"Assistant Director, Undergraduate Advising"

Assistant Director, Undergraduate Advising

Company:
Villanova University

Job Location:
Villanova, 19085

Category:
Academic Advising

Type:
Full-Time

Posting Number: 20260040S

Location
Villanova, PA

Work Schedule: full-time/12-months

Department: 257-Clay Center

Position Summary

Why work at Villanova?

• Join a mission-driven organization. Since Villanova University's founding in 1842, we have been inspired by the values of truth, unity, and love, and are a community dedicated to service to others.
• Villanova has been included among the nation's best colleges and universities. VU's inclusion again in U.S. News & World Report's 2025 "Best Colleges" rankings is another indication of the University's continued prominence and forward momentum.
• Villanova's most precious asset is our people. As an employee, you will receive a holistic benefits package, generous paid time off, a competitive retirement savings plan, flexible work options, wellness programs including gym membership, professional development, tuition assistance, and more.

The Assistant Director in the Clay Center at the Villanova School of Business serves as the primary academic advisor for an assigned caseload of students. The Assistant Director meets with students regarding the development and implementation of their academic plan, including curriculum, majors, minors, and resources available. The Assistant Director communicates with students keeping them informed of important deadlines, information, and events throughout the academic year. They respond to transitional, professional development, and social challenges and refer students to campus resources as needed. The individual in this position fosters within VSB students a culture of empowerment by promoting individual achievement, responsibility, and accountability. The Assistant Director may specialize in specified student populations such as transfer students and is expected to both remain current with trends and research in support of these populations and bring necessary information and training to the advising team.

Villanova is a Catholic university sponsored by the Augustinian Order. The University is an equal opportunity employer and seeks candidates who understand, respect and can contribute to the University's mission and values.

Duties and Responsibilities

Academic Advising:

• Serve as the primary academic advisor for an assigned caseload of assigned VSB students.
• Advise/meet students individually and in groups regarding the development and implementation of their academic plan, including curriculum, majors, minors, and resources available.
• Assist students in their educational progress, exploring service, leadership, and extracurricular opportunities, and setting goals.
• Monitor advisees' academic progress and maintain accurate student records.
• Respond in a timely manner to student and parent inquiries.
• Review options for transfer credit and study abroad in coordination with relevant campus partners; meet individually with students to review program possibilities.
• Contribute to the senior degree completion review process for graduation certification processes and student notification of status.
• Coordinate and collaborate with student support offices and departments across campus (such as but not limited to Learning Support Services, Center for Access Success and Achievement, University Counseling Center, Office for Access and Disability, Office of Education Abroad, Office for International Students and Scholars, etc.) and facilitate student referrals as appropriate.

Advising Support for Specialized Student Populations and/or Specialized Programs:

• Lead support services for an assigned special population of students or advising support for specialized programs.
• Envision, execute, manage, and assess programs tailored to specific populations of students or programming designed to support VSB's advising practice.
• Facilitate advising and advising-adjacent support services which may include: enrollment facilitation and planning, orientation support, interpretation and execution of academic policies, student population-specific programming and assessment, updating relevant communication streams, and coordination across campus partners.

Special Projects:

• Assist the Associate Director with class-specific processes and initiatives (e.g., summer mailing and advisor videos to new students, sophomore major declaration, and degree completion review.)
• Review services offered by the Clay Center to remain current with national trends, recent technology, and campus policies.
• Participate in relevant professional development activities and/or associations (e.g., NACADA). Represent the advising team and the Clay Center at various campus events sponsored by VSB and/or the University.
• Serve on VSB Committees as required.
• Perform additional duties and assist with special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree required in counseling, social work, higher education, business, or a related field; will consider current Masters candidates.
• Mastery of advising best practices, creativity, awareness of and responsiveness to the needs of undergraduate students
• Motivation to grow and improve services to students.
• Experience in student advising (with a preference for undergraduate student advising experience) with the understanding of the academic, personal and professional/career needs of students.
• 3 years of full-time, professional experience in academic advising or related experience in higher education.
• Sincere commitment to developing the academic, professional and personal well-being of students.
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills required to meet with students, staff, faculty and parents.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team in a service environment with frequent interruptions.
• Skills in setting priorities based on the importance of job responsibilities.
• Proficiency using Microsoft Office programs and Banner (or related) software

Special Message to Applicants

This position will be available starting June 2026.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until position is filled.

The VSB Clay Center's Undergraduate Advising teams brings holistic support to students as they navigate their higher education to post grad journey. In-person support in addition to virtual student advising support is critical for our student community. Because of the value we place on the student-advisor dynamic, final interviews will be held in-person, on-campus at Villanova University. We invite local and non-local applicants to apply; any candidate travel expenses incurred during the interview process will be the responsibility of the applicant. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to receiving your application materials.

All applications must include the following:

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• Names of three (3) references
• Responses to the following prompts (uploaded as 'Other Document'):
  1. Identify and describe your advising philosophy. How would it inform your work as an Assistant Director for Undergraduate Advising?
  2. What would you bring to this position from your previous professional experiences that would support effective academic advising?
  3. What do you value that differentiates you as a candidate for this position?

Each question above should be answered in 1-2 paragraphs.

Salary Posting Information

This position falls within salaried grade 13 and the range for this position is $51,000-63,800. The final salary will be determined with consideration of several factors including the selected candidate's qualifications, department budget availability, market data, and internal equity.

Salary Grade
13