Director of Advising and First-Year Support

Hood College seeks a dynamic, organized, and relationship-oriented Director of Advising and First-Year Support as part of the College's U.S. Department of Education Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant, Student Success in the AI Era: Advancing Retention, Completion, and Workforce Readiness at Hood College.

Under the general direction of the Dean of Student Success, the Director of Advising and First-Year Support provides leadership for Hood Colleges undergraduate academic advising program and coordinates, executes, and assesses support for students during the critical transition into and through their first year. This is a temporary grant funded position.

Reporting to the Dean of Student Success, the Director implements, and assesses a holistic and proactive advising model designed to ensure students receive consistent academic guidance, develop meaningful educational plans, connect with appropriate resources, and make successful progress toward degree completion. The Director provides coordination and leadership for first-year student supports, collaborating across campus to identify barriers to student success, coordinate early interventions, strengthen students connection to the College, and improve persistence and retention into the second year. The Director works closely with faculty and campus partners, including the Director of the First-Year Experience classes, to create an integrated approach to advising and first-year support that addresses students academic, personal, social, and professional development.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Academic Advising Leadership - 40%

• Provide leadership and direction for Hood Colleges undergraduate academic advising program.
• Implement a consistent, holistic, student-centered advising model.
• Establish expectations, best practices, resources, and advising processes for staff and faculty advisors.
• Coordinate advising for incoming first-year students, including summer advising and registration.
• Develop and facilitate advisor training, professional development, advising manuals, tools, and resources.
• Develop advising strategies that support students from initial enrollment through their transition into their academic major and subsequent advising relationships.
• Provide leadership for advising students who are undeclared, changing majors, experiencing academic challenges, or requiring additional support.
• Advise a cohort of first-year students.
• Collaborate with academic departments and faculty advisors to promote consistency and quality in advising.
• Support advisors and works closely with the registrars office in interpreting academic policies, degree requirements, registration processes, and student-success procedures.
• Promote advising practices that integrate academic planning with students personal, professional, and career goals.
• Encourage consistent documentation of advising interactions and appropriate use of institutional student-success technology.
• Identify advising barriers and recommend improvements to policies, practices, and processes that affect the students experience and retention.

First-Year Student Support - 30%

• Provide leadership for a comprehensive first-year student support strategy designed to promote successful transition, engagement, persistence, and academic progress.
• Works closely with the Dean of Student Success and staff to monitor academic progress and other indicators of student success to identify first-year students who may benefit from additional support.
• Coordinate proactive outreach in various modalities at critical points throughout the first-year experience.
• Develop strategies to support students experiencing difficulty transitioning academically or personally to college.
• Develop targeted outreach for students who have not registered for an upcoming semester or who may be considering withdrawing.
• Connect students to appropriate academic, financial, wellness, accessibility, career, and campus-life resources.
• Work collaboratively with faculty, Student Success staff, Athletics, Student Life, Financial Aid, the Registrar, and other campus partners to address barriers affecting first-year students.
• Support programs and initiatives that strengthen students sense of connection, belonging, confidence, and ability to navigate the College.
• Create intentional transition strategies that prepare first-year students for their second year.
• Works collaboratively with the faculty, student success staff and campus partners to address barriers affecting first-year students.

Assessment, Data and Retention - 15%

• Collaborate with the Dean of Student Success to establish annual advising, first-year support, and persistence goals.
• Monitor student-success measures including advising engagement, academic alerts, academic standing, midterm performance, registration patterns, and persistence.
• Identify trends and student populations that may require additional intervention or support.
• Assess advising and first-year support programs and recommend improvements based on outcomes and student needs.
• Develop regular reports regarding advising participation, first-year student trends, interventions, and outcomes.
• Gather feedback from students, faculty, and staff to improve advising and first-year support.
• Contribute to broader College-wide retention initiatives and student-success planning.

Collaboration and Campus Engagement - 10%

• Develop strong working relationships with faculty, academic departments, Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, Athletics, Student Life, Accessibility Services, Career Services, and other campus partners.
• Participate in orientation, registration, recruitment, and other programs supporting new and continuing students.
• Serve on College committees related to advising, the first-year experience, student success, and retention as assigned.
• Represent Student Success at campus events and programs.
• Communicate emerging advising and first-year student needs and trends to the Dean of Student Success.
• Represent Hood College at appropriate professional conferences and organizations related to advising and student success.

