Dir. of Univ. Advising & the Explore Ctr.

Working Title Dir. of Univ. Advising & the Explore Ctr.

Department Exploratory & Pre-Prof Advising Ctr-0902

Description Of Work

Reporting to the Senior Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Undergraduate Education, the Director of University Advising and the Explore Center coordinates university advising policies, practices, tools, and systems in collaboration with advising leaders across UNL’s undergraduate academic colleges and provides leadership and oversight to the staff, programs, and services of the Explore Center, which serves UNL’s undeclared and pre-professional undergraduates. Coordination of university advising responsibilities include 1) collaborating with colleges and other university units on undergraduate advising and degree plan policies, processes, systems, and trainings; 2) representing university advising perspectives and recommendations on behalf of the Advising Coordinating Board and Advising Leaders Council to campus groups such as the Academic Solution Council; and 3) coordinating and elevating the requests and needs of the advising community regarding data integrations, vendor tools, and functionalities.

The Explore Center is a high-impact advising unit on the UNL campus. The Director’s leadership entails ensuring effective Explore Center programs and services, including individual and group advising, seminars, a professional visitors program, and events. The Director oversees seven professional staff and provides guidance for the Center’s two assistant directors on leadership and supervision for the broader Explore team which includes eight additional FTE and numerous student workers.

The Director manages all aspects of the Explore Center, including obtaining, maintaining, and managing physical and human resources (including budget oversight, strategic planning, and developing new programs and services), effective communications to students and campus stakeholders, and ensuring appropriate and up-to-date staff development and training. In particular, the Director is responsible for undecided/in-transition academic advising programs, career and pre-professional program advising, co-supervision of the Academic Navigator team located within the center, and coordination with Undergraduate Admissions for supporting recruitment efforts. The Director sets unit goals and priorities, especially focused on increasing undergraduates’ retention and credit hour completion rates from first to second year, the number of majors declared within the first year, and admission rates into professional health and law programs.

The Director of University Advising and the Explore Center represents the unit in campus wide advising and student success committees and initiatives, regularly interacting with faculty and administrators from across campus to actively contribute to a collaborative campus wide culture for academic advising. The Director also collaborates with Assistant Directors in the coordination and provision of training and professional development for all Explore Center staff, with attention to meeting the needs of a diverse student population and to apply inclusive advising strategies to ensure that all students succeed.

The Director supports the coordination of the academic dismissal appeal process, including the work of the Academic Standards Committee of the Faculty Senate. Manages all aspects of operations for the Explore Center and coordinates obtaining and analyzing unit data on student outcomes needed for regular campus reporting and decision making.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln seeks to attract and retain a high performing and diverse workforce in which employees’ differences are respected and valued to better meet the varying needs of the diverse populations we serve. The university fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential. As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination .

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in student affairs, educational administration, higher education, leadership or related field and five (5) years of increasingly progressive, relevant experience in a higher education academic unit.
• Experience in program management, strategic planning and implementation, and data driven decision making.
• Experience supervising staff and contributing to a positive, supportive, and collaborative staff team environment.
• Experience successfully collaborating with colleagues from other campus units.
• Demonstrated experience in meeting the needs of students from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrated evidence of establishing and accomplishing goals with minimal supervision.
• Must have evidence of successfully working in a fast-paced environment with multiple demands and changing needs.
• Demonstrated ability to process and communicate detailed academic information and policies and procedures to a wide array of audiences.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills with a wide-ranging administrative knowledge.
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Resource allocation experience preferred.
• Experience serving students in transition or undecided populations, or pre-professional students helpful.
  
  
  

Posted Salary $90,000/yr. minimum