Director of Residential Graduate Academic Affairs

We are seeking a WSE Director of Residential Graduate Academic Affairs is a pivotal role in the Whiting School of Engineering's Office of Graduate Education and Lifelong Learning (WSE GELL), working directly with the Associate Vice Dean for Graduate Education and Lifelong Learning to oversee and facilitate non-faculty academic affairs functions in the WSE, including the execution of division-wide policies, processes, and practices in compliance with academic and administrative policies for the residential graduate and postdoctoral populations in the Whiting School of Engineering; overseeing and training the 20+ academic staff that serve the residential graduate programs; managing accreditation and assessment requirements; providing new and modified curriculum project management; and contributing to academic policy development and enforcement. The Director will partner with GELL Leadership on developing initiatives- as well as implementing/helping to enforce subsequent process and policy solutions- that focus on increasing the Whiting School's capacity to scale its graduate populations while ensuring a first-class student experience. This position will research, analyze, and implement initiatives and policies that advance graduate education and will conduct analyses and reporting for decision-making regarding WSE graduate education policies, priorities, operational metrics, and long-range planning.

The Director engages with university stakeholders across institutional hierarchies, including university leadership, administration, faculty, staff, and students, and must have the ability to navigate complex relational landscapes while maintaining a high degree of diplomacy, composure, and professionalism.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

Graduate Academic Affairs

• Advise and support the Associate Vice Dean on strategic vision and planning around academic affairs and academic advising for residential graduate programs in the WSE.
• Develop strategies, processes, and resources to support a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and excellence.
• Oversee WSE residential graduate academic staff in an indirect supervisory role: including (1) input into hiring and performance reviews in partnership with academic staff solid line supervisors and (2) directly overseeing onboarding, training, leading, coaching, supervision and mentoring of the academic staff.
• Communicate policies and procedures to department chairs/heads, DGS (directors of graduate study), academic staff, and advising staff in residential graduate programs.
• Triage academic affairs problems and questions elevated by academic staff.
• Maintain academic affairs web content, oversee GELL university academic catalog approvals for residential graduate programs; maintain/oversee related resource and training sites and channels.
• Serve as designee for the Associate Vice Dean in specific SEAM academic approvals (late adds, credit overloads, etc.)
• Project manage and contribute to graduate academic affairs initiatives: such as accreditation, assessment, and curriculum development and review processes (MHEC, Middle States, etc.)
• Manage the Assistant Director of Residential Graduate Academic Affairs.

Policy Development, Analysis and Governance

• Provide oversight, coordination, and communication of academic affairs policies, procedures, and protocols to faculty, students, and staff in the residential graduate programs.
• Participate in WSE graduate program committee and director of graduate study committee work by helping to plan agendas, meetings, preparing briefings and materials, maintaining annual docket of business, and communicating with members and external stakeholders as appropriate.
• Develop academic policy documents for consideration.
• Interpret and synthesize data and information from multiple resources, to provide meaningful observations and recommendations in the development of residential graduate policies.
• Create compelling visual, written, and verbal communications for a variety of audiences.
• Interpret complex problems and determine how graduate academic policies should apply.

Organizational Leadership

• Represent WSE residential graduate academic affairs to central administrative units and act as a liaison for institution-wide committees and working groups.
• Represent WSE residential graduate academic affairs on university-wide related committees.

Additional Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Higher education administration.
• Experience researching and drafting policy.
• Understanding of institutional structures and policies in higher education.
• Demonstrated leadership in a higher education setting.
• Experience supervising and leading a team.
• Demonstrated success in project management and building productive relationships with a variety of stakeholders.
• Experience managing and communicating sensitive information with discretion and diplomacy.
• High proficiency with MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint.
• Proven management skills in organizing and overseeing staff and processes to support and redesign effective procedures.
• Ability to manage a large staff.
• Ability to independently interpret and advise on university and divisional academic and business processes and policies as related to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
• Ability to prioritize and direct broad-spectrum staffing demands with multiple stakeholders and constituencies.
• Ability to manage and track large amounts of sensitive and diverse data.
• Ability to interact with staff and faculty of all levels within the division, keep projects moving forward and motivate team members to perform and stay on track.
• Strong organizational, administrative, project management and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills, with the ability to clearly relay information among faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows and students.
• Ability to navigate ambiguous, complex, and confidential situations.
• Knowledge of student services/educational software applications (for example: SIS, Apply Yourself, SAP, Slate, SalesForce,Stellic)
• This position must have the ability to create organizational change involving new processes and new systems.
• Adaptability to get in the weeds and do administrative academic work as needed.

• Master's Degree.
  

• Ten years of experience in all aspects of academic program administration or program/project experience in a related field.
  

• Three years of direct management/supervisory experience of fulltime staff employees.
• Additional related experience may substitute for advanced education, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.

• At least five years progressively responsible experience in program administration in an academic environment strongly preferred.
• Additional years of progressively responsible, related experience as well as leadership and special project support/management experience is highly preferred.

Classified Title: Director Academic Affairs
Job Posting Title (Working Title):Director of Residential Graduate Academic Affairs
Role/Level/Range: L/04/LE
Starting Salary Range: $86,300 - $151,000 Annually ($100,000 budgeted)
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: 37.5 hrs/wk, M-F
Exempt Status:Exempt
Location:Hybrid/Homewood Campus
Department name: Academic Affairs Grad
Personnel area: Whiting School of Engineering