Academic Advisor

Academic Advisor

Department: College of Engineering and Computing

Classification: Education Support Spec 3

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: On Site Required

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Pay Band: 04

Salary: Salary range starting upper $50k, commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About The Department: The Mission of the George Mason University Department of Statistics is to pursue sound and reproducible research in statistics and data science; train and educate the next generation of statisticians and data scientists in the changing landscape of computing and AI; promote the practice of statistical principles, evidence-based research, and sound data collection and usage; and impact society through statistical innovations and interdisciplinary collaborations.

About The Position: The Academic Advisor provides academic advising for all current and prospective students and supports the student's recruitment and retention efforts. The Advisor responds to general inquiries about the department's educational programs, helps current undergraduate students with education planning and decision-making, and provides transition support for the bachelor's to accelerated master's (BAM) programs. Responsibilities also include helping current students understand academic policies and procedures, tracking current and prospective undergraduate, graduate, and BAM students, responding to prospective students’ questions about application procedures, and coordinating departmental recruitment efforts.

Representing the department professionally, the Advisor is a resource for university and department procedures, rules, and regulations, as a troubleshooter and problem solver for all students. The Advisor contributes to Mason's goals of preparing career-ready graduates and improving graduation and retention rates.

Responsibilities:

• Advises current undergraduate students in decision-making and developing a plan of study consistent with students' interests, desires and abilities.
• Assists students regarding course selection, prerequisites, transfer courses, registration and overrides, career and/or educational goal and general university rules and regulations.
• Coordinates processing of graduation applications.
• Ensures that students meet departmental requirements of degree progress.
• Acts and assists in troubleshooting and problem-solving (registration errors, late schedule adjustments, retroactive withdrawals, etc.).
• Communicates essential academic registration information.
• Provides information on academic policies, procedures and practices, including working through various academic requests, forms and appeals.
• Organizes and retains student records, including advising notes and email exchanges.
• Escalates complex issues or situations with students to supervisor for guidance (any requests for policy exceptions or interventions that need support).
• Participates in outreach initiatives organized by the college/university.
• Performs prerequisite checks for all STAT undergraduate courses at the beginning of each semester and verifies student eligibility for each class.
• Provides administrative support to students and faculty, and collaborates on students outreach activities.
• Distributes information and assists in implementing and performing student support services tasks.
• Assists in coordination of efforts to organize departmental functions for students, including events such as orientation or faculty-student advising meetings.
• Participates in university-wide programs and events related to undergraduate students such as admissions, orientation, outreach, advising, graduation and other social and networking events.
• Acts as a liaison between students, faculty, management, and administrative agents to explain programs and university rules and regulations.
• Assists and performs the oversight of operations related to student records, graduation and student recruitment functions.
• Communicates with students, faculty, and administrators via email and other means to address inquiries and foster student…