"Academic Advisor"

About the Position:

The Academic Advisor provides academic advising for all current and prospective students and supports the student's recruitment and retention efforts, as described below. The Advisor responds to general inquiries about the department's educational programs, helps current undergraduate students with education planning and decision-making, and provides transition support for the bachelor's to accelerated master's (BAM) programs. Responsibilities also include helping current students understand academic policies and procedures, tracking current and prospective undergraduate, graduate, and BAM students, responding to prospective students' questions about application procedures, and coordinating departmental recruitment efforts.

Representing the department professionally, the Advisor is a resource for university and department procedures, rules, and regulations, as a troubleshooter and problem solver for all students. The Advisor contributes to Mason's goals of preparing career-ready graduates and improving graduation and retention rates.

Responsibilities:

Undergraduate Students Advising

• Advises current undergraduate students in decision-making and developing a plan of study consistent with students' interests, desires and abilities;
• Assists students regarding course selection, prerequisites, transfer courses, registration and overrides, career and/or educational goal and general university rules and regulations;
• Coordinates processing of graduation applications;
• Guides/Ensures that students meet departmental requirements of degree progress;
• Acts and assists in troubleshooting and problem-solving (registration errors, late schedule adjustments, retroactive withdrawals, etc.);
• Communicates essential academic registration information;
• Provides information on academic policies, procedures and practices, including working through various academic requests, forms and appeals;
• Organizes and retains student records, including advising notes and email exchanges;
• Escalates complex issues or situations with students to supervisor for guidance (any requests for policy exceptions or interventions that need support);
• Participates in outreach initiatives organized by the college/university; and
• Performs prerequisite checks for all STAT undergraduate courses at the beginning of each semester and verifies student eligibility for each class.

Student Affairs

• Provides administrative support to students and faculty, and collaborates on students outreach activities. Distributes information and assists in implementing and performing student support services tasks;
• Assists in coordination of efforts to organize departmental functions for students, including events such as orientation or faculty-student advising meetings;
• Participates in university-wide programs and events related to undergraduate students such as admissions, orientation, outreach, advising, graduation and other social and networking events;
• Acts as a liaison between students, faculty, management, and administrative agents to explain programs and university rules and regulations;
• Assists and performs the oversight of operations related to student records, graduation and student recruitment functions;
• Communicates with students, faculty, and administrators via email and other means to address inquiries and foster student success;
• Updates advising materials (printed and online) before each catalog year;
• Creates sample schedules, transfer guides, and degree worksheets for different student populations;
• Tracks potential graduate students by maintaining a list of BAM students or undergraduates interested in MS/PhD programs and identifying excellent candidates;
• Provides BAM student advising and transition support, offering course selection guidance, tracking progress, and assisting with curriculum or advising needs in collaboration with faculty; and
• Assists with prospective student inquiries related to application processes; and Organizes regular outreach campaigns to reach out to students proactively.

Other Related Duties

• Serves on committees and support other projects or tasks as assigned and as needed;
• Participates in university-wide advising training and ongoing professional development including IT training; and
• Utilizes the university platform for tracking and reporting student interactions and making referrals.

Required Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent;
• Experience or demonstrated knowledge in one or more of the following areas: academic advising, success coaching, counseling, orientation, disability services, career services, student involvement, and student responsibilities;
• Experience serving, leading, or supporting diverse student populations;
• Experience with computer data entry, email, and Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Forms;
• Excellent verbal and written communication, organizational and outreach skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills and professionalism in communicating with faculty, staff, students, visiting students, families and public;
• Conflict resolution skills;
• Ability to meet deadlines, working accurately and quickly with attention to detail, and being able to manage multiple programs and projects simultaneously;
• Ability to provide strong customer service;
• Ability to work with a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff;
• Proven ability to work collaboratively and to learn new things;
• Comfortable with technology;
• Adaptive and Responsible; and
• Flexibility to work some evening and weekend hours, as needed for Orientation and Admissions events, is a position requirement.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Higher Education, College Student Personnel, Counseling, or related field; or the equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Prior experience working in a higher education setting;
• Prior experience in working or studying with STEM students;
• Experience with leadership, communication, program development, and administrative activities;
• Experience with educational database management systems;
• Knowledge and experience in assisting students in a college setting in academic advising/support; and
• Strong working knowledge of student transitional issues.

Instructions to Applicants:

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Academic Advisor at https://jobs.gmu.edu/ Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter, resume, and another document that testifies to your qualifications listed in your resume (optional) for review.

Posting Open Date: December 8, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by: December 19, 2025

Open Until Filled: Yes