Academic Advisor

About the Role

The Academic Advisor sustains an environment of academic and professional excellence for students and educational team members. They support students and learning through student advocacy, academic coaching, customer service, and campus and community referrals. The role involves working closely with all campus departments using BSC’s personalized education approach to support student success and retention endeavors.

Responsibilities

• Maintain direct and proactive contact with student advisees, including meeting with individuals and small groups to build rapport, identify barriers to success, set and review academic and career goals, and develop action plans.
• Convey and discuss curriculum aspects, course sequencing, academic status, registration, financial responsibility related to educational loans, and the importance of long-term career and academic planning.
• Monitor program outcomes and requirements to ensure compliance with the Official College Catalog and maintain current knowledge of program offerings from a career and employment perspective.
• Teach and model decision-making and problem-solving skills to help students become self-advocates and make independent, informed decisions about their academic and career future.
• Schedule regular campus presence visits to hallways, student lounges, and classrooms to proactively engage with students, build relationships, and address emerging concerns.
• Utilize and apply appropriate academic advisement theories to strengthen students' academic and career readiness skills.
• Maintain professional relationships with admissions representatives, financial aid representatives, and faculty to address student-related concerns.
• Uphold processes, programs, activities, or workshops supporting student cohorts such as new students, former students returning, at-risk students, transfer students, military students, and other special populations.
• Support curricular and co-curricular involvement through referrals, participation, and advertisement of available opportunities.
• Participate in the coordination of new student orientation, new student reception, transition teams, First Year Experience, Portfolio Development Days, graduation, and other campus or department activities.
• Maintain knowledge of current advisement practices through professional associations and scholarly academic reading within the advisement discipline.
• Maintain an active professional (electronic) advisement portfolio.

Skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with faculty, staff, and student populations.
• Understanding of open-ended questioning, non-verbal communication, and active listening.
• Presentation and public speaking skills.
• Strong computer and analytical skills.

Abilities

• Ability to work independently or in a team.
• Ability to interact effectively and collaborate with other departments.
• Ability to listen and positively respond to student and co-worker requests.
• Ability to exercise judgment in the application of college policies and procedures.
• Ability to interpret instructions furnished in written, oral, or schedule form.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, adapt to changing assignments, and successfully meet deadlines.