Senior Director

Basis: 12 months

Job Search Category: Student Services

About University of South Carolina

From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, the University of South Carolina system is transforming the lives of South Carolinians through the impact of our eight institutions and 20 locations throughout the state. More than 50,000 students are enrolled at one of eight institutions, including the research campus in Columbia and comprehensive four-year universities in Aiken, Upstate and Beaufort. In addition, our Palmetto College campuses in Salkehatchie, Union, Lancaster and Sumter enable students to earn associate or bachelor’s degrees through a combination of in-person, online or blended learning. All of our system institutions place strong emphasis on service — helping to build healthier, more educated communities in South Carolina and beyond.

Veterans' Preference Statement

The University of South Carolina is committed to equal opportunity and proudly values the skills and experience military veterans bring to our workforce. Across South Carolina, we are making veterans a priority for employment and recognize their vital contributions to our state and our communities.

Advertised Job Summary

The Senior Director, Undergraduate Student Services serves as the front-line supervisory leader for academic advising and student support services within the Arnold School of Public Health (ASPH) Undergraduate Student Services unit. Reporting to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, the position provides direct supervision and day-to-day leadership for professional advising staff while maintaining a direct connection to undergraduate students and the academic programs they serve.

The Senior Director coordinates daily advising operations, establishes consistent service practices, and provides guidance on complex academic advising, registration, progression, and student success matters. The position serves as a key operational link between the Associate Dean, advising staff, and university partners and translates college priorities, policies, and procedures into effective student-facing services.

The Senior Director supports student retention, persistence, academic progress, and timely degree completion through proactive advising, staff development, data-informed outreach, and continuous improvement of advising processes. The position exercises independent judgment within established University and ASPH policies and escalates significant policy, personnel, or strategic matters to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs when needed.

Job Related Minimum Required Education and Experience

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in a job related field and 5 or more years of job related experience, which may be substituted by an equivalent combination of job related certification, training, education, and/or experience.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Knowledge of academic advising, student services, student development, undergraduate academic processes, and principles supporting student success and retention.
• Knowledge of practices for interpreting and applying academic policies, curriculum requirements, degree progression standards, and student service procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach, train, develop, and evaluate professional staff and coordinate the daily work of a student services operation.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion when addressing complex or sensitive student concerns, policy questions, and operational issues.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with the ability to build effective working relationships with students, faculty, staff, administrators, and university partners.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, service demands, and competing operational needs in a fast-paced, student-centered environment.
• Ability to analyze information and student service data, identify trends and problems, and recommend practical improvements to advising processes and services.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle student and personnel information appropriately in accordance with applicable University requirements.

Job Duties

Advising Staff Supervision and Leadership

Provides leadership and strategic direction for the undergraduate advising team in alignment with priorities established by the Associate Dean. Establishes performance expectations, professional standards, staffing approaches, service expectations, and professional development priorities. Provides coaching, feedback, professional development, and performance guidance. Provides leadership in recruitment, onboarding, performance management, succession planning, and development of advising staff. Addresses routine personnel and operational concerns and elevates significant matters to the Associate Dean.

Essential Function: Yes

Percentage of Time: 30%

Academic Advising and Complex Student Support

Provides academic advising and student support related to degree requirements, course planning, registration, academic progression, university and college policies, and completion planning. Serves as an escalation point for advisors handling complex student situations and assists with problem resolution, referrals, and appropriate documentation. Maintains a student-centered approach while applying policies consistently and appropriately.

Essential Function: Yes

Percentage of Time: 30%

Advising Operations and Service Delivery

Advises the Associate Dean on advising operations, staffing and resource needs, student-service trends, policy implications, and recommended strategies. Leads implementation of approved strategic initiatives and evaluates their effectiveness. Coordinates daily advising operations to ensure accessible, timely, and consistent services for undergraduate students. Supports advising assignments, appointment capacity, peak advising periods, orientation and registration activities, outreach, and other student service functions. Identifies operational issues, recommends improvements, and helps ensure advisors receive timely information regarding curriculum, academic requirements, policies, procedures, and institutional changes.

Essential Function: Yes

Percentage of Time: 20%

Student Success, Retention, and Academic Progression

Creates, plans, and directs the strategic planning for student success initiatives. Leads advising-based student success and academic progression strategies for ASPH undergraduate students. Analyzes student progression, retention, advising, and service data to identify patterns, barriers, and populations requiring targeted intervention. Supports ASPH initiatives designed to strengthen student success, persistence, retention, and timely degree completion. Reviews advising and student information to identify trends, barriers, and opportunities for proactive outreach or intervention. Collaborates with academic programs, faculty, and university partners to connect students with appropriate resources and strengthen coordinated support for student needs.

