Academic Advisor

Department: Col of Engineering and Computing

Classification: Education Support Spec 3

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type:  Full-time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Pay Band: 04

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The ECE Department's mission is to educate students and conduct research in the broad fields of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  In addition to its own undergraduate and graduate programs, the ECE Dept. supports other programs in the College of Engineering and Computing through interdisciplinary collaboration in both education and research and has close ties with other departments such as Bioengineering, Computer Science, Cyber Security Engineering, Information Sciences and Technology, and Mechanical Engineering. Projects and hands-on activities are at the core of many of our educational programs where interdisciplinary projects and courses are highly integrated into the curriculum. Thousands of students have graduated from our department's accredited programs and gone on to prosperous careers in engineering and related fields.

About the Position:

This position offers an opportunity to work with highly motivated engineering undergraduate students. A motivated advisor will be able to shape the first year advising experience for our department.

The Academic Advisor performs academic advising for all current and prospective undergraduate students and replies to general inquiries about undergraduate programs offered by the department. The Advisor contributes to the recruitment and retention of students through effective advising and outreach and will be responsible for facilitating students’ education, decision-making and planning. This position discusses academic interests, makes connections to career goals with the student, and provides information on academic policies, procedures and practices, including working through various academic requests, forms and appeals. The Academic Advisor represents the department in a professional manner and acts as a resource person regarding the university and department’s rules and regulations while serving as a trouble-shooter and problem solver. This position contributes to Mason’s strategic goals of preparing career-ready graduates, while increasing graduation and retention rates. While we are open to a hybrid work arrangement, we do expect this position to work in person on campus 3-4 days per week.

Responsibilities:

Undergraduate Student Advising

• Advises current undergraduate students in decision making and developing a plan of study consistent with students’ interests, desires and abilities;
• Assists students regarding course selection, prerequisites, transfer courses, registration and overrides, career and/or educational goal and general university rules and regulations;
• Coordinates processing of graduation applications;
• Ensures that students meet departmental requirements of degree progress;
• Acts and assists in trouble shooting and problem solving (registration errors, late schedule adjustments, retroactive withdrawals, etc.);
• Communicates essential academic registration information;
• Provides information on academic policies, procedures and practices, including working through various academic requests, forms and appeals;
• Organizes and retains student records, to include advising notes and email exchanges;
• Escalates complex issues or situations with students to supervisor for guidance (any requests for policy exceptions);
• Participates in outreach initiatives organized by the college/university;
• Organizes regular outreach campaigns to reach out to students proactively; and
• Performs prerequisite checks for all ECE undergraduate courses at the beginning of each semester and verifies student eligibility for each class. 

Undergraduate Student Affairs

• Provides administrative support to students and faculty;
• Distributes information and assists in implementing and performing student support services tasks;
• Assists in coordination of efforts to organize departmental functions for students, including events such as orientation or faculty-student advising meetings;
• Participates in university wide programs and events related to undergraduate students such as admissions, orientation, advising, graduation and other social and networking events;
• Assists and functions as a liaison between students, faculty, management and administrative agents in understanding the programs, university rules and regulations;
• Assists and performs the oversight of operations related to student records, graduation and student recruitment functions;
• Generates correspondence in communicating with students, faculty and other administrators and units such as the Dean’s office, registrar’s office, etc. in writing, via e-mail or through other communication means in response to students and other constituents’ inquiries in fostering student success as needed;
• Assists in updating ECE department’s advising materials (printed and on the website) prior to each catalog year; and
• Assists in creating sample schedules, transfer guides, and degree worksheets for different student populations. 

Other Related Duties as Assigned

• Serves on committees and other projects as assigned related to advising and student support as needed;
• Participates in university-wide advising training and ongoing professional development; and
• Utilizes the chosen university platform for tracking and reporting student interactions and making referrals. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Higher Education, College Student Personnel, Counseling or related field or the equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience (typically 1-3 years) or demonstrated knowledge in one or more of the following areas: academic advising, success coaching, counselling, orientation, disability services, veteran’s services, career services, student involvement, and student rights and responsibilities;
• Experience serving and supporting diverse student populations;
• Experience in working with multiple complex projects simultaneously;
• Experience with computer data entry, email, and Microsoft Office suite including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel;
• Outstanding verbal and written communication, organizational and outreach skills;
• Knowledge and experience in assisting students in a college setting in academic advising/support;
• Strong working knowledge of student transitional issues;
• Ability to meet deadlines, working accurately and quickly with attention to detail, and being able to manage multiple complex programs and projects simultaneously;
• Ability to provide strong customer service;
• Conflict resolution skills;
• Ability to work with a culturally and ethnically diverse population of students, faculty, and staff;
• Strong interpersonal skills and professionalism in communicating with faculty, staff, students, visiting students, families and public;
• Proven ability to work collaboratively;
• Comfortable with technology; and
• Flexibility to work evening and weekend hours, as needed for Orientation and Admissions events, is a position requirement.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience working in a higher education setting;
• Prior experience in working with science/engineering students;
• Experience with leadership, communication, program development, and administrative activities; and
• Experience with educational database management systems, customer relationship management systems (CRM).

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Academic Advisor at https://jobs.gmu.edu/; complete and submit the online application; and provide a cover letter, resume, and a list of three professional references with contact information. Full consideration will apply to applicants who submit their completed application by the full consideration date; however, review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Posting Open Date: October 14, 2024

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  October 28, 2024

Open Until Filled:  Yes