Academic Advisor - A&H

Position Purpose

The Department of Undergraduate Advising supports students throughout their academic journey by providing guidance and resources to ensure their success. Advisors offer personalized support tailored to the unique needs of each student, assist with class registration, academic planning, and help students navigate their degree requirements. They also connect students to essential campus resources and foster student development.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Learns and stays current with the curriculum and program requirements for all majors within the assigned college.
• Develops an individualized academic plan for each student based on the unique needs of each student.
• Meets with students on a regular basis to track their academic success.
• Sets goals for academic progress to ensure completion of their academic programs.
• Evaluates and makes recommendations on petitions and amendments to student's program of study to assist their completion.
• Identifies academic options for students such as degrees, minors, graduation requirements, curriculum, course selection and registration, career options and extracurricular activities.
• Affords personalized guidance and support to students navigating academic challenges or obstacles, fostering persistence and success.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of university policies, resources, and academic programs to effectively advise and guide students.

Student Communication & Documentation

• Delivers clear and consistent communication through individual appointments, email correspondence, phone calls, and text messaging to support student needs.
• Effectively interprets and communicates university, college, and program-level academic policies and procedures to ensure student understanding.
• Maintains and updates students’ academic progress in electronic records, updating RunnerConnect and submitting changes to student profiles through ServiceNow and/or OnBase as needed.
• Communicates regularly with students to provide timely updates on academic progress, deadlines, and available resources to support their academic journey.
• Responds promptly to student inquiries through various channels, offering clear, accurate, and helpful information to guide their decision-making.
• Collaborates with university staff/faculty and external partners to relay important academic information and updates, ensuring all parties are informed and aligned on student needs and progress.

Program Support, Collaboration, & Professional Development

• Participates in advising-related initiatives that support student success, retention, and completion within the assigned College.
• Assists with orientations, workshops, outreach activities, and special events related to advising and student success.
• Engages in ongoing professional development related to advising best practices, case management models, student success strategies, and campus systems.
• Serves on committees or workgroups as assigned and collaborates with campus partners to improve advising processes.

Required Qualifications

• Equivalent to graduation from a four-year college or university in one of the behavioral sciences, public or business administration, or job-related field and equivalent to two (2) years of professional experience in one of the student services program areas or in a related field.
• A master’s degree in a job-related field may be substituted for one year of the professional experience.

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities (SKA’s)

• Regular and reliable attendance required.
• Excellent ability to exercise confidentiality, discretion, and independent judgment and to handle moderately sensitive interpersonal issues.
• Must plan and carry out day-to-day activities without immediate direction and work occasionally on Saturdays or evenings for special events.
• General knowledge of the methods and problems of organizational and program management.
• General knowledge of research and interview techniques and of the principles of individual and group behavior.
• Ability to interpret and apply program rules and regulations.
• Ability to use initiative and resourcefulness in planning work assignments and in implementing long-range program improvements.
• Ability to obtain factual and interpretative information through interviews; reason logically; collect, compile, analyze and evaluate data and make verbal or written presentations based on these data.
• Ability to advise students on routine matters where required.
• Ability to recognize multicultural, multisexed, and multi-aged value systems and work accordingly.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with faculty, CSU administrators, student organizations, private and public agencies and others in committee work, and student advising and community contacts.
• Demonstrated ability to make decisions and carry through actions having implications with regard to other program or service areas.
• Demonstrated customer service experience requiring a very high level of diplomacy and professionalism.
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy to effectively handle a broad range of high level and sensitive interpersonal situations with diverse personalities, and to respond appropriately to conflicts and problems.
• Ability to initiate, establish, and foster communication and teamwork by maintaining a positive, cooperative, productive work atmosphere in the University with the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships within a diverse population and with those from various cultural backgrounds.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to effectively communicate information in a clear and understandable manner.
• Thorough knowledge of English grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Ability to interpret, communicate and apply policies and procedures.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to set own priorities to coordinate multiple assignments with fluctuating and time-sensitive deadlines.
• Excellent computer skills and competence with a variety of computer applications including word-processing, spreadsheets, databases, on-line systems, Internet as well as online calendaring and email.
• Working knowledge of or ability to quickly learn University infrastructure.
• Willingness to travel and attend training programs off-site for occasional professional development.
• Ability to work occasional holidays and adjust working hours to meet special jobs.

Preferred Qualifications

• A master’s degree in a job-related field.
• Experience within a higher education setting.
• Prior knowledge and use of PeopleSoft or other student records database systems.
• Demonstrated skills in an institutional/educational environment possessing a customer-oriented and service-centered attitude.