"Associate Dean for Graduate Student Success (Graduate College)"

Associate Dean for Graduate Student Success (Graduate College)

Job ID: 290561

Location: Kennesaw, Georgia

Full/Part Time: Full Time

Regular/Temporary: Regular

Job Summary

Kennesaw State University is now accepting applications for an administrative faculty position as a tenured Professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Student Success in the Graduate College with a preferred start date of January 1, 2026. This is a twelve-month contracted position. This position is for work to be performed in the state of Georgia.

The Graduate College is undergoing unprecedented growth, 32% over the last five years, and poised to build a state-of-the-art infrastructure for graduate student success and needs a dynamic, visionary leader to help expand its impact on Kennesaw State University's 5,000+ graduate students. In collaboration with the Dean, the Associate Dean will create and implement a strategic plan to increase retention and on-time graduation rates through growth in graduate student support in four areas: academic, professional, career, and health and well-being.

Reporting to the Dean and a member of the Dean's Leadership Team, the Associate Dean for Student Success will have a distinguished record of recognized excellence and experience that will result in strong leadership. The associate dean is responsible for providing high quality evidenced-based support services to all graduate students. The associate dean further coordinates the team's efforts to provide support related to planning, resource coordination, evaluation, and advocacy of graduate student issues and the assessment and reporting thereof, in line with the university's strategic plan.

Responsibilities

• Leading the Graduate Student Success Program and Team to coordinate, design and deliver workshops and events appropriate to graduate student success
• Creating systems to establish and scale the pipeline for prestigious external awards to graduate students
• Expanding the Doctoral Faculty and Doctoral Student Mentoring programs
• Reviewing and improving GTA training, addressing specific needs for GTAs and Instructors of Record across disciplines, including review and coordination of staffing for the course, GRAD 9001 or equivalent
• Collaborating with faculty and college leadership on innovative academic and graduate student success programs
• Overseeing data-informed assessment of retention, time-to-degree, completion, and placement
• Serving as a spokesperson and advocate for graduate student success
• Working with Strategic Communications to amplify graduate-student-related success stories
• Fulfilling other duties as assigned

Teaching assignments will be based on earned degrees and SACSCOC Faculty Credentials Guidelines.

Required Qualifications

• A terminal degree, or the foreign equivalent, with an academic background and appropriate credentials to be a tenured Professor in one of the University's academic departments or schools
• A minimum of three years progressive academic leadership experience at the College or University level and career success appropriate to the Associate Dean's role
• Successful experience building or leading major initiatives in graduate student success

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Fellowship advising (strongly preferred)
• Experience in Graduate Education (strongly preferred)
• Administrative and leadership experience in Graduate Education (strongly preferred)
• Experience fostering collaborations across departments, colleges, and/or institutions
• Record of mentorship of faculty and graduate student research and creative activities
• Successful budget management
• Demonstrated ability to effectively supervise and mentor faculty and staff
• Experience with data-informed decision-making
• Familiarity with higher education legal issues, including Clery, FERPA, and HIPAA
• Experience with student databases, CRMs, and learning systems
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and influencing others within the organization
• Excellent verbal and written communication skill

Required Documents to Attach

1. CV
2. Cover Letter
3. Unofficial Transcripts (Official Transcripts and Official International Course-by-Course Evaluations Due Upon Hire)
4. Names, phone numbers, and email addresses of at least 3 references

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Apply Before Date

Review of applications will begin immediately. For full consideration, please apply by October 26, 2025.

Contact Information

For questions about this faculty opening, please contact Dr. Alison Keefe, akeefe@kennesaw.edu, 470-578-4469.