Assistant Director for Academic Programs, Department of Chemistry

Assistant Director For Academic Programs

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia seeks an Assistant Director for Academic Programs. This Student Programs Administrator will partner with faculty leadership across the department's undergraduate and graduate programs to ensure that both populations experience consistent, well-run administration and an exceptional student experience. The Assistant Director for Academic Programs serves as the primary support and strategic partner to the Director of Undergraduate Programs (DUP) and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), balancing strategic program ownership with hands-on execution and functioning as the department's key point of accountability for how both programs operate.

Candidate Profile:
You are seeking an academic programs role because you believe in the value of a rigorous, well-supported education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. You bring experience in higher education administration and understand how the undergraduate and graduate student experience differs and that they both need guidance, structure, and timely support. You hold the full arc of the student experience in mind, from the incoming chemistry major choosing a course sequence to the doctoral candidate preparing for a defense.

You balance consistency with judgment, applying policy fairly while recognizing when a student's circumstances call for flexibility or escalation. You build systems rather than simply process paperwork. You convert data on enrollment, time to degree, and milestone completion into actionable information for leadership, identifying trends and risks before they surface elsewhere. You move fluidly between programs with different calendars, stakeholders, and seasonal rhythms, and you know how to prioritize when they compete for your attention.

You represent the department capably to central offices - including the Registrar, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Admissions, and the International Studies Office - and you know when a matter can be resolved directly and when it requires faculty involvement.

What You Bring:

• Exceptional written and verbal communication, and the professional presence to represent both programs credibly to students, faculty, and central university offices
• Experience in higher education administration, with demonstrated ownership of academic programs at the undergraduate and/or graduate level
• The ability to interpret and apply university, school, and departmental policy with sound, independent judgment
• Direct experience supporting students through advising coordination, admissions, onboarding, and milestone progression
• A student-centered orientation that extends across program types and levels
• Comfort working across institutional partners and building relationships with central offices
• Strong data literacy, including the ability to monitor program health, interpret trends, and use evidence to drive continuous improvement
• Experience designing or improving administrative processes and systems, rather than only executing those that are handed down

Key Areas of Responsibility:

• Program Management and Student Success
• Serve as the primary support and strategic partner to the Director of Undergraduate Programs and the Director of Graduate Studies.
• Oversee admissions cycle operations for graduate applicants and support the declaration process for undergraduate majors and minors, from first contact through enrollment. This role coordinates and supports declaration logistics; it does not replace faculty advisors for individual major/minor advising.
• Maintain the authoritative record of student progress for undergraduate majors and minors and for PhD and MS students, flagging students at risk of falling behind in either population.
• Track and support degree-completion requirements and processes for graduate students - including graduation applications, required forms, and associated approvals - and support planning for a joint graduation/commencement recognition for both programs.
• Serve as the department's point of coordination with the International Studies Office on visa and compliance matters for international graduate students.
• Own new student orientation and onboarding for the graduate program and coordinate onboarding touchpoints for undergraduate majors where departmental programming exists.
• Serve as the first point of contact for prospective and current students at both levels, resolving routine matters directly and escalating genuinely ambiguous or high-stakes cases to the appropriate director
• Coordinate graduate recruitment events, including recruitment weekend and individual visits.
• Assessment, Data, and Continuous Improvement
• Monitor program metrics - including graduate and undergraduate enrollment trends, year-over-year trends in declared majors and minors, time to degree, and milestone completion - across both programs.
• Identify problems, trends, or risks before they are flagged by others, and bring recommendations, not just reports,…