Academic Advising Manager

Academic Advising Manager

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) seeks an academic advising manager for the department of Life Sciences Communication (LSC). This critical position advises all students in the undergraduate major and certificate, manages administrative components of the graduate programs, and serves as the primary curricular representative for the department.

This variety of duties requires the academic advising manager to be collaborative, organized, and an effective communicator as they will meet regularly with the department chair, undergraduate and graduate committees, and faculty from across the department. Additionally, this position will supervise a graduate assistant who helps with student services related work. This position is great for a professional eager to support students and faculty in a high-paced environment.

The LSC academic advising manager also contributes to the planning and execution of student events such as graduation and scholarship celebrations and orientations hosted by the department. In all parts of the role, the advising manager strives to create and contribute to a welcoming and inclusive environment in the department. As part of the CALS advising community, this position participates in college-wide events and initiatives to recruit both new and transfer students, serves as a generalist advisor during summer and winter SOAR (orientation), and participates in ongoing training and development led by the college and campus-wide units.

This position is supervised by the assistant dean for student advising and development to provide a bridge between the academic department, the CALS advising community, and the college overall.

• Receives, processes, and responds to academic inquiries according to established policies and procedures
• Serves as a main point of contact for students and provides information about educational options and academic requirements; assists with identifying and assessing interests, skills, and values to match appropriate field of study/career options, and refers students to appropriate institutional resources
• Develops and implements academic advising events such as workshops, panel discussions, and guest speakers
• Maintains confidentiality and accurate student records and processes and responds to academic inquiries according to established institutional and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policies
• Manages administrative activities of department graduate programs including admissions, recruitment, monitoring degree progress and assisting students in navigating resources and systems throughout the student lifecycle
• Participates as a regularly scheduled generalist advisor for CALS SOAR (orientation) in both summer and winters sessions
• Supervises unit staff and/or plans, organizes, allocates resources, assesses performance, and leads the operational activities of a function within the advising or academic services portfolio, such as program management and/or curriculum management
• Maintains expertise with advised curriculum and may assist in developing and recommending exceptions for policy and curriculum
• Proactively engages students as needed
• Participates in the campus-wide advising community providing input to leadership regarding the development of advising, recruitment, and co/curricular programs offered by the school/college

• Minimum of 3 years of previous work experience in academic advising or related student services position
• Multicultural awareness and competence; ability to work in a diverse environment and serve students and families and community partners from a wide variety of backgrounds
• Organizational and time-management skills that include: problem-solving, multi-tasking, prioritizing, and meeting deadlines
• Works collaboratively and cultivates relationships with internal and external partners (e.g., internal colleagues at the College, faculty and staff, related and relevant positions around the university, etc.)
• Experience using computer software/programs (e.g., Zoom, Teams, and/or Web Ex; word processing; spreadsheets; databases, etc.)

• Experience supporting faculty with academic program administration and/or course scheduling
• Experience supporting undergraduate and graduate students through advising and/or program management
• Experience working with student development

Bachelor's Degree Preferred

Normal hours are 7:45am – 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. Occasional nights and weekends may be required for this position.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked…