Description

The College of Creative Arts and Media at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for an (Hybrid) Undergraduate Academic Advisor.

About the Opportunity

As an (Hybrid) Undergraduate Academic Advisor, you will serve as a primary point of contact for the School of Media & Communications majors and prospective majors and their parents, reporting to the Associate Dean of Student Success and Enrollment regarding their academic curricula and assisting with recruiting activities when necessary. This position advises approximately 300 to 325 undergraduate students in the School of Media & Communications and shared majors.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits (this position is a benefits-eligible, non-classified staff position)
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What you'll do:

• Conduct one-on-one advising sessions with students to explore career goals, explain program requirements, and provide a detailed course plan based on the student's strengths and career aspirations.
• Employs a combination of appreciative, developmental, intrusive, and prescriptive academic advising to assist students in persistence and completion of a degree.
• Explain to students which courses to select based on their financial aid package and build schedules with the necessary degree-pursuant courses.
• Analyze students' schedules to ensure they will pass a Veteran or a Financial aid audit; make recommendations on alternate coursework that will allow students to maintain their aid and progress toward graduation.
• Provides advising and counseling to students who are in mid-year academy, on probation, on deferred suspension or who have been reinstated after suspension.
• Monitor students' progress in the major (90-credit checks, benchmark reports), early alert, and mid-semester grades. Based on the data collected, contact students and make recommendations for graduation.
• Identify and provide timely outreach for at-risk students to assist in college/university/school retention initiatives. Provide follow-up advising for those students.
• Assists students in analyzing and identifying solutions to academic problems; identifies personal issues and reports issues to the Associate Dean of Student Success, School Directors, Office of Student Life, etc.
• Researches and interprets the WVU Undergraduate Catalog and CCAM policies and procedures for the purpose of assisting students matriculating to degree programs, academic majors and academic minors.
• Utilizes student information systems (i.e. Banner and Navigate) to track and monitor academic history and in-progress work.
• Assists students with the transition from high school to college through formal convocation and orientation programs.
• Serves on college/school and/or university-wide task forces/committees that impact student success at WVU.
• Actively participates in college/school/university workshops on advising and undergraduate performance.
• Assist students with transfer/transient credits, conduct a preliminary evaluation of transfer credits, and identify how work completed applies to WVU/CCAM programs of study.
• Conducts outreach to students who are identified as at risk during early alert and midterm grade reporting processes and makes referrals to academic, career, and other support services.
• Assist the student services team in Open Houses, New Student Orientation, Admitted Student Days, building tours and other recruitment events.
• Serves as the School of Media & Communications lead in assisting students with the transient/transfer approval process.
• Teach MDIA 191 to First-Time Freshmen as necessary.
• Serves as the School of Media & Communications MDIA 191 organizer/lead. Updates course materials as needed and schedules guest speakers for all MDIA 191 sections as needed.
• Monitors the College's Vanity email account and responds in a timely fashion.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in relevant field OR equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of One (1) year of experience involving:
  • Advising or counseling students
  • Academic or student support services
  • Student information systems
• Organizational skills needed to coordinate and monitor undergraduate advising.
• Critical thinking skills and ability to think strategically.
• Demonstrated understanding of professional conduct and business practices and the ability to exhibit discretion and sound professional judgment.
• Demonstrated excellence in written and oral communication.
• Demonstrated ability to act independently to accomplish tasks and implement solutions to problems without supervision.
• Knowledge or ability to learn to work with Banner, Degree Works, and Navigate
• Ability to work with an academically and culturally diverse group of students.
• Ability to synthesize data trends (enrollment, grades, advising) to identify patterns and propose action based on those findings.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
• Experience with different forms of academic advising (appreciative, developmental, intrusive, etc.)