Undergraduate Student Academic Advisor

About the Position

The Undergraduate Academic Advisor leads and manages the undergraduate advising program for the Department of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS), supporting a dynamic and growing population of approximately 450 majors and minors. This full‑time, student‑centered classified position plays a pivotal role in fostering student success through personalized academic advising, strategic program development, and active student engagement.

• Guide CDS students on academic policies, procedures, and graduation requirements.
• Creates a welcoming advising experience that meets students where they are with patience, compassion, equity‑mindset, and respect that encourages student persistence and success.
• Conducts in‑depth, one‑on‑one advising appointments and provides detailed follow‑up communication to support student success while maintaining confidentiality according to all local, state, and federal laws and/or requirements.
• Monitors student progress, registration activity, and academic standing to proactively address academic challenges.
• Acts as a liaison for special populations, including student‑athletes, out‑of‑state students, and international cohorts (e.g., Mason Korea).
• Supports students on suspension, returning students, and students on probation and/or dismissal.
• Learns to and uses relevant university systems (e.g., Micro Strategy, Patriot Connect, and Stellic) to pull reports to maintain accurate counts of current students/alumni.
• Refers students to and works with campus resources (e.g., financial aid, counseling, disability services, career services, etc.).
• Maintains accurate, secure, digitized records of all student interactions, degree audits, and paperwork to ensure efficient access by relevant academic personnel.
• Attends MAAN trainings and keeps current with George Mason and the College of Science policies.
• Schedules and distributes necessary and important advising information via multiple department‑controlled channels, including email listservs, department website, etc.

• Oversees all aspects of the undergraduate advising program within CDS.
• Serves as a point‑of‑contact for inquiries regarding the CDS undergraduate program.
• Coordinates day‑to‑day advising activities with department staff and faculty.
• Develops, implements, and assesses undergraduate advising methods and best practices to ensure responsiveness to individual student needs and alignment with departmental, college, and university goals.
• Ensures consistent, streamlined undergraduate advising communication across the department.
• Collaborates closely with department staff, faculty, program coordinators, department chair, and relevant college offices to address student concerns and resolve complex academic matters.
• Attends monthly department faculty meetings and other faculty/staff meetings to ensure alignment advising, curriculum, and instructional planning.
• Attends both college level and university level advising meetings to stay informed on university‑wide policy and initiatives that impact the department and its students.
• Supports department collaborations with partnering undergraduate programs, at the local, national, and international levels.

• Develops, revises, and distributes student‑facing communication and marketing materials for brochures, newsletters, website updates, presentations, etc., to promote advising services and departmental programs.
• Prepares, organizes, and leads CDS‑specific new and transfer student orientation sessions, ensuring students receive accurate and complete information about departmental programs.
• Represents CDS at undergraduate admissions events, tours, and outreach activities supporting departmental growth and visibility.
• Participates occasionally in after‑hours or weekend events as needed with flexible scheduling.
• Serves as a proactive resource for academic and career‑making decisions.

• Leads or supports special projects related to undergraduate recruitment, retention, analytics, and advising innovation for the CDS department.