STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER - Director of Student Success Center

Job Classification

  Salaried Administrative

Position summary

The Director provides strategic leadership and oversight to promote the holistic development, success, retention, persistence, and timely graduation of students within a Christ-centered, Seventh-day Adventist learning community.

This mission-critical role leads a Student Success team committed to building transformative relationships in the provision of a comprehensive Student Success program including early-alert, assessment, and academic intervention efforts within proactive learning-orientated structures that encourage students’ successful academic and personal development. The Director reports to the Vice President for Campus and Student Life and is also guided by Academic Administration as needed for alignment with University policy and processes.

Qualifications summary

Minimum

• Masters Degree, preferably in Higher Education Administration, Educational Leadership, Special Education, Social Work, Counseling, or closely related field.


• Minimum of 5 years of experience in higher education.

Preferred 

• Doctorate (Ed.D., Ph.D.) in Higher Education, Educational Leadership, School Psychology, or related field, with research focus on retention, persistence, or outcomes.


• 3–5 years of progressively responsible experience leading teams that support student success, academic support services, retention, mentoring, and/or early-alert and case-management systems.

Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Duties and responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Develops and implements a comprehensive, data-informed Student Success vision and plan, including the development of KPIs, in alignment with the University’s strategic plan and institutional mission.


• Leads campus efforts to assess and recognize students levels of preparedness for college, the barriers affecting student success and proposes actionable programs, solutions and supports that are responsive, non-stigmatizing, scalable, and integrated into the academic experience.

Administration and Budget Management

• Develops and manages relevant budgets, resources, and operational processes.


• Prepares regular reports and relevant data on all Student Success programs and initiatives, including student success outcomes, for institutional planning.

Program Development and Assessment

• Develops, implements, and assesses all programs and services focused on undergraduate students, including Early Alert and assessment processes, Tutoring Services, Disability Accommodation Services, Academic Probation, and Academic Intervention services.


• Identifies, in consultation with Academic Administration, selected academic support initiatives for graduate students.


• Stays abreast of issues faced by students who are underprepared for college and of best practices to facilitate student success and persistence.


• Collaborates with faculty and staff to develop and implement student success strategies and provides additional support (e.g., tutoring, time management, study skills).


• Presents educational/training modules on various student success topics such as study skills, time management, resilience, and related areas.


• Gathers and uses data and assessment results to make decisions, continuously improve student success initiatives, and recommend resource allocation.

Prevention, Undergraduate Early Alert, and Academic Intervention

• Oversees campus-wide early-alert and case-management processes to identify, assess, and support at-risk students.


• Reviews regular reports of at-risk students and the nature of alerts, including absences from class.


• Oversees processes to provide individualized assessments to determine the appropriate type of intervention support related to each student’s specific needs.


• Oversees communication efforts that connect at-risk students with the assigned intervention professional.


• Facilitates processes to monitor students’ progress through iVue alerts and mid-term grades.


• Oversees proactive processes and consistent outreach, follow-up, and referrals to campus resources (e.g., educational assessment, academic coaches or advisors, tutoring, career and personal counseling, financial aid).


• Manages a caseload of students needing academic intervention, establishes short-term goals to address student needs, and facilitates appreciative and intrusive advisement practices.

Campus Collaboration and Partnerships

• Works closely with:
  
  
  
  • Academic deans, department chairs, and academic advisors
  
  
  • Student Life, Residence Life, Campus Ministries, and Counseling Services
  
  
  • Admissions, Enrollment Management, and Student Financial Services
  
  
  
  


• Provides training and resources to faculty and staff on supporting student success and referring students to appropriate services.


• Consults as needed with the Chair of the Academic Resource and Support Committee, as well as leadership of the Math and Writing Center, to design and improve services toward the best outcomes for individual students and student cohorts.


• Embraces systems thinking to facilitate understanding and integration of academic and student life services and supports, and to foster collaboration between various campus-wide departments.


• Serves as a resource person for faculty, staff, and administration as requested or needed.

Committee Memberships

• Serves as a member of the Academic Operations Council.


• Serves as a member of the Academic Probation Council.


• Serves as a member of the Academic Resource and Support Committee.


• Serves as a non-voting member of the Undergraduate Council.


• Serves as a member of the Undergraduate Admissions Committee.


• Serves as a member of the Student Life Leadership Team and attends divisional meetings.


• Serves as a member of the University Student Intervention Team.

Supervisory responsibilities

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Provides oversight and support for Student Success Center staff, including position postings, hiring, leave approval, evaluations, and Human Resources–related processes for all full-time staff, student employees, and Graduate Assistants.


• Organizes in-service and professional development opportunities for Student Success Center staff.


• Facilitates the onboarding and training of all staff and student employees.


• Conducts departmental staff meetings.


• Promotes and approves conferences and trainings for departmental staff.


• Researches and identifies best practices to implement in consultation with departmental staff.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree, preferably in Higher Education Administration, Educational Leadership, Special Education, Social Work, Counseling, or a closely related field.


• Minimum of 5 years of experience in higher education.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate (Ed.D., Ph.D.) in Higher Education, Educational Leadership, School Psychology, or related field, with dissertation or research focus on retention, persistence, equity, or student outcomes.


• 3–5 years of progressively responsible experience leading teams that support student success and academic support services, retention initiatives, student support or mentoring roles, and/or early-alert and case-management systems.

Minimum Required Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes

• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of student success strategies, student retention, data analysis, and best practices.


• Proven ability to work effectively to foster an inclusive environment for diverse student populations.


• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.


• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with faculty, staff, and administrators across academic and student life areas.


• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple and sometimes competing priorities and projects.


• Ability to use data and assessment tools (e.g., early-alert systems, student information systems, dashboards) to guide decision-making, identify needs, and improve outcomes.


• Strong commitment to holistic student development (intellectual, spiritual, social, and emotional).


• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality work independently and with limited supervision.


• Demonstrated ability to maintain a high degree of confidentiality.

Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Technical competencies

Demonstrated high level effectiveness in using Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook and awareness of a wide range of assessment and learning aids supporting student success. 

Interpersonal interactions

Demonstrated excellence in interpersonal, student centered, rapport building skills, especially in the context of working with vulnerable or at-risk students in consultation with professors, parents, and other campus colleagues.

Physical demands

The role requires sitting, standing, walking, operating computer technology, and the ability to lift 30 pounds.

 

Work environment

The Student Success Center is a very busy office with students and other members of the university community making frequent connections with the center's staff either physically or electronically. The majority of the 40–45-hour work week is spent in a temperature-controlled on campus office environment. The rest of the time involves navigating the external environment to other office settings and occasional evening or weekend hours to accommodate an urgent student or staff need.