Academic Advisor

Overview

The Utah State University Honors Program (UHP) requires a committed professional with skill in communication and collaboration and demonstrated potential to succeed as an academic advisor in a nationally recognized program critical to the mission of Utah State University. The Academic Advisor is responsible for advising students on how to integrate UHP requirements into their USU experience, representing the program publicly at on‑and off‑campus recruiting, advising, and training events, helping to coordinate messaging about the UHP across USU campuses, and collaborating with the Honors Academic Advisor Senior, Honors Academic Advisor Coordinator, and peer advisors to align UHP advising with the program’s mission and goals.

• Understand and refer students to a wide range of USU resources; help train and work with honors peer advisors and ambassadors; support the efforts of the Honors Academic Advisor Coordinator, USU Admissions, and college advisors to recruit new honors students; help implement strategies to increase UHP retention and graduation rates; and engage in proactive advising to ensure student success and remediate academic problems.

The position requires exceptional discretion and judgment; decision‑making and problem‑solving ability; strong interpersonal and communication skills; interest in student recruiting and retention; and capacity to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a productive team. The Academic Advisor reports to the Executive Director and may be responsible for training and supervising peer advisors and ambassadors.

• Advise potential, current, and former honors students via in‑person, virtual (Zoom), phone, and e‑mail communication with accurate information about curriculum, graduation requirements, university policies, and referrals to USU and other resources.
• Assist students in mapping honors requirements onto their academic plans, co‑advise with advisors in the student’s major, help create and monitor progress on academic plans in Degree Works, and approve completion of requirements for graduation with the University Honors or Associate with Honors transcript designation.
• Maintain confidentiality, keep detailed records and documentation of advising interactions, help remediate academic problems, and contribute to messaging for students needing academic support plans and resources.
• Assist honors students in making responsible and informed decisions impacting academic progress; encourage and guide them as they define realistic goals and understand the purpose of Honors and higher education in relation to life goals.
• Discuss the benefits of building a learning community, network, and support system among peers, professors, and mentors in and beyond the UHP and contribute to developing and implementing advising programming that helps honors students progress toward academic and career goals.

• Work with the Honors Academic Advisor Coordinator and USU admissions to help recruit new honors students and coordinate with UHP staff and advisors across USU departments and colleges to communicate information about honors student populations and trends, program requirements, and effective recruiting strategies.
• Help train and standardize messaging for UHP peer advisors and ambassadors to ensure consistency in basic advising.
• Help maintain a UHP presence at on‑ and off‑campus recruiting events and train student ambassadors in presentation content and approach (may require statewide travel).
• Contribute to Honors Aggie Orientation and Connections experiences designed to introduce new students to the UHP and their honors student cohort.

• Monitor student progress on the UHP’s requirements through proactive advising.
• Help remediate academic problems for students and oversee peer advisor messaging to at‑risk students.
• Collaborate with the UHP’s advising team, Executive Director, and other staff to assess retention and develop retention‑focused programming.
• Work with other USU offices to gather basic data that contributes to program evaluation and assessment.

• Engage in…