Specialist - Advisor-Continuing

Working/Functional Title

Associate Director, University Advising

Position Summary

Position Summary

Rooted in the belief that every student has the capacity to learn, thrive, and graduate, the Associate Director of Student Success and Advising Services plays a key leadership role in advancing a student-centered, strengths-based advising ecosystem. Reporting to the Director of University Advising, this role promotes a culture of inclusive excellence by supporting academic advisors, developing collaborative strategies for student success, and ensuring the daily operations of centralized advising services foster unit outcomes.

With a 40% appointment to support strategic and campus-wide initiatives (i.e., short-term verified absence processing) under the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Advising, this position cultivates an environment where advisors and students alike are empowered through intentional engagement, reflective practice, and community-building. Through research and benchmarking, the Associate Director defines best practices and develops approaches to support and evaluate the impact of advising and student success efforts and recommends strategies for continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership & Vision: Inspire and Co-Create

• Champion a shared vision for student success grounded in the strengths, goals, and lived experiences of all learners.
• Lead with purpose to design, refine, and implement advising models that celebrate student potential and align with institutional goals.
• Supervise and support academic advisors and student staff/volunteers with empathy, clarity, and high expectations for growth.
• Engage in strategic planning in partnership with campus leaders to integrate advising into the broader academic mission.
• Serve as a collaborative leader with the Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement (UAARE) team to support exploratory advising training resources.

2. Advisor Development: Empower and Equip

• Design and lead inclusive professional development initiatives that enhance exploratory advisor confidence, cultural competency, and effectiveness.
• Establish core advising competencies and provide training, reflection spaces, and mentorship to build a community of practice among exploratory advisors.
• Encourage innovation, dialogue, and ongoing learning to elevate the exploratory advisor capacity and knowledge base.
• Coordinate across advising offices to ensure they understand and are working within the centralized policies for short-term verified absence requests.

3. Student Success Strategies: Connect and Support

• Coordinate proactive, compassionate outreach strategies, including early alerts and short-term absence verification.
• Lead student-centered initiatives focused on persistence, engagement, and timely degree completion, with a focus on retention, transition, and graduation.
• Collaborate across campus to ensure students experience consistent, holistic support across touchpoints—from admissions to graduation.
• Co-design and facilitate success seminars, workshops, and courses that help students identify strengths, set goals, and build resilience.
• Design and implement curriculum for student success seminars and workshops in connection with academic interest areas and skill development.
• Teach or co-teach Undergraduate Studies (UGS) courses for first- and second-year students.

4. Data-Informed Practice: Reflect and Refine

• Use institutional data and national best practices to assess impact, measure equity gaps, and tell stories of student success.
• Develop dashboards, reports, and evaluation strategies to support continuous improvement.
• Communicate insights effectively to institutional stakeholders and inform future directions in advising and student support.

5. Collaboration & Campus Engagement: Partner and Lead

• Serve as a thought leader and trusted advisor on matters related to academic advising, student development, and success strategies.
• Build and nurture cross-campus partnerships with faculty, advisors, enrollment, career services, and student affairs.
• Represent the institution in local, regional, and national advising networks to share innovations and elevate MSU’s visibility in the field.

Core Competencies

• Visionary leadership grounded in student strengths and institutional equity goals.
• Commitment to inclusive excellence and access.
• Strategic, reflective, and data-informed thinking.
• Exceptional relationship-building and facilitation skills.
• Creativity, adaptability, and innovation in complex systems.
• Adaptability and innovation for a rapidly changing higher education landscape.

This role is ideal for a leader who believes in the power of human potential, values collaborative growth, and is ready to co-create student success strategies that reflect the strengths, voices, and dreams of our diverse learning community.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Masters -Higher Education, Student Affairs, Counseling, Leadership, or a related field

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, leadership, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of progressive experience in academic advising, student success, or related roles.
• Demonstrated leadership and team supervision experience.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and data-informed decision-making skills.

Desired Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in academic advising, academic coaching, or student success leadership roles.
• Experience designing advisor development programs and mentoring professionals.
• Knowledge of student development theory, appreciative advising, and inclusive excellence practices.
• Fluency with student success technologies and platforms (e.g., ESAF, Campus Solutions, Microsoft/Google Suite).
• Experience supervising and developing work roles for student workers, temporary staff, or on-call professionals.
• Background in large-scale program implementation and assessment.
• Proficiency in design and communication tools (e.g., Canva, MailChimp, Constant Contact).

Required Application Materials

A complete application packet will include a resume or CV, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references. 

Website

https://advising.msu.edu/

Department Statement

Founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university, Michigan State University (MSU) enrolls over 50,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. MSU is known internationally as a major public research university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Home to nationally ranked and recognized academic, residential college, and service-learning programs, MSU is a multifaceted community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, scientists and leaders.  The Office of Undergraduate Education seeks to help lead MSU's undergraduate student success initiatives by operationalizing MSU's stated beliefs that every student it admits has the capacity to learn, thrive, and graduate and that it is MSU's responsibility to provide an environment with the academic, social, wellness, and financial support our students need to persist in college and succeed after graduation.

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.