Associate Director for Graduate Student Success @ University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign

February 10, 2020

Associate Director for Graduate Student Success
The Grainger College of Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


https://jobs.illinois.edu/academic-job-board/job-details?jobID=124305

The Grainger College of Engineering seeks applicants for the position of Associate Director for Graduate Student Success.  The Associate Director provides support to the Associate Dean for Graduate, Professional and Online Programs by exercising administrative oversight over all Office of Graduate, Professional and Online Programs (GPO) operations, policies, procedures, and initiatives that serve to support the academic success of Grainger Engineering graduate students, including college-level fellowship programs, the Grainger Engineering Five-Year PhD Funding Guarantee, progress monitoring programs, and the Mavis Future Faculty Fellows Academy.  The Associate Director will serve as the primary point of contact for Department Heads, Associate Directors of Graduate Studies, and Graduate Program staff to ensure effective day-to-day management of their graduate programs, and assist with student concerns as they arise.

The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit http://go.illinois.edu/EEO.

Specific duties and responsibilities include: 

  • Oversee the budgeting, announcement, selection, and awarding of college-level graduate fellowships, including the Support for Under-Represented Groups in Engineering (SURGE) fellowship program and the Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) program.  Work closely with academic departments to place SURGE fellows with research advisors, and provide mentoring and professional development counseling and networking activities. Work with the Grainger Engineering Office of Advancement to develop and implement policies for new college-level graduate fellowships.  Maintain program statistics and assist with development of marketing material to advertise the success of fellowship recipients to current and future donors.
  • Oversee the Grainger Engineering Five-Year PhD Funding Guarantee, including by ensuring that all PhD students in Good Academic Standing during the first five years of enrollment in their original PhD program, who are performing satisfactorily in their assistantships and have passed applicable language requirements, are offered tuition-waiver-generating appointments in a timely fashion for each Fall and Spring semester.  Work with Graduate Program staff in Grainger Engineering academic departments and with the Grainger Engineering Office of Human Resources to ensure that the Grainger Engineering Five-Year PhD Funding Guarantee is implemented in a manner consistent with campus policies and campus-level agreements with applicable bargaining units, including when making admission offers and in determining policies for academic probation.  Maintain program statistics and assist with developing reports on program outcomes.
  • Oversee and facilitate effective monitoring of graduate student academic progress in partnership with Graduate Program staff in Grainger Engineering academic departments, including adherence to policies for compulsory annual reviews and the development and implementation of Academic Plans for graduate students at risk of exceeding program time limits or on academic probation.  Work closely with the Graduate College to ensure consistent and clearly articulated policies and procedures.  Work with Engineering IT to build tools for progress monitoring into GradRecs.  Maintain academic progress statistics, benchmark against peer institutions, and assist with developing reports on outcomes.
  • Serve as primary resource person for Graduate Program staff from Grainger Engineering academic departments and coordinate and provide training.  Hold regular meetings throughout the academic year to enhance communication and provide a team environment for this group.  Serve as a central backup to coordinators to ensure that students have a primary contact at all times.
  • Assist Grainger Engineering academic departments with student concerns.  Act as a mediator between the student and the advisor/department when needed.  Take the lead on concerns that require campus-level involvement and serve as the primary communicator between parties.  Serve as primary point of contact for all Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) grievances.  Serve as a resource to Engineering HR when questions and concerns arise with graduate student assistantships.
  • Manage the Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) Academy, including recruitment of speakers and day-to-day interactions with participating Mavis Fellows as instructor-on-record (jointly with the Associate Dean for Graduate, Professional and Online Programs) in ENG 591 MF3.  Work closely with Grainger Engineering academic departments to coordinate budgeting, announcement, and selection of Mavis Fellows.  Maintain MF3 website and program statistics.  Explore external partnerships to enhance placement success of Mavis Fellows in academic positions, including reciprocal short-term exchange programs and faculty job shadowing programs.
  • Supervise (jointly with the Associate Dean for Graduate, Professional and Online Programs) the Administrative Aide in the Office of Graduate, Professional and Online Programs.
  • Provide oversight and direction to the Engineering Graduate Student Advisory Committee.
  • Represent Grainger Engineering on ad-hoc campus graduate programs committees.
  • Occasional travel is required.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or related field
  • Experience advising graduate students.
  • Three years of progressive work experience in student affairs.
  • One year experience supervising professional staff.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree in engineering, science or related field.
  • Experience working with student concerns and conflict resolution.
  • Experience with retention of underrepresented minority students in higher education.
  • Experience with staff and budget supervision.
  • Working knowledge of University policies and procedures relating to degree programs, fellowships, and graduate assistantships.
  • Results-oriented with strong organizational and time management skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, strong oral and written communications skills, the ability to interact with a broad array of internal and external constituents, and the ability to concurrently manage multiple, complex tasks.
  • Understanding of the organizational relationships and functional working relationships within The Grainger College of Engineering.

The Associate Director for Graduate Student Success position is a full-time, benefits-eligible academic professional position appointed on a 12-month service basis.  The expected start date is as soon as possible after the closing date.  Applicants may be interviewed before the closing date; however, no hiring decision will be made until after that date.  Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. 

To apply for this position, please create your candidate profile at http://jobs.illinois.edu and upload your cover letter, resume, and names/contact information for three references by December 2, 2019.  Full consideration will be given to complete applications received by the closing date.  For further information regarding application procedures, contact Sarah McCarty at mccrty@illinois.edu or 217-244-1056.    

The University of Illinois conducts criminal background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer.