Academic Advocate

Office of Academic Advocacy:

The Office of Academic Advocacy within the Division of Student Success and Well-Being creates opportunities for undergraduate students to thrive by providing a system of support to foster academic success, retention, and timely degree attainment. Driven by equitable outcomes for all students, innovation, and excellence, we assist students in achieving their academic and personal goals. Working collaboratively with the colleges and campus partners, a holistic student-centered approach is utilized to empower students to strive for academic achievement and individual growth.

The Opportunity:

The Academic Advocate's main role is to enhance persistence, progression, and completion of undergraduate students, aligned with the university's strategic goals and targeted metrics. The advocates will contribute to the implementation and improvement of policies and processes, analyzing data to identify obstacles to student retention and academic advancement.

The advocates will engage in outreach efforts to support at-risk students, collaborate with university colleges and academic advisors along with various university departments such as the Registrar, Financial Aid, and Housing. The Academic Advocate will work directly with undergraduate students, offering assistance with academic plans, course schedules, major selection, and career goals. Their focus will be on students facing challenges related to persistence, academic probation, or students at risk of not graduating.

Responsibilities:

Core Student Support & Case Management:

• Serves as the primary case manager for assigned undergraduate students and cohorts, including students experiencing academic distress that may impede timely degree completion.

• Responds to student referrals and investigates student cases referred by campus partners.

• Resolves individual student issues requiring coordination across multiple university offices.

• Assists students in understanding institutional policies and processes, reviewing options, and resolving academic concerns.

• Maintains student files, updates academic records, and monitors student progress to support successful persistence and completion.

Retention, Persistence & Intervention Programs:

• Develops and implements proactive intervention programs and early outreach plans to enhance student retention, persistence, and degree completion.

• Designs targeted outreach strategies for identified atrisk populations.

• Ensures ongoing student engagement, satisfaction, and academic momentum through timely interventions.

Collaboration & Campus Partnerships:

• Collaborates with academic and nonacademic departments to coordinate targeted intervention strategies for atrisk students.

• Serves as a liaison and institutional resource on retentionrelated academic information.

• Communicates academic requirements effectively to students, faculty, and staff.

• Leads adhoc teams or crossunit workgroups to support coordinated retention and completion initiatives.

Data Analysis, Assessment & Continuous Improvement:

• Uses analytical and evidencebased decisionmaking to develop, interpret, and analyze reports and trends from multiple data sources.

• Translates data insights into actionable strategies to enhance outreach, persistence, and completion programs.

• Identifies student populations with the greatest need and prioritizes institutional efforts accordingly.

• Assesses the effectiveness of persistence and completion initiatives and recommends improvements.

Policy Review & Institutional Advancement:

• Monitors academic policies, procedures, and processes related to undergraduate retention, persistence, and completion.

• Recommends policy and process changes to enhance student success across departments and colleges.

• Contributes to institutionwide strategies aimed at improving undergraduate outcomes.

Training, Presentations & Professional Development:

• Presents at meetings, workshops, and internal and external venues to disseminate and strengthen institutional retention strategies.

• Conducts professional development sessions and training for staff, advisors, and students, particularly in areas where misinformation or policy changes impact student persistence.

Leadership & Additional Responsibilities:

• May supervise undergraduate and/or graduate students in support of assigned cohort responsibilities.

• Performs other duties as assigned in alignment with student success and retention goals.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree and 2+ years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree, or an equivalent combination of education and experience pursuant to Fla. Stat. 112.219(6).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Higher Education, Student Affairs, Educational Leadership or related degree.

• 4+ years of relevant experience in student affairs, academic advising, student success, care/case management, or similar roles.

• 1+ year(s) of leadership experience

• 2+ years of experience working with student success initiatives.

Additional Application Materials Required:

In addition to your application, please submit a resume and cover letter

Special Instructions to the Applicants:

• New hires selected for this position at the University of Central Florida can expect to be offered the base salary of $56,000 for the role. Compensation is determined in alignment with UCF's pay structure and internal equity considerations

• All applicants must be authorized to work for any U.S. employer. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position, and the university cannot accommodate H1B transfers or employment-based visa processing for individuals currently sponsored by another employer.

Are you ready to unleash YOUR potential?

As a next-generation public research university and Forbes-ranked top employer in Florida, we are a community of thinkers, doers, creators, innovators, healers, and leaders striving to create broader prosperity and help shape a better future. No matter what your role is, when you join Knight Nation, you'll play an integral role at one of the most impactful universities in the country. You'll be met with opportunities to connect and collaborate with talented faculty, staff, and students across 13 colleges and multiple campuses, engaging in impactful work that makes a positive difference. Your time at UCF will provide you with many meaningful opportunities to grow, you'll work alongside talented colleagues on complex projects that will challenge you and help you gain new skills, and you'll have countless rewarding experiences that go well beyond a paycheck.

Working at UCF has its perks!UCF offers:

• Benefit packages, including Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Flexible Spending, and Employee Assistance Program

• Paid time off, including annual and sick time off and paid holidays

• Retirement savings options

• Employee discounts, including tickets to many Orlando attractions

• Education assistance

• And more...For more benefits information, view the UCF Employee Benefits Guide.

Dive into our Total Rewards Calculator to discover the diverse selection available to you, giving you a glimpse into the benefits that together shape your comprehensive rewards package at UCF.

Unless explicitly stated on the job posting, it is UCF's expectation that an employee of UCF will reside in Florida as of the date the employment begins.

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As a Florida public university, the University of Central Florida makes all application materials and selection procedures available to the public upon request.

UCF is proud to be a smoke-free campus and an E-Verify employer.

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 407-823-1336 or email onac@ucf.edu.

For general application or posting questions, please email talent@ucf.edu.