Essential Function: Yes

Percentage of Time: 10%

Assessment, Training, and Continuous Improvement

Develops reports, identifies trends, and presents findings and recommendations to the Associate Dean. Leads implementation of approved changes to advising practices, academic policies, procedures, and systems and evaluates their impact on students and service delivery. Assists the Associate Dean with development and maintenance of advising procedures, service standards, internal training resources, and staff guidance. Assists with assessment and reporting related to advising services, including service activity and student trends, and uses findings to support continuous improvement. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Essential Function: Yes

Percentage of Time: 10%

Safety Sensitive or Security Sensitive: No

Hazardous weather category: Non-Essential

Number of Vacancies: 1

Desired Start Date: 11/02/2026

Job Open Date: 10/06/2026

Job Close Date: 10/14/2026

Open Until Filled: No

Special Instructions to Applicant

Positions are advertised for a minimum of five (5) business days on our job website. After five (5) business days, positions can be closed at the discretion of the department at any time. This employment site is updated on a regular basis. The length of the recruitment and screening process may vary from position to position, depending upon a variety of factors. Should review of your qualifications result in a decision to pursue your candidacy, you will be contacted by phone or email. We are only accepting applications submitted by October 14, 2026. The University of South Carolina offers a valuable benefits package including but not limited to:

• Health and Life Insurance
• Retirement Programs
• Paid Tuition
• Dependent Scholarships
• Annual Leave
• Sick Leave
• 13 Paid Holidays (including an extended December holiday)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Professional Development Opportunities

Click here to learn more about why you should work at USC.

Quicklink for Posting: https://uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/214182

EEO Statement

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other protected category under applicable law.

Working at University of South Carolina

With more than 200 years of history and tradition, the University of South Carolina is redefining itself for decades to come. There's never been a better time to be at South Carolina, the state's flagship university and one of only 62 public universities to receive the Carnegie Foundation's highest designation for research.

The University is located in the heart of South Carolina in the capital city of Columbia, which is the nexus of government, a thriving arts and culture center, a venue for big-time Southeastern Conference intercollegiate athletics, and a community that is reinventing itself with redevelopment projects citywide. Much of the development is tied to land along the scenic, slow-moving Congaree River. Working with government, business, and community leaders, Carolina has developed a unified plan that will allow the University to expand from its origins on the historic Horseshoe to its future-Innovista, a research and innovation district that will stretch to the banks of the Congaree.

Innovista represents a new vision for research by creating a vibrant, urban community where students and researchers, including those from private firms, will live, work, learn, and play. Innovista will represent the University's four core research areas-hydrogen fuel cells, nanoscience and technology, biomedical and public health, and the environment-but will include other initiatives and business partners that serve the knowledge economy. Innovista's first private tenant, for example, is a leader in software applications for the insurance industry and will create several hundred high-paying jobs.

By attracting similar companies and jobs-and by capitalizing on an attractive location for restaurants and residential and retail space-Innovista will help drive the economy and increase per-capita income in the city and state. Recreational space will include a world-class waterfront park along the Congaree River and a new stadium for the Gamecocks' nationally ranked baseball program. Greenway paths for biking, walking, and running already line much of the river area. Innovista's 8 million square feet will blend seamlessly with the Vista, the city's nearby entertainment district of restaurants, bars, shops, and art galleries.

Chartered in 1801, Carolina began classes in 1805 with nine students and a single building, Rutledge College. As the campus grew and buildings were added during the next 50 years, a horseshoe layout was adopted. Today, the Horseshoe is on the National Register of Historic Places, with 10 of its 11 buildings dating to the 19th century. Those renovated buildings house, among other areas, the South Carolina Honors College and Undergraduate Admissions, representing much of the University's current and future lifeblood.

In fact, incoming freshman classes have never been larger or more competitive. The freshmen from fall 2006 set records for their size (more than 3,700) and SAT scores (1171 average). Freshmen enrolling in the Honors College had average SAT scores of 1398. Members of the University's prestigious scholarship programs, Carolina Scholars for in-state students and McNair Scholars for out-of-state students, had average scores of 1449 and 1477, respectively. Total enrollment at Carolina for undergraduates and graduates is more than 27,300, with some 350 degree programs to choose from. Since 1994, Carolina students have earned more than $9.9 million in prestigious national scholarships such as the Goldwater, Truman, Rhodes, and NSF scholarships and the Fulbright Fellowships.

South Carolina's student body is diverse. In fact, Carolina was recently recognized as the state flagship university with the highest percentage of African-American student enrollment in the nation. Research by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education shows African-American students made up 14.7 percent of enrollment in 2004, the latest year available. The JBHE also ranks Carolina eighth in the nation in percentage of African-American faculty at a state flagship university with 4.3 percent.

The University's faculty garnered a record $173.3 million in federal, state, and private funding for research, outreach, and training programs in 2005-06, and several key hiring plans will introduce more talent and expertise to the faculty ranks. An aggressive campus building master plan and the faculty recruiting initiatives will change the collective face of the University and the faces of many of its key teachers and researchers.

South Carolina is recruiting world-class faculty to be endowed chairs-and change agents-for a series of “research centers of economic excellence” in areas such as nanoelectronics, polymer nanocomposites, brain imaging, regenerative medicine, cancer therapeutics, drug discovery, vision research, hydrogen fuel cells, and travel and tourism technology. These centers, some in collaboration with other state research universities and health and hospital systems, are funded with $30 million annually in state lottery money, as well as private matching money. Carolina is in the midst of a faculty recruitment plan to hire 600 new members. The Faculty Excellence Initiative is recruiting 150 faculty, many in interdisciplinary clusters of emphasis, while the Centenary Plan will recruit 100 elite research faculty to lead the University's core initiatives. Additionally, 350 faculty will be hired across disciplines to replace retirees over the next few years.

The University has forged a number of international collaborations in research, and the University's global connections are also strong in academics, particularly in international business. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked the Moore School of Business best in the nation for its undergraduate and graduate programs in international business; the undergraduate program is No. 1 for the 10th consecutive time, while the graduate program is No. 1 among public universities for the 18th consecutive year and No. 2 overall, continuing a streak of 18 years with a top-two overall ranking.