The Executive Director of Graduate Student and Post-Doc Support is a strategic and dynamic leader responsible for planning and leading the academic advising, program administration, student outreach and retention, student activities/leadership, and financial support teams that contribute to the academic success of graduate students and post-docs to ensuring equitable outcomes for students at UC Davis. Collaborates with various campus and external organizations. Provides leadership and is accountable for meeting campus initiatives. Under the general direction of the Assistant Dean, provides leadership, planning, and overall management for student aid, academic records, enrollments, and student services for over 100 graduate programs and groups.
Provides high level leadership to the Vice-Provost/Dean and Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies (GS) for the financial/budgetary matters with respect to over $40 million in academic graduate student and post-doctoral scholar financial support. Oversees, through subordinate supervisors, the team responsible for managing internal and external fellowships and grants.
Develops short/long range plans for the development of appropriate student services for diverse student population. Represents GS on campus-wide student success initiatives; works with Student Affairs units regarding large scale programs, individual students, policy/program issues.
Researches, recommends, implements and assesses student retention and academic success best practices for GS and throughout campus. Participates in strategic planning, policy discussions, and decision making for graduate education at UC Davis.
Provides leadership to the division in managing student services, academic advising, disability accommodations and financial support. Implements Graduate Studies' vision, working collaboratively with campus colleagues to identify improvements and opportunities in systems, processes and services that support students. Analyzes unit team processes and systems to enhance efficiency. Ensures accuracy and integrity of student records, monitoring the capture and treatment of student information throughout the division. Provides leadership and analysis on division projects that engage stakeholders from throughout the division, campus departments and external partners. Assumes daily leadership, management, and operational responsibility for delivery of equity-based student success services in Graduate Studies. Works with faculty and staff throughout campus to determine priorities and objectives. Meets GS departmental and organizational goals and manages various resources to achieve the unit mission.
Provides support to Associate Deans and Vice Provost/Dean for faculty governance functions and Academic Senate bodies and ensures compliance with rules and regulations of the university, campus, and college. Provides information and guidance to colleges, the Academic Senate and central administration and acts as liaison for graduate events.
Participates and contributes to a variety of committees and councils that oversee advising, student success and retention initiatives, and graduate education on campus. Participates in standing and ad-hoc committees that provide policy actions or advice affecting graduate education. Collaborates with the GS Director of Advising to implement and assess equity-based advising and student support best practices. Works with Student Affairs/services units across campus to create holistic, consistent practices for graduate students at UC Davis. Communicates and markets necessary information pertaining to the graduate student experiences to various constituents on and off campus.
- Master's degree in business, higher education leadership, student services, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Skilled in fiscal management, human resource management, policy development, strategic planning, supervision, conflict management, data-driven decision making, and organizational problem solving.
- Ability to develop and monitor budgets, manage internal financial controls, and understand and verify appropriate handling of financial expenditures. Experience in financial management with a working knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles, theory, practice and standards, preferably in a higher education environment.
- Demonstrated experience using analytical and problem solving skills to identify and document patterns of student academic needs and organizational, planning, and evaluative skills to develop advising and student support strategies and programs to successfully meet those needs within given staffing, space and budgetary limitations and to achieve equitable student outcomes.
- Experience discussing, engaging in, and leading practices directly related to equity, inclusion, identity development, diversity, and cultural competency and humility.
- Experience using counseling, holistic advising, and guidance techniques to provide comprehensive advising or counseling services to students (including learning theories, critical thinking, study strategies, note taking, time management, and goal setting as applied in a research university setting), and to provide guidance to students and parents in distress.
- Skills to provide leadership in identifying problems and collaborative solutions related to student services, enrollments, academic records, and financial support. Continually explores, develops and implements enhanced services for students that support student success and program goals.
- Ability to conceptualize problems and conduct evaluative analyses of data and information.
- Knowledge of Financial Aid regulations at the federal, state and university levels and the processes currently used by UC Davis' Financial Aid Office to ensure aid is efficiently and accurately made available to qualified graduate students.
- Knowledge of UC Davis student-related policies and procedures and applicable state and federal laws.
- Ability to make presentations in front of medium to large audiences.
- Skilled at directing unit staff in advising students on academic credit, financial aid, course sequencing, credit transferability, withdrawal and other student services issues.
- Experience with directing unit staff and contributing to raising awareness of GS programs through inquiry follow-up, outreach and other efforts.