Academic Advising Specialist

Position Summary:

The Academic Advising Specialist supports a full caseload of students with individualized academic advising to prepare students academically and professionally for success.

Student Success supports the Columbia College mission by providing services and resources that empower all Columbia College students to explore and identify their academic and professional passions while acquiring the skills, experiences and connections needed to thrive academically and graduate prepared for their postgraduation goals. The department is comprised of three functional areas, with a director for each: Accessibility Services, Academic Advising, and Career Services.

Key Responsibilities

1. Actively Engages with advisees through daily office hours, drop-in appointments, campaigns, and other points of contact.
2. Holds and maintains regular open office hours for student drop-ins and appointments; a schedule of office hours will be set by the Director of Academic Advising for all advisors.
3. Collaborates with faculty advisors assigned to the student through the KoalaPASS dual advising model.
4. Provides Academic advising for a full caseload of 300-500 day college students. Services may include, but are not limited to:
   • 4-year degree planning
   • Academic probation recovery
   • Academic success strategies
   • Early alert recovery and monitoring
   • General Academic Planning
   • Individual academic consultation
   • General Education course concerns related to requirements or progression
   • Provides information on the following:
     • Change of Major/Minor
     • Course Registration
     • Course Withdrawal
     • Leave of absence/withdrawal
5. Engages learners in decision-making processes.
6. Promotes appropriate and responsible choices on academic matters such as course selection and degree requirements.
7. Maintains appropriate confidentiality, updates learner advising records, and contributes to the development and delivery of academic advising related events and programs.
8. Works to ensure learners receive accurate, timely, proactive, and holistic advising services in support of promoting student success, retention, and program completion. The Specialist contributes to persistence and retention efforts by monitoring degree progression and addressing barriers to academic success.
9. Uses creative problem-solving skills to address barriers for learner degree completion.
10. Creates a welcoming, equitable, and inclusive environment for learners, faculty and staff
11. Plans, prepares, and presents student programming for Academic Advising as assigned and approved by the Director of Academic Advising and in collaboration with other campus partners such as Career Services.
12. Communicates with students about registration and degree-completion clearance status.
13. Ensures that learners have an accurate expected degree completion date as maintained by the Academic Advising Specialist Team in collaboration with the Office of the Registrar.
14. Supports initiatives aligned with ILS strategic goals.
15. Other duties as assigned

This document represents the major duties, responsibilities, and authorities of this job, and is not intended to be a complete list of all tasks and functions. Other duties may be assigned, and management retains the discretion to add or change the duties of the position at any time.

Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree in an applicable field or an equivalent combination of education and professional work experience as determined by the college
2. Ability to communicate effectively with others and present in-person and virtually to large and small groups
3. Coachable and highly motivated with strong attention to detail and follow through
4. Effective project management skills with the ability to prioritize simultaneous projects to meet deadlines while multitasking and managing multiple, ongoing programs and services
5. Effective customer service and relationship building skills with the ability to work collaboratively
6. Ability to work independently and resourcefully with strong analytical/problem-solving ability
7. Ability to document advising interventions and use student data to inform advising conversations
8. Must be able to work some evening hours and occasional weekends as position may require occasional irregular office hours including after-hours and weekend work to meet with students and attend campus events

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Advanced knowledge of academic advising best practices aligned with NACADA Core Competencies.
2. Experience working in higher education academic advising or closely related area; 1-2 years required, and 3-5 years preferred
3. Expertise with external scholarships and/or experience connecting students with external funding sources
4. Proficiency in Microsoft Office. Experience with EAB Navigate, Canvas, Jenzabar, Slate, and other student success platforms used in higher education is a plus
5. Experience working with adult learners of all ages and backgrounds
6. Experience working with diverse populations and ability to articulate the value of diversity and inclusivity

Work Environment and Expectations

This role involves standard office work with occasional travel to events or conferences. Flexibility for evening and weekend programming is required.

All staff employees are expected to work 8:30-5:00pm Monday-Friday; any changes to this schedule must be arranged and approved by the employee's supervisor. Any missed work hours must be recorded in Paycom and approved by the supervisor, in advance when possible. Comp time is not guaranteed and must be initiated and approved by the supervisor.

All committee service and teaching assignments outside the scope of this job description are subject to approval by the supervisor and Dean.