The Director of the Office of Academic Services serves as an integral part of the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University. This position will work with the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education to provide high-level administrative, advisory, and programmatic support as a dynamic and highly contributing member of the Office of Academic Services. This position is responsible for leading student success and retention efforts through the development and implementation of a holistic program of academic advising, academic mentoring, and student support. In addition, the Director of the Office of Academic Services will supervise Academic Counselors and will coordinate and manage the day-to-day operations of the Office of Academic Services.
The School of Engineering is internationally recognized for the superior quality of its research and education programs in select fields of engineering. The school includes six major departments, two Institutes and the Division of Engineering Science and Management. Esteemed biomedical engineer Krishnendu "Krish" Roy joined Vanderbilt in the fall of 2023 as the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Dean of Engineering and University Distinguished Professor. "My goal is to ensure that the Vanderbilt School of Engineering is a diverse, inclusive and equitable place that has a profound impact on the advancement of society and the human condition, locally and globally, and that it trains the most impactful engineering leaders of the future." Dean Roy is leading VUSE into the future focused around a growing research portfolio and expanded educational programs.
Duties and Responsibilities
Lead the Office of Academic Services (25%)
• Offer strategic vision and direction to the Office of Academic Services (OAS), ensuring quality of service for all student success, advising, academic operations, and onboarding activities
• Supervise Office of Academic Services staff
o Train, oversee, and evaluate Assistant/Associate Director for Data and Operations, Academic Counselor, Academic and Educational Support Program Coordinator, and student workers
o Employ staff retention and engagement efforts for OAS, including team-building and professional development activities
Job responsibilities listed herein are intended to be a thorough representation of the duties, responsibilities, expectations, and qualifications for this specific
role at the time of hire but should not be considered all-encompassing as actual responsibilities may evolve to include additional duties as assigned based on
organizational and operational needs.
• Manage the OAS budget and forecast future budget needs that reflect the office’s and School of Engineering’s goals
• Serve as primary contact between School of Engineering and campus partners in undergraduate education including the Office of the University Registrar, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, and Office of Student Accounts; represent OAS team in meetings with campus partners and on university committees and taskforces
• Define and create assessment of OAS programs and processes; use assessment results to plan and implement improvements
• Research, develop, and refine academic and student support programs that align with School of Engineering priorities
• Contribute to visioning and direction of large-scale hallmark events, including Convocation, Graduates Week Activities, and Commencement
• Align School of Engineering initiatives with the University academic calendar
• Work with Senior Associate Dean to coordinate compliance with the expectations of regional accreditor SACSCOC and disciplinary accreditor ABET and assist with periodic reporting to accrediting agencies
• Expand and complement OAS capacity by coordinating School of Engineering Community of Practice centered on student-facing staff
o Identify staff engaged in direct work with undergraduate, graduate, or professional students
o Initiate regular meetings of this population with goal of providing community of support to staff and ongoing learning of skills and competencies
o Coordinate guest speakers, professional development workshops, and other opportunities for learning together
• Oversee reporting and visualization of OAS assessment outcomes
• Oversee OAS’s contributions to social media content and marketing for OAS services
Direct Program of Undergraduate Student Advising (15%)
• Collaborate with VUSE faculty and staff in advising of over 1400 undergraduate students with varying needs and interests
• Organize, publicize and preside over three annual advising workshops/webinars and related communications to train faculty and professional advisers and to share advising policies, strategies, curriculum changes, and advising programs/platforms
• Remain current on emerging and efficacious advising trends, practices, programs
• Serve as resource for all faculty advisers and OAS staff during student meetings and on a walk-in/ advising hotline basis
• Serve as secondary adviser for all Engineering students, being readily available to meet with students and parents to provide advice supplementary to faculty advising;
• Develop and maintain a system to assign advisers to first year students and change advisers – coordinated with each department
• Serve on University committees related to academic advising at the undergraduate level
Lead Robust Programs of Support for VUSE Students (40%)
• Coordinate with appropriate deans, OAS staff, and VU partners to develop proactive programs to meet student academic needs
• Oversee an Academic Mentoring Program for academically at-risk students
o Create and lead a high-touch program for students in need of academic mentoring and accountability
o Communicate with faculty about student involvement
• Oversee a Retention Program for students with multiple risk factors
o Serve as representative to the University’s Behavior Intervention Team (CARE Team)
o Oversee VUSE internal CARE team to monitor school of engineering students who are at risk of dropping out, dismissal, or worse
