Senior Academic Advisor for Strategic Student Support

University of Southern California; Glendale (CA); On-site; USD 47,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Southern California is seeking a Senior Academic Advisor for Strategic Student Support to serve as the campus-wide point of contact for complex advising scenarios. You will support undergrad populations, coordinate with academic offices, and influence persistence and timely graduation.

Report to the Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Advising and collaborate on programs across the university while maintaining student records and advising standards.

Qualifications

• Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and adapt to changing priorities.
• Demonstrated experience with problem identification and conflict resolution.

Responsibilities

• Advises undergraduate students on curriculum and degree requirements and monitors progress.
• Maintains and coordinates student records, registration, grades and transcripts with USC Office of Academic Records.
• Liaises with multiple USC offices to resolve student issues and provide support services.

Skills

Communication skills

Campus collaboration

Problem solving

Adaptability

Education

Master's degree in Student Affairs, Higher Education, Counseling or related field

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Advise USC

Slate

Student Information System

Job description

Senior Academic Advisor for Strategic Student Support

Academic Exploration Advising Office of Academic Programs

About USC

The University of Southern California (USC) is one of the world's leading private research universities with approximately 45,000 students from all 50 states and internationally. USC is located in the heart of Los Angeles, a culturally rich metropolitan city, and is close to both beach and mountains, and offers the opportunity to work in a dynamic environment.

About the Opportunity

Academic Exploration Advising is seeking a Senior Academic Advisor for Strategic Student Support (Student Services Advisor II) to join our collaborative team, which empowers students to explore a growth- and goal- oriented mindset.

Reporting to the Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Advising, this role will serve as a university wide referral point for complicated academic advising situations, ensuring consistency, fairness and supportive student outcomes. Complicated cases may involve undergraduate leave of absence policy and procedures; students dismissed from an academic major; students working with multiple administrative offices; students with a foreign language substitution accommodation; students who have had multiple withdrawals or failed classes.

The Senior Academic Advisor for Strategic Student Support will also support a population of Undergraduate Success Program students, a population of Exploratory major students and collaborate with other academic advisors in the Academic Exploration Advising office on projects and tasks.

The successful candidate must possess direct, related experience in student services and programming with an ability to collaborate across campus with multiple stakeholders. As part of a team, they will act creatively in both an individual role and in concert with others to initiate and to further develop programs that will enable the University to meet its strategic objectives for persistence and timely graduation. The position requires a strong, creative and flexible candidate.

Job Accountabilities

• Assists in resolving non-routine problems and provides policy or procedural interpretations for matters which are not clearly defined.
• Intervenes with university central student services as necessary to connect prospective students with the right staff member or department.
• Evaluates student situations and requests and takes appropriate action.
• Provides academic counseling for undergraduate students. Advises on matters of curriculum, course and degree requirements. Monitors student progress.
• Researches demographics, plans outreach programs and events.
• Evaluates student problems, academic, administrative or personal, and refers student to appropriate student services office for additional counseling. Liaises with other offices on behalf of students to facilitate problem resolution.
• Maintains academic unit student records and coordinates registration activities, grading, degree progress, enrollment and transcripts with the USC Office of Academic Records and Registrar. Assists with Petition applications and letters of recommendation.
• Participates in committees at the college or university level which deal in student services issues. Provides administrative support for local committees and works on committee assigned projects.
• Maintains currency on policies, procedures and regulations pertaining to admission, financial aid, registration, transfer credit evaluation, course and degree requirements, graduation requirements, petitions and other student services.
• Maintains and compiles statistical data. Prepares reports for internal and external use.
• In addition, the successful candidate must demonstrate, through ideas, words and actions, a strong commitment to USC's Unifying Values.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Student Affairs, Higher Education, Counseling or related field
• Demonstrated knowledge of USC programs, services and offices across campus including Campus Support and Intervention, Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity, Student Life and Office of Student Accessibility Services
• Demonstrated strong technical skills in the use of USC's Student Information System, Advise USC and Slate
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Flexibility in the face of changing priorities and information
• Demonstrated experience with problem identification, novel solutions and conflict resolution
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with students, staff and faculty across USC

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum of 3 years of experience advising and developing student programs
• Combined experience/education can be used as a substitute for minimum education
• Academic advising experience in a non-profit, higher education setting
• Committed to working with a wide range of students interested in enriching their undergraduate experience
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, able to distill and convey information to diverse audiences

The annual hourly range for this position is $34.35-$41.70 When determining an offer, the University of Southern California considers factors such as the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidates experience, education, training, key skills, internal peer alignment, applicable laws, contractual requirements, grant funding, and market conditions.

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree, Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education

Preferred Education: Masters or Doctorate degree

Minimum Experience: 3 years

Minimum Field of Expertise: Directly related experience in student services and programming with ability to lead