Scheduled Hours

37.5

Position Summary

The Director of Graduate Academic Success will be responsible for engaging and leading a team of individuals in support of master’s and PhD students’ academic success. This role will engage heavily with faculty leadership in each of the graduate programs, ensuring timely student progression through their programs, and ensuring clear alignment and adherence with academic policies. The Director will be responsible for oversight of a range of services, including individual student support, co-curricular academic programming, and mentor and mentee conflict management, among others. Overseeing a student-facing support team, the Director ensures that graduate policies, procedures, and processes are communicated and applied consistently to both students and faculty. The Director is a key member of the leadership team in the Office of Graduate Programs and serves as a project manager for strategic initiatives prioritized by the Associate Dean related to the graduate academic experience. The Director also leads assessment efforts around student success, satisfaction, and outcomes to guide recommendations for change and improvement to graduate education procedures, processes, and policies. The Director serves on a variety of university and school-wide committees, acts as a liaison with key units such as Student Affairs, the Center for Teaching and Learning, OISS, and acts as a primary mentor and liaison to AGES.

Job Description

• Leads a team of student-facing individuals in the management of student advising and programming for all McKelvey graduate students. Provides indirect support to coordinators within the academic departments with regards to monitoring student progress beginning with student matriculation through graduation. Assists students, faculty, and support staff with a wide range of questions, situations, and issues related to graduate students and programs in McKelvey. Serves as the school advisor to AGES.
• Develops and maintains data models to track student outcomes, identify areas of concern among the programs, and make recommendations for future improvements. Participates in the creation of reports and presentations surrounding the academic success of graduate students.
• Engage in and advise students who are experiencing academic concerns such as students placed on probation or suspension. Engage with students and mentors to resolve conflicts as needed. Advise faculty on school policy and procedure when students struggle academically.
• Direct signature graduate student events such as orientation. Develop and offer a suite of co-sponsored events focused on co-curricular topics in coordination with Student Affairs and other CFU Offices such as professional development, career readiness, research promotion and communication skills, etc to prepare students beyond the university.
• Serve as the project manager for strategic initiatives in support of the academic experiences of McKelvey graduate students, including but not limited to: mentorship resources and training, retention strategies for students, grievance procedures, and policy development that promotes equity in the student experience across departments. Work closely with McKelvey leadership including the Associate Dean, Vice Dean, and Department Chairs to develop communication and implementation plans to support these strategic initiatives.
• Build effective and fruitful partnerships with offices across the University to enhance and support the graduate student experience. Work closely with the Center for Career Engagement to track graduates’ career outcomes and ensure professional development and career exploration opportunities are developed and offered to McKelvey graduate students.  
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education.

Certifications/Professional Licenses:

No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Work Experience:

Relevant Experience (5 Years)

Skills:

Not Applicable

Driver's License:

A driver's license is not required for this position.

More About This Job

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree.
• Experience in higher education and working with international students, faculty, and a highly multi-disciplinary team of students and mentors.
• Ability to navigate a complex, decentralized University.
• Knowledge of best practices in graduate advising and supporting adult students. Working knowledge of Workday Student.
• In-depth knowledge of relational databases and an ability to develop data visualizations for stakeholder consumption.
• Demonstrated effective communication skills. 
• Demonstrated organizational skills and attention to detail. 
• Demonstrated experience investigating, interpreting and communicating guidelines, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Demonstrated supervisory experience, providing direction, support, and mentorship to team members, as a direct line of authority.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently to organize and track tasks/projects and to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating and communicating with individuals from varying cultures, backgrounds, or levels of authority.
• Demonstrated experience using databases or other electronic systems for tracking, managing, and analyzing information (e.g., accounts, data, forms). Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access)
• Demonstrated conflict resolution skills. (Communicating clearly, empathetically, and patiently to lead to favorable outcomes and keeping relationships professional).

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

No additional education unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Certifications/Professional Licenses:

No additional certification/professional licenses unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Work Experience:

No additional work experience unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Skills:

Not Applicable

Grade

G14

Salary Range

$75,200.00 - $128,800.00 / Annually

The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

Questions

For frequently asked questions about the application process, please refer to our External Applicant FAQ.

Accommodation

If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email [email protected] or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.

All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Pre-Employment Screening

All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement

Personal

• Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.

• Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.

• Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.

• WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.

Wellness

• Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!

Family

• We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child. Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. Need adult care? We’ve got you covered.

• WashU covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years with us.

For policies, detailed benefits, and eligibility, please visit: https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/

EEO Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.