Career Center

The University of Minnesota’s School of Music (SOM)  is searching for an Undergraduate Advisor. Together with the Undergraduate Advisor and Curriculum Manager, this position serves undergraduate students in their advising needs and plays an important role in retaining students and maximizing their success in degree progression and completion. This position will also be responsible for developing and leading the curriculum management process, ensuring the course catalog and scheduling system is accurate and current.

The Student Services team includes the Graduate Program Coordinator, Student Services and Operations Specialist, Undergraduate Advisor and Enrollment Manager, and Undergraduate Advisor and Curriculum Manager and reports to the Chief of Staff. This team collaborates with SOM staff and faculty to serve students and prospective students. To be successful in this position, the candidate should be comfortable talking to students and colleagues, value diverse backgrounds and perspectives, enjoy project planning and management, and appreciate collaborative work. The School of Music values commitment to ongoing social justice and racial equity work in order to identify, challenge, and remove barriers to access at the individual, community, and system level.


RESPONSIBILITIES

Advising for Academic Support Services for Current Undergraduate Students (75%)

Help students build skills and make commitments that guide their educational plans, advising students in one-on-one meetings on program planning strategies, registration, major/minor declaration, degree progress, completion, graduation clearance, internships, study abroad, career plans, advanced educational opportunities, program requirements, and milestones. Coordinate services with collegiate advising, faculty, and or the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)

Develop realistic, efficient graduation plans for students. Update APAS reports as necessary to ensure timely and accurate degree clearance.

Enter undergraduate registration permissions based on advising and enrollment management.

Use APLUS, PeopleSoft (PS), Academic Progress Audit System (APAS), and other software systems to maintain accurate degree progress information. Maintain student records, monitor student progress, process relevant paperwork, respond to policy and procedure questions, and work with DUS, and faculty advisors to recommend solutions to academic difficulties.

Meet with advisees on probation or returning from suspension and set requirements for the removal of their academic probation.

Advise incoming students on degree program planning strategies, registration, ensemble auditions, placement exams through individual appointments, workshops, information sessions, and targeted emails.

Provide advising to students seeking minors administered by our department.

Lead orientation sessions for new and transfer students.

Serve as a Mental Health Advocate; direct students to college/university support resources in moments of crisis, including financial, social, personal, and academic.

Develop and maintain undergraduate student handbook.

Participate in recruiting events as needed.

Work under minimal supervision and exercise the discretion to make daily operational decisions.  Operate with a broad latitude in a complex environment.  The position will report to the Chief of Staff and will look for supervisory approvals when significant changes to process steps are considered and additional resources for task completion is required.

Be an individual contributor who will perform research and provide procedural recommendations/reports on technical matters while consulting with other advisors and managers in CLA and the university on specific issues regarding this area of expertise.  The position will have to respond and adapt to changing conditions or circumstances, requiring creative solutions and new approaches.

No supervisory responsibility but may be assigned responsibilities such as mentor/coaching others performing similar work; may lead project teams, committees and/or other collaborative efforts.  The position may have authority to supervise student employees, when appropriate.


Curriculum Management (20%)

Lead and oversee the class scheduling process of undergraduate and graduate courses for Music (MUS), Music Applied (MUSA) and Music Education (MUED) designated courses using PeopleSoft Collaborative Class Scheduling (CCS), and Electronic Course Authorization System (ECAS). Collaborate with faculty division heads, Facilities Manager, Chief of Staff, and Graduate Program Coordinator to align space, resources, and instructors. Coordinate course rotations, lesson sequence numbers, and discrete degree requirements.

Develop and lead efforts to propose and submit changes to the University Catalog, including management and reporting course registrations/enrollments. Coordinate annual course rotations, course proposals, topics proposals, and freshman seminars in collaboration SOM faculty, administration, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and CLA Office of Undergraduate Education.

Lead efforts to collect syllabi from faculty and instructors and ensure formatting is compliant with CLA Canvas requirements.

Respond to inquiries related to equivalency program questions.
Design and conduct student satisfaction surveys to identify opportunities for programming, curriculum scheduling improvement, and course offerings.

Serve as department approver of undergraduate academic policy petitions for late course additions, section changes, credit hour adjustments, and consulting as needed with the DUS, faculty divisions, and curricular committees on petitions with significant impact on student degree progress.

Work under minimal supervision and exercise the discretion to make daily operational decisions.  Operate with a broad latitude in a complex environment.  The position will report to the Chief of Staff and will look for supervisory approvals when significant changes to process steps are considered and additional resources for task completion is required.

Be an individual contributor who will perform research and provide procedural recommendations/reports on technical matters while consulting with other advisors and managers in CLA and the university on specific issues regarding this area of expertise.  The position will have to respond and adapt to changing conditions or circumstances, requiring creative solutions and new approaches.

No supervisory responsibility but may be assigned responsibilities such as mentor/coaching others performing similar work; may lead project teams, committees and/or other collaborative efforts.  The position may have authority to supervise student employees, when appropriate.

Professional Relationship Liaison (5%)
Serve as lead staff member for Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board Unit Site Visits and other Music Education State compliance programming and initiatives, maintaining updated student teacher candidate information.

Create a network of relationships with students, faculty, and campus staff to effectively deliver advising and support services to students, and serve as a liaison to other units.  Regularly attend CLA Departmental Advisor Group (DAG), Career Readiness Departmental Workgroup meetings, Academic Advisors Network (AAN) professional development workshops and anthology training, such as the Tate Advising Conference.

Serve on committees as needed for the University, College and Department.

 

Required:
BA/BS degree plus at least four years of relevant experience, or master's degree plus at least two years of relevant experience in advising, teaching, or other helping professions.

Demonstrated commitment to fostering student learning and applying organizational/student development theory to work with students.

Demonstrated commitment to equal opportunity, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Excellent skills in communication (written and oral), multicultural awareness, mastering and disseminating complex information, computer literacy (including word processing, database usage, e-mail, web searching, and reporting), and time management.

Ability to work professionally, independently, and collaboratively with stakeholders.

Ability to work occasional evening or weekend hours, depending on event requirements.

Experience or ability to learn web-based advising software or other technologies used to support student success. Included, but not limited to APAS, APLUS, Drupal, ECAS, PeopleSoft, PCAS.

Willingness to complete the Mental Health Advocate program through Boynton Health Services.


Preferred:
Previous experience in an educational setting performing academic advising or student support activities.

Experience with web-based advising software or other technologies used to support student success, including, but not limited to APAS, APLUS, Drupal, ECAS, PeopleSoft, PCAS.

Previous course curriculum management experience.

About University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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