Senior Assistant Dean - College of Arts & Sciences

Updated: over 1 year ago
Location: Washington, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Job Type: FullTime
Deadline: The position may have been removed or expired!

Scheduled Hours
37.5


Position Summary
It is an exciting time to join the College of Arts & Sciences’ new Student Academic Affairs Division. Student Academic Affairs, housed within the College Office, comprises four central functional areas: four-year advising and the first-year experience; student progress and academic success; academic policies and administration; and post-graduate and pre-professional planning. This Senior Assistant Dean position will oversee the functional area of Student Progress and Academic Success, lead a team of FTEs, provide comprehensive academic advising to undergraduate students and contribute to the vision for programs and events that enhance the academic mission of the College of Arts & Sciences and guide students from first year through graduation. The largest undergraduate program at Washington University, the College of Arts & Sciences contains approximately 4,600 degree seeking undergraduate students and more than 600 non-A&S second majors and minors.


Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

Leads the Student Progress and Academic Success functional area with formal supervision duties of four to six Academic Advisors and Assistant Deans.

  • Assumes responsibility for individual programs within the functional area, including the development, coordination, execution, maintenance, and assessment of assigned program(s). Programs include but are not limited to academic actions; retention programming; satisfactory academic progress; leaves of absences and medical leaves of absence; and the coordination of retention efforts and outreach with faculty, staff, campus partner, and students.
  • Makes decisions regarding annual implementation processes of assigned program(s).
  • Oversees all programs within that functional area ensuring alignment with the strategic vision for Student Academic Affairs.
  • Collaborates with senior leadership in the College and direct reports to set the direction and goals for programs within the functional area.
  • Brings a vision for the functional area and serve as a critical thought partner for direct reports in shaping program development.
  • Manages, builds, and leads strong teams to support the mission and vision of functional area.
  • Assists direct reports with program implementation and assessment.
  • Evaluates the impact of the programs within the functional area and communicate with the Director of Student Academic Affairs on outcomes and areas for strategic development.
  • Works closely with colleagues in the College Office on overlapping projects to ensure a holistic student academic experience.
  • Works with the Director of Student Academic Affairs and other colleagues to ensure the priorities for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the College are embedded in all functional area activities, programs, and events.
  • In consultation with the Director of Student Academic Affairs, provides training, development, motivation, and supervision of direct reports, including employee performance review and maintenance of staffing plans.

Serves as a four-year academic advisor for undergraduate students in each class.

  • Provides academic advising to a caseload of approximately 80 students to support student retention and graduation initiatives.
  • Interprets and explains university policies, procedures, and curriculum to students, faculty, staff, and administration.
  • Identifies and helps resolve obstacles impeding the academic success of students.
  • Analyzes students’ academic and personal issues or concerns and provide referral or intervention services.
  • Supports students in developing a required academic plan to meet graduation requirements.
  • Coordinates mentoring or specific programming for students within various academic programs.
  • Guides students through college and university level administrative processes.
  • Liaises with Arts & Sciences departments and programs to ensure a holistic student academic experience.
  • Works with campus partners to ensure holistic support and tracking of student progress.
  • Maintains appropriate student records and documents student interactions.

Supports the College Office with additional programming and mission critical priorities.

  • May serve as an academic advisor across areas of the College Office, for example as a progress counselor, pre-professional (pre-health, pre-grad, pre-law) advisor, fellowship advisor, skills coach, and post-baccalaureate premedical advisor.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.

Applicant Special Instructions

Please include a cover letter and resume.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Doctoral degree.
  • Previous experience advising students in a higher education or academic setting.
  • Experience with retention and student success programming and support.
  • Experience working with diverse students and helping drive academic success.
  • Experience evaluating and developing programs to proactively engage with students with academic or personal challenges.
  • Experience with retention and student success programming and support is highly preferred.
  • Sound judgment, decision making ability, and high-level maturity in sensitive and confidential situations involving students, staff, and parents.
  • Proven interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal with students, faculty, staff, and other campus stakeholders.
  • Strong commitment to cultivating relationships with students in the context of a learning environment and to designing and delivering excellent academic and student affairs.
  • Ability to build relationships, credibility, and consensus among diverse populations of students, staff, and faculty.
  • Ability to lead, manage, and build strong teams to accomplish the vision and mission of unit.
  • Ability to successfully manage complex operations and supervise staff at various levels, including organizing and coaching diverse individuals.
  • Ability to step in as a strong individual contributor and team member on various projects as needed.
  • Ability to anticipate issues, properly assess pertinent data, and develop and implement practical solutions to complex issues.
  • High degree of self-motivation and productivity with an ability to manage time, set and meet deadlines, and follow-through on projects independently and in a timely manner with varying degrees of pressure.
  • Ability to be highly organized, accurate, detail-oriented, and possess a strong attention to detail.
  • Ability to project genuineness and warmth as a service-oriented communicator.
  • Ability to anticipate student needs and act to address them.


Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree and seven years of relevant experience in higher education setting or a master’s degree and five years of relevant experience in higher education setting.
  • Significant knowledge of student academic affairs programs and events, student success and retention trends and best practices, a broad understanding of liberal arts curricula and of concepts, practices, and procedures related to undergraduate education, and the ability to interact with various campus partners.


Grade
G14


Salary Range
$70,300.00 - $120,000.00 / Annually

The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.


Pre-Employment Screening
All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.


Benefits Statement
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to providing a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to our employees. Benefits eligibility is subject to employment status, full-time equivalent (FTE) workload, and weekly standard hours. Please visit our website at https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/ to view a summary of benefits.


EEO/AA Statement
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity and especially encourages applications by those from underrepresented groups. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.


Diversity Statement
Washington University is dedicated to building a diverse community of individuals who are committed to contributing to an inclusive environment – fostering respect for all and welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Individuals with a commitment to these values are encouraged to apply.


Applicant Instructions
When you are ready to apply, creating an account only takes a minute. Your account creates a candidate home page which we will use to communicate with you and allows you to apply for jobs and view your application statuses. The first page of the application offers two “Quick Apply” options. Quick Apply allows you to either use a previous application or create a new application using a resume to populate the work experience and education sections of your job application. If using a resume to populate your application, check to ensure the application fields populated accurately. You may skip the “Quick Apply” page by clicking “Next” at the bottom of the page. Documents may be uploaded in the My Experience section of the application. You also have the option to apply with a Linkedin feature, which allows you to apply by using your Linkedin profile to populate some of the job application fields.


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