Assistant Director, Center for Academic Excellence

General Summary: 

Reporting to the Director of the Center for Academic Excellence, the Assistant Director serves as a member of the Center for Academic Excellence leadership team. The Assistant Director leads the Center’s Critical Analysis embedded tutoring program, the Academic Excellence Coaching Program, and the General Education First-Year Seminar Peer Mentoring Program. With the Director, the Assistant Director works to develop and implement Critical Reading and Writing courses, academic coaching, embedded tutoring, and peer mentoring programs that encourage, promote, and sustain academic excellence and student success for undergraduate and graduate students across the disciplines

Examples of Duties: 

• Work as a part of the Center for Academic Excellence team to develop, implement, and assess academic support programs designed to increase student retention and graduation rates; collaborate with other departments in VPASS and across the University to develop student-focused programs and services and address areas of need;
• Lead the Center’s Critical Analysis embedded tutoring program
  • Recruit, hire, and train tutors for the Center’s Critical Analysis courses (e.g., CRW 112, SEMINR 114G, SEMINR 120G);
  • Meet regularly with embedded tutors to develop, implement, and assess culturally relevant and student-centered in-class tutoring practices that promote student engagement, success, and persistence;
• Facilitate General Education Peer Mentoring Program
  • Work with First-Year Seminar (FYS) Program to recruit and assign peer mentors for FYS across the disciplines, as well as for the Center’s Critical Reading and Writing courses, each semester;
  • Organize and facilitate peer mentor orientations prior to each semester;
  • Teach Sociology 444, Cooperative Education Field Experience as part of the peer mentor training program;
  • Meet regularly with peer mentors who are not able to enroll in Sociology 444;
• Assist the Director in leadership of the Critical Analysis Teaching Team
  • Support the Director in the recruitment, hiring, training, and supervision of non-tenure track (NTT) faculty for Critical Analysis Program courses;
  • Facilitate regular meetings and professional development activities for faculty teaching the Center’s Critical Analysis courses (e.g., CRW 112, SEMINR 114G, SEMINR 120G);
  • Support the development and implementation of annual assessment of curricula, faculty performance, and student learning outcomes; including the evaluation of Annual Faculty Reports (AFRs);
  • Assist the Director in the scheduling and staffing of approximately 50 department courses per academic year;
• Work closely with the Center’s Program Assistant to ensure efficient collaboration, record-keeping, and delivery of services within the Center as well as with other departments and programs;
• Generate and evaluate program reports, and communicate findings to Center staff and all relevant stakeholders;
• Collaborate with Center staff to promote awareness and knowledge of department services and programs and improve department UMB web pages for visibility, access, and usability;
• Perform other tasks as necessary.

Qualifications: 

• Master's degree in the Humanities, English, Composition and Rhetoric, or Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing/Creative Writing, or related field. 
• Three-five (3-5) years of experience teaching post-secondary courses that focus on writing and critical analysis;
• Three-five (3-5) years of experience working in a college or university tutoring program;
• Demonstrated experience supervising students and/or professional staff in a college or university setting; experience, in a diverse, urban learning environment preferred;
• Familiarity with academic coaching and peer mentoring pedagogy and best practices; demonstrated experience with student-centered and culturally relevant pedagogies and practices preferred;
• Demonstrated experience supporting the success of multilingual students;
• Outstanding communication and public speaking skills and ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of institutional stakeholders and to establish effective channels of communication;
• Demonstrated ability to lead others and to effectively cooperate in a team environment; 
• Proficiency with office and database software, social media, learning management systems (LMS), and web conferencing platforms;
• Ability to manage data effectively and maintain a high level of confidentiality and professionalism;
• Ability to maintain organized, accurate, and detailed records, evaluations, and program reports;
• Aptitude in problem-solving and ability to handle and complete multiple programmatic tasks simultaneously; 
• High level of attention to detail and accuracy;
• Strong commitment to student success and customer service;
• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite and PeopleSoft software

Application Instructions: 

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date. 

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting.  All other candidates will be considered after that period. 

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link: 

Grade:32

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston requires all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to confirm proof of their vaccination status including booster. Exemptions from the vaccine requirement will be permitted only for qualifying religious or medical reasons. Regardless of vaccination status, you must wear a face covering in public indoor spaces on campus.