment frameworks

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Category

Limited

Employment Type

Regular

Job Profile

Assistant Dean (B)

Job Summary

The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs provides strategic leadership and operational oversight in support of undergraduate student success. This role is responsible for advancing initiatives that enhance the undergraduate experience, ensuring high-quality services across student-facing units, and fostering a collaborative, student-centered culture.

The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs serves as a key member of the Academic Affairs leadership team, working closely with the associate dean, assistant deans, directors, departments, central administrative offices, and external partners to align programs and services with the College of Engineering (CoE) and institutional priorities.

The CoE Academic Affairs is a dynamic and student-centered unit that includes student engagement and leadership including student organizations, K-12 outreach, career services, undergraduate and graduate advising, learning support, and scholarships, and student wellness.

This position will directly supervise one or more functional units, ensuring effective service delivery, continuous improvement, and alignment with the COE’s academic mission.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Advises and collaborates with the Dean, Associate Dean, and/or Office of the Provost on critical issues, representing the functional area of supervision at appropriate meetings and events as requested; and serves on and/or leads various program and/or university committees as directed
• Serves on various university review committees, working with a wide range of constituencies including the Faculty Senate, Deans and Associate Deans, General Counsel, and University Leadership
• Monitors on-going assessment and continuous improvement of academic programs and services by guiding the establishment of annual goals, ensuring progress towards goals is met, articulating challenges, and reporting on annual outcomes and achievements for programs and services
• Supports special initiatives and/or grant-funded programs that require senior leadership attention with respect to program design, planning, coordination, and interaction with internal and external stakeholders
• Facilitates collegial, collaborative working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, partners with administrative and academic departments to support initiatives, and gathers input from key stakeholders to support recommendations
• Establishes priorities that align with the strategic directives of the assigned school or college and ensures units effectively carry out duties in a way that best supports the academic mission of the university; provides direct supervision of department /program leadership staff and monitors compliance with laws, regulations, university policies, procedures, and relevant contractual obligations
• May exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 FTE or equivalent employees

Department

College of Engineering, Academic Affairs

Compensation

The starting salary for the position is $110,000 (but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications).

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in student affairs, academic administration, or a related area
• Minimum of 3 or more years of experience leading and supervising staff, including managing multiple teams or functional units
• Proven experience advancing student success initiatives that support individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, with evidence of measurable impact (e.g., retention, engagement, or satisfaction outcomes)
• Experience implementing academic or student affairs policy and procedures
• Experience working collaboratively across departments and administrative units in a complex organizational setting
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships across diverse stakeholders
• Experience using data and assessment to inform decision-making, program improvement, and strategic planning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a college of engineering or similarly complex academic environment
• Understanding of the engineering profession and engineering curricula, and ability to relate to engineering undergraduates and prospective students
• Demonstrated success overseeing student-facing units (e.g., advising, student engagement, student services, recruitment)
• Experience with budget management, resource allocation, and operational oversight
• Familiarity with student information systems, reporting tools, and assessment frameworks
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives or large-scale student experience improvements

Education

Master’s degree required; preferred in higher education, student affairs, educational leadership, psychology, social science, engineering or a related field

Contact Information

Beth Brandl, [e-mail]

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Institutional Statement on Diversity

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.