Supervision and Administration - 5%

• Supervise assigned advising and/or first-year support staff.
• Establish goals, priorities, and expectations for direct reports.
• Provide ongoing training, professional development, coaching, and support for staff.
• Coordinate staff responsibilities and advising assignments to ensure appropriate student coverage.
• Assist with budgets associated with advising and first-year support initiatives.
• Participate in Student Success planning and assessment.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Dean of Student Success.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Masters degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, education, academic advising, or a related field.
• Professional experience in academic advising, student success, first-year programs, retention, student affairs, or a related higher-education setting.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with undergraduate students.
• Knowledge of academic advising practices, student development theory, first-year transition, and student-success strategies.
• Experience using student information, advising, early-alert, or student-success management systems.
• Demonstrated ability to use student data to inform outreach, interventions, and program improvements.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with faculty, staff, administrators, students, and campus partners.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, student-centered environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in advising, student success, first-year programs, or a related area.
• Supervisory or program management experience.
• Experience leading or coordinating a comprehensive academic advising program.
• Experience developing first-year transition, persistence, or student-support initiatives.
• Experience developing and facilitating professional development for faculty or staff advisors.
• Experience assessing advising and student success programs.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A holistic, student-centered approach to academic advising.
• Strong understanding of the academic and developmental needs of first-year college students.
• Knowledge of proactive advising, student development, and early-intervention practices.
• Ability to build meaningful relationships with students while encouraging independence, resilience, and self-advocacy.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to translate student-success data into actionable strategies.
• Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Sound judgment when working with sensitive student situations and information through FERPA compliance.

Technology Skills

Proficient in MS Office tools (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), e-mail, and Internet. Ability to learn new applications quickly, including organization-wide information systems and department-specific software applications. Familiarity with virtual meeting platforms, online event tools, databases, or student engagement systems is preferred.

Language Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare professional correspondence, program materials, instructions, presentations, and reports. Ability to communicate clearly and professionally with internal and external individuals from varied backgrounds and levels of professional experience.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to perform basic mathematical calculations and maintain accurate program records, including participation data, attendance, and assessment results. Ability to organize and interpret quantitative information to support program evaluation and reporting.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a number of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. Ability to work independently and as a member of a group in developing and executing project plans. Ability to work in the theoretical arena and apply logic as appropriate.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; use fingers, hands, reach with hands and arms; and talk and hear. The employee is required to sit. The employee may occasionally be required to stand and lift and move up to twenty-five pounds. Specific vision abilities required include close vision. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Work Environment

The work environment described here is representative of what an employee will encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise level is usually moderate and could include interaction with other employees, students, the public, telephones, and other office equipment.

Compensation

This is a position with an annual starting salary range of $49,000 to $55,000 depending on circumstances including an applicant's skills and qualifications, certain degrees and certifications, prior job experience, training, and other relevant factors. Hood College has provided a compensation range representing its good faith estimate of what the College may pay for the position at the time of posting. The College may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. Hood College offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and tuition benefits. Learn more about Hood College.

This benefits-eligible position is funded through the U.S. Department of Education Strengthening Institutions Program (Title III) grant and is contingent upon continued grant funding and satisfactory performance. The position is anticipated to be funded for the duration of the five-year grant period. The Strengthening Institutions Program is supported by the Departments of Labor and Education. A total of $2.7 million for this five-year grant will be financed with federal funds.

To Apply

We invite qualified candidates to apply online via our electronic application which requires submission of a cover letter, resumé and three professional references.

If you need assistance with the online application process, please email humanresources@hood.edu or call (301) 696-3592.

Hood College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, disability, religion, or age in recruitment, admission and access to, or treatment, or employment in its programs, services, benefits, or activities as required by applicable laws including Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and complies with the law regarding reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and students. Inquiries about discrimination or reasonable accommodation should be referred to the Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator at Alumnae Hall, 401 Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD. 21701 (AD 308), (301) 696-3123. For complete information on Hood College's nondiscrimination policy, please visit http://www.hood.edu/non-discrimination/