The Director of the Academic Success Center at Lipscomb University has both management and academic coaching responsibilities. This role provides vision and leadership to the university, including all aspects of student-centered undergraduate advising from first-time enrollment to degree attainment. The Director is responsible for the integration, facilitation, coordination, synthesizing, enabling, and fostering of outcomes driven efforts in academic support and advising that support student success (e.g., retention, persistence and graduation). As a manager, they oversee the Academic Success Center, provide strategic guidance for the Center, consult regularly with the Registrar’s Office and academic programs, and collaborate in student academic success programming and initiatives across the university. As an academic coach, they provide guidance, advice, and direction to assigned cohorts of students, serve as an academic advisor to first-time-freshmen, mentor students as they navigate college life, consult with faculty colleagues to stay up-to-date on curriculum and degree plans, utilize predictive analytics technology to support students, and initiate educational transactions. They also maintain advising portfolios, connect students with other institutional resources, and collaborate with the Director of Academic Advising Support in the Registrar’s Office.

Responsibilities

The role of the Director of Academic Success is proactive and focuses on providing academic support and guidance in the academic processes and policies of the university. This role will entail both management and academic coaching.

Management:

Leads all operational aspects of the Academic Success Center, including supervision of academic success coaches, support staff and budget. Collaborates with the deans and departments, faculty, the Registrar’s Office, the Director of Career Development and offices within the Student Life area.

Consults regularly with faculty colleagues and the Registrar’s Office in order to have up-to-date information on curriculum and degree plans and disseminates this information to the academic success coaches.

Provides leadership, strategic guidance and vision for the Academic Success Center.

Supervises academic support/guidance to suspended students returning to campus.

Collaborates with the office coordinator regarding the academic standing process decisions and the posting of academic standing in CNS.

Supports the suspension appeal decision process.

Supports and collaborates in student academic success programming and initiatives across the university.

Supervises support of the Empower program/students (conditionally admitted students).

Supervises the identification of teachers for Lipscomb Experience courses for Empower students (2 fall course sections).

Supervises and identifies the academic advisor for students majoring in University Studies.

Supervises the management of the grade appeal process.

Develop and implement strategic enrollment outreach campaigns to ensure that Lipscomb University meets or exceeds student retention goals, while analyzing and utilizing data to strategically plan for desired outcomes.

Advise students who are referred with academic probation and suspension concerns and reviews degree plan progress.

Assesses students requests for drops and withdrawals and conducts exit interviews for university withdrawals.

Assists newly admitted transfer students in transitioning into the University including basic transfer and articulation information by supporting the Transfer Academic Success Coach.

Ensures students are provided consistent, accurate and prompt advising services, coordinating with academic departments.

Serves as an Academic Success Coach for assigned students.

Academic Success Coach duties:

Provides guidance, advice, and direction to support and retain specifically assigned cohorts of students (i.e. FTF, Sophomores, Transfers) as they navigate the higher education landscape at Lipscomb University.

Serves as the academic advisor to assigned first-time-freshmen advisees supporting them as they define and develop realistic educational and degree plans through course schedule planning for each semester and summer school, if appropriate, until a major has been formally declared. Each student should have an up-to-date academic schedule plan that transitions to their major professor in their field of study when they declare a major.

Mentors students academically as they consider possible majors, manage academic expectations, and deal with challenges as they orient to and manage college life.

Proactively contact and be available for students on a regular basis.

Connect with assigned cohorts during the summer and with assigned advisees during new student orientation to begin building relationships as student orient to college.

Consult regularly with faculty colleagues in order to have up-to-date information on curriculum and degree plans. The information provided to students during advising interactions is expected to be accurate and follow the academic policies set by faculty. The Academic Success Coach should understand and provide rationale for institutional policies, procedures, and requirements.

Utilize dashboard metrics produced by predictive analytics technology in order to support students in an informed way regarding their needs to be academically successful.

Meet at least once each semester with students to:

• Plan for the upcoming semester.

• Review and revise long-range academic program schedules. Academic Success Coaches should assist students in planning a program that is consistent with their abilities and interests.

• Review the progress towards completing the proposed academic program. d. Discuss grades, milestones, and success markers.

• Discuss student wellbeing and satisfaction.

Initiate the process for all designated educational transactions (e.g., pre-registration/registration schedule, drops/adds, withdrawals, change of major, graduation requirements, etc.).

Follow-up with students on any report of potential barriers to student success. Examples could be, holds placed on student accounts, notice of poor midterm grades, notice of poor class attendance, incomplete grades from previous semester(s), etc. Special attention should be paid to students who are most at risk of not succeeding.

Maintain an up-to-date advising portfolio with a summary record of performance to date (grade reports, transcripts, requirements completed, advising agreements, etc.)

Connect students to other institutional resources in the Academic Success Center and elsewhere when necessary. (e.g. faculty, tutoring, the Career Development Office, the Counseling Center, Financial Aid, Bison One Stop, etc.)

Collaborates with the Director of Academic Advising Support by participating in implementing the vision for academic advising and in assigning fall semester schedules for incoming first-time-freshmen (FTF) and helping to manage schedule changes during the summer.

Experience

• 3 - 5 years: 3-5 years of education or higher education preferred
• 5 - 10 years: 5 - 10 years of progressive leadership experience

Education

• Masters or better

Behaviors

• Team Player: Works well as a member of a group
• Enthusiastic: Shows intense and eager enjoyment and interest
• Leader: Inspires teammates to follow them

Motivations

• Growth Opportunities: Inspired to perform well by the chance to take on more responsibility
• Self-Starter: Inspired to perform without outside help
• Ability to Make an Impact: Inspired to perform well by the ability to contribute to the success of a project or the organization