Academic Advisor

The academic advisor is responsible for working with on-campus undergraduate students at Columbia International University throughout their educational journey, focusing mainly on freshmen and sophomores. The advisor helps students plan each semester, preparing to successfully complete their degree program by making sure that they are meeting all the necessary graduation requirements in a timely manner. This is an on-site (not remote) position.

Primary duties:

• Advise students (primarily underclassmen) regarding degree completion requirements and University policies through office hours and appointments, email and phone communication
• Assist underclassmen in planning and registration each semester. Provide support to faculty advisors for upperclassmen
• Host drop-in advising sessions in the student center several times each semester
• Proactively reach out to current students to help them identify available University resources, address other academic needs, and offer encouragement to increase retention and degree completion rates
• Assist admissions office with the development of suggested course sequence options for new students
• Review academic progress of current students to ensure progress toward degree completion
• Assist in developing services and processes that enhance the student experience and support student retention and achievement
• Collaborate with faculty and other University departments to support students and resolve student issues
• Other duties as assigned

Policies and Procedures:  Understand and apply policy and procedures related to:

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act [FERPA];
• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers [AACRAO] records retention guidelines;
• Catalogs, curricular requirements and policies/procedures of all schools within the University;
• Registration and records functions of the University Registrar’s Office;
• Accreditation requirements [ABHE, ATS, SACS, and CACREP];
• Department of Education standards necessary to support the Financial Aid office; and
• Compliance requirements for the NCCAA.

Customer Service:  Provide on-call, quality assistance to students, in areas such as:

• Registration, enrollment verification, and website information;
• Academic petitions, faculty directed studies, and transfer credit;
• Granting third parties access to student records, FERPA restrictions and releases,
• Graduation, grades, transcript requests, room reservations, and telephone call/email routing, etc.

Project Management:  Execute tasks in areas as assigned such as:

• Understand how registration and record processes integrate with and affect the processes of other University departments.
• Attend staff meetings and other duties as assigned.

• Prior experience in academic advising at the collegiate level preferred.
• Customer service focused.
• Excellent communication skills (including telephone, email, and interpersonal)
• Critical thinking skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks efficiently and effectively
• Positive attitude and high energy.
• Commitment to professional integrity, including knowledge of and commitment to upholding federal confidentiality guidelines regarding confidentiality of student academic information.
• Commitment to maintaining best practices in service, innovation, and efficiency.
• Commitment to a collaborative work environment.
• Experience in Jenzabar (or similar information system) and Excel helpful but not required.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

CIU provides a benefits package that includes:

• Health Plan;
• 401(k) plan with match opportunity;
• 100% of employee’s cost of group life insurance;
• Long term disability insurance;
• Vacation days, holidays, sick leave, family leave;
• Educational benefits: tuition reduction for PreK3-Graduate.

Interested and qualified candidates will complete the CIU Employment Application on this site.