Senior Director of Academic Services

Overview

The College of Arts and Sciences has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Director of Academic Services. The Senior Director, Academic Services will play a pivotal role in enhancing academic programs and driving student success, with a blend of strategic planning, data analysis, systems-building, and collaborative leadership.

The College of Arts & Sciences is the largest academic unit in the University (39 academic departments, approximately 1000 teaching and research faculty, and more than 20,000 undergraduate students). It focuses on the liberal arts student experience to prepare students to become leaders in a diverse and complex society. The University of Washington fosters an inclusive and innovative environment where ideas flourish and individuals thrive.

• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• A collaborative and supportive work culture
• The chance to make a lasting impact on students' lives and the future of higher education

The Senior Director of Academic Services reports to the Assistant Dean of College Advising.

Advising Practice (40%)

• Lead the development and operationalization of new advising practices, policies, and structures coordinating advising across departments and the college as a whole, ensuring consistency in advising practices, student support and operational procedures.
• Lead development and implementation of college-wide advising policy and standards, such as college-wide service expectations (e.g., standard expectations about wait times, on-call or drop-in availability, staff scheduling, etc.).
• Serve as primary college level administrative liaison for academic services; ensure compliance, risk management, and policy implementation across units.
• Establish policies, workflows, and service models for integrated academic advising, including deployment of digital tools that can increase efficiency in tasks or services such as tracking academic progress, or scaling personalized student communications.
• Collaborate with campus partners to align services with university-wide student recruitment and yield initiatives, new student orientation, and ongoing initiatives focused on student success.
• Ensure reliable, accurate, and equitable advising service to students, through consistent and standardized scheduling, cross-training, and multiple modalities.

Strategic Leadership in Curriculum and Enrollment Management (30%)

• Develop and implement college-level policies on curriculum planning, enrollment forecasting, and related program management issues, including scope of services the college can or cannot provide to departments.
• Partner with unit leadership to ensure curricular excellence, alignment with institutional goals, and responsiveness to student demand.
• Oversee college-level enrollment management practice and policy, including course scheduling, capacity planning, and transfer articulation.
• Representing Dean, coordinate College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. Oversee college-level communication and policy on curriculum.
• Represent the portfolio on college and university committees related to curriculum, program development, enrollment, IT, and student success; serve as a key administrative contact for internal and external stakeholders.
• Monitor and assess academic trends and recommend program strategy or revisions to unit leadership.

Academic Operations and Administrative Management (20%)

• Direct the day-to-day operations academic services operations of college-level advising, if needed, including compliance, policy implementation, and risk management.
• Serve as the primary administrative liaison between departments, the College, and central university offices.
• Oversee communication strategies, including websites and student-facing resources.
• Implement structured feedback channels between faculty and advisers through unit liaisons, regular meetings, shared Teams/communications.
• Conduct ongoing assessment of academic operations and services. Implement improvement plans to optimize resources.

Staff Leadership and Development (10%)

• Develop standardized, college-wide job descriptions for advising roles, pathways, and staff expectations.
• Develop…