Academic Advisor

About the Institution:

The Virginia University of Integrative Medicine is an accredited, private, non-profit institution of higher education with campuses located along the east coast (Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia) focused on advancing the profession of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine through education and clinical care. We offer Graduate-level Programs (Master and Doctoral level degrees, graduate certificates) in the field of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. Each of our certificate and degree granting programs are offered in the English, Korean, and Chinese languages.

VUIM has experienced a period of growth over the last three years, in part due to the adoption of alternative and complementary modalities of health and healing by the public, but also because of its unique position in the market. We are affordable and committed to providing a superior education at a cost that is sustainable and allows the institution to continue to grow both in size and available resources.

Job Summary:

The Academic Advisor at VUIM plays a critical role in the success of the organization by supporting student retention through effective communication and excellent listening skills. The most important aspect of this position will be the effective use of time in advising students on registration each term. The Academic Advisor proactively reaches out to students in jeopardy of failing courses or who are working through Academic Probation or Satisfactory Academic Progress issues (SAP).

In addition, the individual chosen for this role will assist the school’s teaching & learning support unit in developing and maintaining relationships with online and mixed-mode faculty, facilitating the development of online learning courses, and providing additional teaching & learning support for faculty and students.

The individual chosen for this role will have great customer service skills, a passion for working with people, be industrious, have top-notch critical thinking and problem-solving skills, be enthusiastic, and proactive, and be experienced in maintaining poise and integrity in challenging situations. The welfare of the student as a whole person is important in supporting student success and the advisor assures consistency and fairness in applying all policies and procedures. This position is a part of the larger Enrollment Management team and thus will require a person who is willing to complete tasks outside of advising at different times throughout the year.

Responsibilities:

• Communicate with and maintain accurate records of contact with every student

• Maintain student advising files

• Proactively advise all assigned students and track student’s progress with the goals of retention and progression toward program completion

• Assure substantive and sustained contact with each assigned student, guided by each individual student's situation

• Provide guidance to students on VUIM institutional values and principles

• Work with faculty to identify students who are at risk for failure to progress

• Oversee and monitor student contracts, action plans, and progress of students who are on warning, probation, jeopardy, leave of absence, or suspension

• Investigate potential conduct of code violations and implement the conduct review processes as appropriate

• Assist with grievances and Title IX issues; seek advice from Title IX coordinator as needed

• Identify and triage students needing academic support, referring to the following parties when needed, faculty, peer services, staff resources, and other appropriate services

• Track change of status notices; report to Dean of Enrollment Management weekly

• Identify and report trends and patterns in student behaviors in relation to academic programs and progression

• Evaluate processes and procedures from the student perspective and from an efficiency perspective and make recommendations for improvements

• Work collaboratively with other staff to develop and update appropriate student policies, seeking approvals from the Dean of EM when needed

• Support the maintenance of a comprehensive student handbook

• Collaborate with the offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, Finance, and the Registrar as well as academic departments and IT on day-to-day matters and in administering policy

• Assist with the development of new student orientation; attend and participate in quarterly new student orientation meetings

• Assist the teaching & learning support unit in creating dependencies for the online learning environment

• Assists the teaching & learning support unit in providing pedagogical consultation services to online faculty including, but not limited to, coaching, mentoring, and encouraging online teaching and learning best practices.

• Performs basic management tasks for non-credit, asynchronous online courses and areas of responsibility including but not limited to, maintaining the courses and entering grades.

• Facilitates relationship management acting as liaison between faculty/departments and the VUIM’s academic leadership team, specific to pedagogy, professional development curriculum and courses, and change management

• Support faculty with preparing teaching materials.

• Communicate with students about quarterly course evaluation survey, and exit survey (for graduating students)

• Quarterly course data collection and report

• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Customer service experience

• Experience conducting interviews and phone calls in person and over the phone

• Higher education, Advising experience (preferred)

• Bachelor's Degree (preferred); Associate degree required

• Knowledge and Experience working with degree requirements and student retention

• CRM or database/data entry experience (preferred)

• Inventive spirit and leans into experimentation

• Ability to prioritize work to meet deadlines, maintain strong attention to detail, and work independently as well as collaboratively in group settings

• Proven ability to build, manage, and improve learning programs and projects via design methodologies

Skills desired:

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal

• Excellent listening skills

• Persuasiveness

• Positive attitude

• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment

• Complex problem solver

• Organization and time management skills

Working environment:

VUIM prides itself on having a close-knit and vibrant community of individuals who work together to achieve the mission of the institution. In that context, individuals interested in this position should be comfortable working in a small, fast-paced, and always-evolving environment, where priorities shift on a regular basis to attend to the most immediate needs of the institution and its staff and students.

Hiring process:

Applications will be pre-screened for qualifications

Phone interviews will be conducted

Onsite interviews will be conducted

To Apply:

Candidates should provide a copy of their resume and a cover letter expressing interest, including wage requirements. These documents may be submitted to cegresi@vuim.edu

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $44,000.00 - $51,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Employee discount
• Paid time off

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Education:

• Associate (Required)

Experience:

• Professional Customer Service: 1 year (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Vienna, VA 22182: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $44,000 - $51,000