Senior Academic Advisor at Biola University

Senior Academic Advisor

Position Description
Serves as the primary advisor for first-year undergraduate students in a given school or schools. The advisor seeks to effectively partner with the schools they serve to positively impact academic thriving and student success through counseling first-year and at-risk students. Serves as the liaison between the Advising Center and Athletics, in order to ensure progress toward degree and a clear path to graduation for all student-athletes.

Alignment with Theological Positions
Alignment with Theological Positions: The person who fills this position must be someone who personally agrees with Biola’s Articles of Faith and Statement of Biblical Principles and who is supportive of the positions taken by Biola as contained in its Eschatology Teaching Position.  As such, this person may not speak against or act in a manner inconsistent with these positions during the course of their employment at Biola.

Department
Academic Advising

Supervisor
This position reports to the Director of Academic Advising & Success.

Educational Requirements
Bachelor’s degree required

Work Requirements

• Non-exempt (02), full-time – 40 hours/week, 12 months per year
• This position requires personal attendance at Biola’s campus in La Mirada, California, but will consider a limited hybrid/flexible work arrangement in the summer months
  

Essential Duties

Academic Advising

• Serves as the academic advisor for all first-year students in their caseload through the end of students’ first academic year. Meets regularly with first-year students to assess and discuss courses, academic performance, degree progress/timeline, connections to career, and any unique program requirements. 
• Conducts required advising for first-year students during registration periods and ensures students register on time for appropriate courses. Conducts outreach to non-registered students.
• Serves as an academic advisor to assigned probation students. Establishes academic goals, provides coaching, and evaluates academic progress via faculty feedback. Provides feedback to students in a timely and appropriate fashion. Refers students to campus resources as needed.
• Ensures the effectiveness of the advising process by maintaining up-to-date digital advising notes for all advising appointments and correspondence. 
• Supervises 1-2 Peer Academic Advisors under the direction of the Senior Academic Advisor, maximizing the impact of this student role for the benefit of students and campus partners.
  

New Student Registration

• Provides advising and registration for incoming students from the time of “confirmed” status through the start of the semester. Works closely with Admissions to manage the matriculation of new students, the Registrar’s Office regarding transfer coursework, and academic departments with course sequencing and availability. 
  
• Ensures all incoming student-athletes are registered in accordance with their practice and game schedules and communicates any time conflicts to students and coaches in alignment with NCAA rules. 
  

Department Liaison

• Partners as a liaison to faculty in their assigned school(s) to assist with registration/academic advising events and information sharing of any curricular, software, policy, or system changes that impact advising. 
  
• Serves as a supplemental academic advisor to students in cooperation with faculty advisors in the development and clarification of educational plans and graduation timelines.
  
• Serves as a bridge, building connections between first year students and faculty in their program.
  
• Partners with school leadership and faculty to gain expertise on the curricular pathways, requirements, and resources in their given program.
  

Student-athlete Advising

• Provides ongoing training for staff advisors related to supplemental advising regarding academic success and timely degree completion for all student-athletes in accordance with NCAA rules and regulations. Maintain appropriate records for each student including documentation specifically related to annual progress-toward-degree checks.
  
• Serves as a liaison between advisors and coaches of at-risk students, providing coaches a single advising point of contact, and advisors an advocate to the coaches. 
  
• Serves as a member of the institutional Compliance Committee. Become an expert on NCAA Division II eligibility requirements and the intersections of these requirements with Biola University degree programs. 
  
• Advises student-athletes considering a change in major related to the impact on eligibility. Assist in monitoring Declaration of Degree (by fifth semester) for undeclared student-athletes.
  
• Serves as a liaison to the athletics administration to assist with registration events, academic advising events for student-athletes, and assist in compliance audits and eligibility check meetings for each semester (initial eligibility and midyear certification).
  

Assists with other tasks and duties that support the Academic Advising program.

Required Skills/Qualifications

• Exceptional interpersonal/advising skills
  
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to multitask
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for interacting with diverse clients and team members
  
• Passionate about the academic success of all students
  
• Passionate about intercollegiate athletics and committed to the academic success of student-athletes.
  
• Google Workspace proficiency: familiarity with Google products including Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Slides, Google Drive and Google Meet.
  
• Commitment to Christian higher education
  
• Confidentiality: Handling sensitive information with discretion
  
• Desired: Familiarity with higher education and/or Biola University curriculum

Hiring Range: $23.38 - 26.48 per hour