Associate Director, Student Success Coaching

Department: University Life

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

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

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Salary: Salary range starting mid $80k; commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The Division of University Life's Student Success Coaching unit is a hub for student engagement for all new freshman and transfer students, and provides access to coaching for all undergraduate students at Mason. Student Success Coaching increases the retention rate and academic success of incoming students by helping students set and achieve academic, career, and personal goals and connecting students to campus and community resources. The Student Success Coaching unit provides incoming students access to ongoing mentoring and coaching from professional and student staff that maintain university-wide and college-specific knowledge to ensure the success of Mason's incoming student populations.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Director of the Student Success Coaching unit, the Associate Director specializes in the coordination, implementation, and assessment of the Division of University Life's Student Success Coaching unit. The Associate Director supervises Assistant Directors and works in collaboration with the Director to assist in increasing the retention rate of first year and continuing students at Mason.

Responsibilities:

Supervision and Leadership:

• Supervises, manages, and trains 3 Assistant Directors;
• Assists in the leadership with overall development, implementation, and management of the professional coaching program;
• Develops and manages key stakeholder partnerships, including attending regular meetings with key stakeholders involved in the development and implementation of the program; and
• Creates and maintains relationships with academic colleges, Academic Affairs, Registrar, Admissions/Enrollment Management, etc., necessary to run a comprehensive student success program. 

Assessment and Quality:

• Develops and manages program evaluation and assessment processes, including tracking of retention and completion metrics, student satisfaction and net promoter score, and other key metrics;
• Oversees Mason's quality assurance program by leading the evaluation and review process and maintaining coaching records;
• Assists with on-going benchmarking and best practices research of coaching programs at other institutions; and
• Conducts outcomes assessment for a comprehensive organization serving the needs of a diverse population of incoming first year and transfer students.

Marketing and Outreach:

• Provides leadership for marketing, promotion, and advancement of programs and mission;
• Oversight of internal and external communication and publications, including, but not limited to, web presence, social media, email campaigns and nudges, and orientation and promotional print materials;
• Staff all recruitment and outreach events for student success programs, including admission initiatives, orientations, new student programs, residence hall programs, involvement fairs, and other opportunities;
• Leverages technology to connect with and relay information to students throughout the first year; and
• Participates in university, divisional, and unit-based events and provides in-person support on-campus when necessary. Events include, but are not limited to, New Student Orientation, Preamble, University Life All-Staff Meetings, I-Team meetings, SSC programs, and other stakeholder-related programs.

Coaching Administration:

• Maintains small (~50 student) caseload of students with additional needs/higher support requirements.

Other Duties:

• Attends professional meetings and maintains active memberships in salient professional organizations;
• Serves on committees and other projects as assigned by the Director; and
• Other related duties as assigned by the Director. 

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Progressively responsible professional experience typically obtained in 4 years working closely with staff and undergraduate students;
• Supervisory experience (various levels of supervision preferred, i.e. professional staff, graduate level staff, and students);
• Experience in academic advising or working with student coaching programs;
• Experience with and/or demonstrated knowledge of success coaching, academic advising, orientation, disability services, veteran's services, career services, student involvement, and student rights and responsibilities;
• Working knowledge of student transitional issues;
• Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer service;
• Demonstrated skills in leadership, communication, program development, and administrative operations and procedures;
• Effective interpersonal, oral and written communication skills with ability to communicate with a variety of constituents and departmental stakeholders;
• Ability to work to meet deadlines, work accurately and quickly with attention to detail, and able to manage multiple complex programs, projects, and high-level, intricate student cases simultaneously;
• Ability to manage conflicting and competing situations;
• Ability to interact with a culturally and ethnically diverse population of students, faculty, and staff; and
• Ability to work evening and weekend hours, particularly in the summer.

Other Licenses/Certifications:

• Success Coaching Certification (preferred); or
• Must achieve success coaching certification within 15 months of attending foundational coach training.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with using educational database management systems and customer relationship management systems (CRM); and
• Knowledge of educational database management systems and customer relationship management systems (CRM).

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Associate Director, Student Success Coaching at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume.

Posting Open Date:  March 31, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  April 14, 2025

Open Until Filled:  Yes