Associate Director of Academic Advising & Academic Services

Department

Harris School Academic and Student Affairs Sub Group

About the Department

Policy with real impact doesn’t evolve from ideology or intuition, or even experience. At the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, developing effective public policy is a science, based on data and measurable impact .Addressing today’s interconnected, global challenges requires rigorous inquiry. It also requires innovative people who will face the facts, gather data, and understand why current policies exist to improve them. For more than 30 years, the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy has been steadfastly committed to serving society by advancing analysis- and evidence-informed policy. Guided by this exacting mission, our community of faculty, students, and alumni from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors are taking on the world’s most important problems by using the latest tools of social science. Harris Public Policy offers a full range of degree and executive education programs and is the academic home to research centers, institutes, and labs that study and engage the public on areas such as conflict, democracy and effective government, economic and political development, education, energy and environment, health, municipal finance, public safety, social policy, and urban policy.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Associate Dean of Students: Academic Services and Advising within the Harris Student Affairs Dean of Students Office, the Associate Director for Academic Advising will be responsible for advising master’s students in public policy. This positon works within a team of academic advisors and will have 115-150 advisees. This position will specifically focus on accommodations for students with documented disabilities: planning testing environments for students with testing accommodations, collaborating with faculty members about execution of academic accommodations, and assisting with pre-orientation planning with an eye to supporting incoming students with documented disabilities.
The Associate Director for Academic Advising & Academic Services is integral in helping students to achieve their academic and personal goals and will contribute significantly to initiatives that enhance the overall student experience at Harris. They will work on a highly collaborative, high-performing, and student-focused team.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Academic Advisor to 115-150 master’s students

• Serve as first point of contact for all needs for assigned advisees. Learn essentials of financial aid, billing, registration, and campus services to best assist students
• Conduct intake advising meetings with all advisees at the beginning of the year
• Keep accurate advising notes in a database/CRM system (Salesforce)
• Monitor each student’s progress toward degree completion, intervening appropriately as needed
• Conduct accurate graduation degree audits for all advisees
• Gain expertise about Harris curriculum and courses in other divisions at the University to best guide student course selection
• Collaborate with other student-facing offices to best understand programmatic and career opportunities which enhance the student experience
• Identify and communicate student needs and interests to Harris Administration to help shape curriculum and co-curricular offerings
• Create official letters and other necessary documentation for students’ scholarship providers and other sponsors as needed
• Monitor all advisees enrollments and update tuition projections each month
• Serve as a support for Harris’ large international student population, including assisting advisees with CPT and OPT paperwork and acting as a liaison to the Office of International Affairs (OIA)
• Create resources for all advisors to share information
• Collaborate extensively with the Harris academic advising team to ensure alignment in practices and give students the best possible service
• Support advisees who are in crisis or experiencing extenuating circumstances
• Collaborate with the Associate Dean of Students or Dean of Students on leaves of absence and other complex student cases
• Serve as the Harris Disability Liaison, meeting with the university’s disability working group and being the point-person for academic accommodations for students at Harris
• Communicate approved academic accommodations to Harris instructors at the beginning of each quarter
• Answer questions from students and instructors about accommodations and processes, consulting with central Student Disability Services as necessary
• Produce training materials for teaching assistants to educate them on federal and university policy around disability accommodations
• Hire and manage a Graduate Assistant and team of proctors to administer extended time and reduced distraction testing for eligible students
• Collaborate with instructional teams for core classes and large elective classes to best accommodate testing procedures for students with testing accommodations
• Work with instructors to collect information about acceptable modifications to attendance and deadlines for students with flexibility accommodations
• Manage aforementioned accommodations processes for Harris students taking courses in university departments outside of Harris, as needed
• Collaborate with the Dean of Students about tricky situations involving student accommodations
• Participate in the Pre-Orientation Working Group that plans and executes our two summer bridge programs: Jumpstart and Math & Coding Camp
• Author communications to incoming students about disability accommodations, processes, and timelines
• Help guide policies for core waiver exams and the mandatory math exam to ensure compliance for students who have testing accommodations
• Assist with a portfolio of planning tasks to otherwise plan and execute the programs
• Serve as the primary user of the shared department inbox
• Send disability accommodations information out to students and instructors from the shared inbox
• Forward general inquiries that come into the inbox to the appropriate staff person on the team
• Organize and clean out inbox regularly so that other staff members can pop into the inbox when needed
• Designs, implements and maintains student academic and administrative policies. Translates specialized knowledge of academic functions to complicated advising matters. Has a deep understanding of the activities of Study Abroad/ International Programs and functions for the University's graduate and undergraduate programs
• Manages on-boarding efforts related to coursework and academic planning delivered through various channels and on-line tools. Works mostly independently to facilitate graduation-related functions related to academic and degree requirements
• Acts as a main point of contact and recommends process improvements for other University Schools and Divisions' joint-degree programs
• Has a deep understanding related to the development of programming for non-academic matters, such as health and wellness and curricular programming. Designs and produces material for the handbook and other academically-related publications
• Performs other related work as needed

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree
• Degree in public policy, student development, student affairs, higher education, counseling, or similar

Experience:

• Academic advising experience strongly preferred
• Familiarity with academic information systems and database systems
• Familiarity with higher education environment strongly preferred

Preferred Competencies

• Interest in working in a student facing, high touch environment
• Student-centered approach and willingness to go the extra mile for students
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organization and project management skills
• Detail oriented
• Professional demeanor, including tact, discretion, and a customer-service oriented approach to the job required
• Ability to quickly garner credibility with students and faculty
• Ability to problem solve with minimal supervision, exercise good judgment, prioritize, and work under pressure during high volume times 
• Demonstrated ability to review and prioritize work in order to take appropriate actions without advanced approval, ensuring close attention to detail
• Ability to work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting
• Ability to work in an open office environment
• Knowledge of and eagerness to root work in student development theory and best practices
• Experience updating websites preferred.
• Ability to operate Microsoft Word, Excel, the internet and email at the intermediate level.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Student Affairs & Services

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$84,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

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