Graduate Programs Manager

Graduate Programs Manager

Executive Area:
Academic Affairs
College/School/MBU:
College of Education
Department:
Dean - College of Education

Work Location:

Amherst

Schedule:

Full time
Work Arrangement:
Hybrid

The Graduate Programs Manager supports the social justice mission of the College and reports to the College Graduate Program Director. The position provides leadership and manages the College-level administration of graduate programs in support of student success. Duties involve advanced problem solving and increasing levels of independent decision-making in the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the College’s graduate programs, including doctoral, master’s specialist degrees, and graduate certificate programs, which currently serve 500+ enrolled graduate students in Education.

The position collaborates with the Graduate School, various University offices, and faculty and staff in the College to facilitate effective and equitable admissions processes, advising, dissertation defenses, and other areas related to graduate student success. In addition, the role has expanded to include direct responsibility for graduate degree eligibility review and approval, doctoral milestone administration and data entry, and comprehensive verification of student degree completion processes across multiple systems, including Kuali and Spire.

The Graduate Programs Manager serves as a key subject matter expert on evolving Graduate School and Registrar policies, independently interpreting procedural changes and implementing new workflows at the College level. The role also includes managing system-driven degree processing workflows, identifying and resolving discrepancies in student records, and performing manual audits where centralized reporting is not available, particularly for graduate certificate completion and degree conferral.

This position supports a high volume and complexity of student progress tracking across multiple degree types and overlapping graduation cycles, while also triaging and redirecting inquiries from faculty, staff, and students across departments to ensure accurate and timely resolution of graduate program-related issues. These expanded responsibilities reflect a significant increase in operational scope, systems accountability, and independent authority in support of graduate student success.

• Provides diplomatic problem solving and leadership in the day-to-day administrative and operational responsibilities for the graduate programs for the College of Education.
• Collaborates with the Graduate School, university offices and staff for admissions, milestones, adviser and committee memberships, student defenses and other activities related to graduate student progress.
• Attends Graduate School related meetings as needed.
• Serves as a subject matter expert on Graduate School systems, policies, and procedures, interpreting changes and implementing new processes at the College level.
• Advises students on academic requirements and satisfactory progress towards degree, with special attention to program requirements and rules; proactively advises students who have not completed their requirements or are not in satisfactory progress. Updates student files with advising notes and progress documentation as appropriate. Alerts Graduate Program Director with student concerns. Creates and maintains comprehensive, accurate and organized student files, including online files.
• Provides advanced troubleshooting and case management for complex student scenarios, including degree eligibility issues, milestone discrepancies, and graduation delays.
• Participates in College of Education events, workshops or programs that support recruitment, retention, academic progress and career success for graduate students.
• Conducts research, collects data and creates databases to provide the Graduate Program Director with a variety of reports that support requests from University offices or other organizations.
• Creates surveys, analyzes data and develops reports that help support graduate program planning and programmatic excellence.
• Develops and maintains independent tracking systems…