Department

Harris School Academic and Student Affairs Sub Group

About the Department

Why Policy? For a better world. Why Harris Public Policy? Because when it comes to better policymaking, evidence matters. We work at the frontiers of data collection and analysis, using the latest technology and social science methods to design policies that work for society. We conduct rigorous inquiry in an environment of innovation and risk taking. We collaborate across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, adopting new methodologies to drive better solutions. We engage with our city, our world, and our leaders every day to evaluate and test our ideas. And we lead with our passion for driving social change, knowing that passion alone does not equal impact.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Associate Dean of Students for Academic Services and Advising within the Harris Dean of Students Office, the Associate Director for Academic Advising and Academic Support will be responsible for advising master’s students in public policy and for overseeing multiple key academic support resources. This position will also contribute to student communications and events administration to ensure that Harris master’s students have the information and support they need to thrive.

The Associate Director for Academic Advising 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. This position will be a rewarding and fulfilling role for a high-performing and dedicated individual.

Responsibilities

• Owns the end-to-end planning and execution of the School’s largest pre-enrollment academic support program, Math and Coding Camp, as well as the invite-only Jumpstart Bridge Program. These programs serve 400+ incoming students per year. They are key in preparing students for the rigorous Core curriculum of the master’s programs, as well as establishing their connection to the school and their classmates.
• Leads the Pre-Orientation Working Group, ensuring strong project management, guidance for team members, and overall follow-through on tasks.
• Collaborates with instructional teams of full-time faculty, PhD students, Harris staff members, and dozens of Harris Teaching Assistants about instructional plan.
• Works with Harris TA Program Director on recruiting and hiring instructors and TAs for the programs.
• Creates schedules for the program, reserves space for instructional programs, and assigns registered students to sections.
• Facilitates math self-assessments and coding self-assessments to provide students with placement recommendations.
• Facilitates the RSVP process and communicating data about number of incoming students to key stakeholders.
• Oversees communication to incoming students, including updating websites and using Slate to create events, build forms, and send email blasts.
• Leads information sessions about the program.
• Coordinates closely with other staff involved in new student orientation and onboarding to ensure that pre-orientation academic offerings align with the scheduling of other orientation activities.
• Plans and executes social programming for students during the camps.
• Hosts debrief conversations with instructional teams after the programs to identify strengths and areas of improvement for future years.
• Manages the Harris Tutoring Program, which serves students in Harris master’s programs.
• Hires over a dozen student tutors each quarter, in connection with instructional teams for Harris Core and Data Analytics Courses and Harris Human Resources.
• Supervises over a dozen student workers, including offering an onboarding training, setting tutors up with their calendars for booking, tracking and reporting hours for payment, and troubleshooting issues with individual tutors.
• Works with Harris Facilities to ensure that tutors have access to book a selection of conference rooms for tutoring appointments.
• Tracks student usage of tutoring and connects with students who are getting close to or exceeding their limit of tutoring hours.
• Oversees tutoring budget in collaboration with Associate Dean of Students.
• Contributes to the school orientation working group to plan and execute the new student onboarding experience.
• Plans and executes events to celebrate and encourage student achievement, particularly during exam weeks.
• Serves as academic advisor to 125-175 master’s students, utilizing holistic and student-centered advising.
• Serves as first point of contact for all needs for assigned advisees. Learns the essentials of financial aid, billing, registration, and campus services to best assist students.
• Conducts intake advising meetings with all advisees at the beginning of the year.
• Keeps accurate advising notes in a database/CRM system (Salesforce).
• Monitors each student’s progress toward degree completion, intervening appropriately as needed, and conducts graduation degree audits.
• Gains expertise about Harris curriculum and courses in other divisions at the University to best guide student course selection.
• Collaborates with other student-facing offices to best understand programmatic and career opportunities that enhance the student experience.
• Identifies and communicates student needs and interests to Harris Dean of Students and other stakeholders to help shape curriculum and co-curricular offerings.
• Creates official letters and other necessary documentation for students’ scholarship providers and other sponsors as needed.
• Monitors all advisees enrollments and updates tuition projections each month.
• Serves 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).
• Collaborates extensively with the Harris academic advising team to ensure alignment in practices and give students the best possible service.
• Supports advisees who are in crisis or experiencing extenuating circumstances.
• Collaborates with the Associate Dean of Students or Dean of Students on leaves of absence and other complex student cases.
• Oversees Dean of Students Office Communications to ensure students have access to necessary information to fully succeed.
• Maintains and updates the Harris Student Handbook Canvas site, a comprehensive informational resource for students.
• Works with Associate Dean of Students to plan and execute communications to admitted students about onboarding programs, pre-orientation events, and preparation for Autumn quarter.
• Monitors and updates information related to the Dean of Students’ Office on the Harris website.
• Creates advertising and communications for Dean of Students Office programming.
• 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:

• Master’s degree.
• Degree in higher education, student development, student affairs, counseling, public policy, or related field.

Experience:

• Familiarity with higher education environment.
• Academic advising experience strongly preferred.
• Student programming or academic programming experience strongly preferred..

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficient at updating websites. Familiarity with design and layout programs, including Adobe Creative Suite, and HTML email programs, such as MailChimp.
• Previous experience with Slate and/or Salesforce is a plus
• Operate Microsoft Word, Excel, the internet and email at an intermediate level.

Preferred Competencies

• Interest in working with a diverse group of graduate students in a student-facing, high touch environment.
• Strong organization and project management skills.
• Student-centered approach and willingness to go the extra mile for students.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Professional demeanor, including tact, discretion, and a customer-service oriented approach to the position.
• Quickly garner credibility with students.
• Problem-solve with minimal supervision, exercise good judgment, prioritize, and work under pressure during high volume times.
• Demonstrated ability to review and prioritize work to take appropriate actions without advanced approval, ensuring close attention to detail.
• Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Work in an open office environment.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)

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

$62,000.00 - $82,000.00

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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