o Develop research and best-practice informed programs of support
o Collaborate with VUSE personnel for student retention support
o Collaborate with Office of Housing and Residential Education, Student Care Coordination, and Student Affairs to ensure holistic wellbeing of students
• Oversee a Recovery and Return program for students on Required Leave of Absence
o Regularly review programming in support of student reflection, recovery from academic failures, skill-building for academic success, and planning for return to studies
• Assess support programs each semester for quality assurance and program effectiveness
• Oversee support for students who have applied for reinstatement, returned from a required leave of absence, or who have been put on final probation, or who have been referred to OAS by faculty or campus partners
• Meet with and counsel students who have grade deficiencies at midterm
• Collaborate with VU partners to enrich student programming in VUSE and serve as a liaison with relevant campus offices for student support
• Coordinate External University Transfer (EUT) Program for students entering the School of Engineering (VUSE)
o Send all admitted external undergraduate students a welcome letter from VUSE with a check list explaining the process and documents needed to have their previous academic work transferred to Vanderbilt
o Host EUT meetings, webinars, and advising sessions
o Assist students with their credit transfer process and with course registration
o Maintain phone and email communication with these students from May – August
o Set up the VUSE Transfer Orientation and coordinate the University EUT orientation events
• Oversee the VUSE Internal University Transfer (IUT) Program
o Review internal work records for all IUT’s to determine their eligibility to transfer. Consult with Senior Associate Dean on transfer decisions
o Meet with students throughout the semester to answer questions about the Engineering programs that they wish to transfer to and prepare work sheets for them and advise them on the best courses to register for while their transfer is in process
o Organize, publicize, and host information sessions each term for students considering IUT
o Coordinate adviser assignments with the students’ new departments
o Notify students of their admission and new adviser at VUSE
Oversee Academic Services (20%)
• Exhibit functional mastery of all programs and data reporting tools that support OAS’ academic operations including YES, PeopleSoft, and Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC)
• Oversee student academic registration process by providing leadership to OAS team, academic departments, advisers, program coordinator, and students throughout the registration process
o Coordinate undergraduate student onboarding processes
o Create academic support materials
Job responsibilities listed herein are intended to be a thorough representation of the duties, responsibilities, expectations, and qualifications for this specific
role at the time of hire but should not be considered all-encompassing as actual responsibilities may evolve to include additional duties as assigned based on
organizational and operational needs.
• Direct review and processing of class enrollments or withdrawals, requisite overrides, grading basis changes, transfer credit, and other registration event-related matters such as repeat credit check, B- rule check, pre-calculus and pre-calculus physics check
o Identify situations needing Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education’s review and consult with this dean for final decisions
o Run relevant reports for faculty, as needed
o Review and process forms
• Oversee OAS office’s evaluation of student credentials, academic progress, graduation eligibility as well as processes to assign end-of-semester academic actions and related correspondence.
o Oversee running of degree audit completion reports on all junior and senior students fall, summer and spring before each term, after drop ends, and after grades are submitted and subsequent communications with students missing requirements/hours to graduate
o Oversee assignment of end-of-semester academic actions (probation, good standing) and correspondence to action recipients
• Participate in review of candidates for dismissal and required leave of absence
• Serve as liaison with Signature Events for Commencement-related activities (e.g. report Founder’s Medalist and Banner Bearer)
• Contribute to visioning of large-scale academic events including Convocation and Commencement
• Oversee Summer Elsewhere and Transfer of Credit Review and Processing (5% 7 years)
o Counsel students with questions about transfer credit process
o Work with University Registrar’s Office to approve and post transfer credit when completed
o Follow-up with students who submitted requests to study elsewhere who have not submitted official transcripts
• Review all submission of track changes, major/minor changes, adviser changes, degree audit substitutions
Other duties as assigned
Supervisory Relationships: This position has supervisory responsibility; this position reports administratively and functionally to the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education.
Qualifications
• Master’s Degree is required
• Minimum of seven years’ experience in a Higher Education student support role
• Three years’ experience in a supervisory role within Higher Education
• Understanding of Academic Advising models and practices
• Ability to listen and work with upset constituents including students and parents
• Strong administrative support skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills
• Ability to work independently while functioning as part of the team
• Good work ethic
• Good problem-solving skills, showing initiative and diplomacy
• Ability to accept instruction
• Ability to adapt to changes
• Exemplary organizational skills
• Ability to multi-task, work under pressure, and respond to deadlines without sacrificing quality