Academic Advisor

Position Summary:

Together We Transform. To ensure each VCU student finds success on their individual path, it is imperative that we establish a campus environment that eliminates artificial barriers to degree progression/graduation, nurtures student engagement both with faculty and our community, develops cultural competency in our graduates, and creates opportunities to experiment and develop tangible and intangible skills related to their future career goals.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s academic advisors support 22,000 undergraduate students in 21 distinct advising units. We are searching to hire multiple academic advisors in the following units:

• University Academic Advising (UAA): Declared majors (freshmen), Business (freshmen & sophomores) & Engineering (freshmen), Pre-health (freshmen-seniors), Arts (freshman) Undeclared majors (freshmen-seniors)
• School of the Arts
• College of Humanities and Sciences
• Other units as needed

Core Responsibilities:

Academic Advising : Meet with assigned caseload of students each semester to provide high-quality, informed guidance and support regarding their academic success. Monitor caseload and proactively support students in response to predictive analytics, early alerts, midterm grades, and other factors that may affect retention and timely graduation. Refer students to available resources to ensure they demonstrate behaviors that lead to success in their area of study, creating the foundation for success throughout their University academic experience. Establish a warm and welcoming relationship with students. Send weekly outreach emails to caseload as drafted in the communication plan. Help students set academic, career and personal goals through the use and review of tools such as the Intake Survey, Major Maps, and/or Degree Works. Participate in recruitment activities, programs, and initiatives, including providing advising information to prospective students and/or parents at various meetings such as Orientation.

Administrative Work: Prepare for advising appointments, maintain accurate records of advising interactions, and complete various tasks for students’ needs. Tasks include:

• Maintain accurate records of student advising interactions by completing Advising Reports and documenting email interactions in Navigate.
• Use Navigate appointment campaigns to make proactive outreach to prioritized student populations at appropriate times within the semester.
• Identify and assist struggling or at-risk students by making appropriate referrals to other university resources.
• Send scheduled emails to caseload from established UAA Communication Plan.
• Write letters of recommendation and letters of support for student appeals.
• Recommend and submit course substitutions and waivers per departmental protocols
• Support the processing of graduation applications and degree conferral.

Recruitment, Orientation, and Collaboration : Collaborate and participate in various activities with department, unit, and university partners to enhance student recruitment, course registration, orientation, and success in order to meet the goals of the University.

Teaching: Advisors may be called upon to plan and instruct assigned UNIV 101, 103, and/or 191 Student Success courses to provide effective and informative best practices, resources, and tools available to assist and support students’ academic success throughout their college careers. Introduce new students to the traditions, purposes, and expectations of a university education. Tasks include:

• Submit course syllabi and weekly course schedule and activate Canvas page by established UAA deadlines.
• Submit progress reports, midterm grades, and final grades by provided deadlines.
• Facilitate meaningful, engaging instruction as reflected in course evaluations.