Academic Advisor (Open-Rank)

University of Colorado•Denver, CO

8d•$53,000 - $59,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Colorado Denver’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) seeks an Academic Advisor to support undergraduate students from entry through graduation. The advisor collaborates with academic advisors, faculty, administrators, and campus partners to promote student success, advocacy, and belonging. The position calls for a developmental, culturally responsive, inclusive, and equity-centered approach, including support for a high-volume and diverse student caseload. The role includes individual and group advising, new-student orientation and transition programming, proactive retention and graduation support, and participation in college and university committees. Advisors communicate degree requirements and university policies, maintain detailed records of student interactions, monitor degree progress, and help students develop academic plans. The position uses university advising and student-information systems and web-based tools to serve students in person and virtually. This is a full-time, 1.0 FTE hybrid position. The office supports approved flexible schedules consistent with position needs. Some activities require evening and weekend commitments. The position is not eligible for overtime compensation or visa sponsorship. The role may be filled at the Academic Services Intermediate Professional salary range of $53,000–$57,000 or the Academic Services Senior Professional salary range of $55,000–$59,000, depending on qualifications and other factors. The university provides leave, health plans, and retirement contributions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
For Academic Services Professional rank: one year of full-time professional-level higher education experience in an academic advising or student affairs office or position. Twelve months of graduate-level paraprofessional experience in such an office or position may count toward this experience requirement.
For Academic Services Senior Professional rank: three years of full-time professional-level higher education experience in an academic advising or student affairs office or position; paraprofessional experience, including graduate assistantship experience, does not count toward this requirement.
Knowledge of higher education systems, college student development, and student-success practices.
Knowledge of and ability to apply culturally responsive, inclusive, and equity-centered practices in academic advising and student service.
Ability to build trusting, collaborative relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, including students, team members, faculty, administrators, and campus partners.
Ability to communicate complex information clearly and effectively in written, oral, and virtual formats.
Skill in using technology and learning new software systems to manage information, communicate, and support student services.
Effective listening, critical thinking, evaluation, and problem-solving skills for complex situations.
Ability to accurately manage, analyze, organize, and document student, academic, and institutional information with attention to detail and quality.
Ability to organize and prioritize independent work and multiple responsibilities in a high-volume, fast-paced environment.
Ability to contribute to additional role-, team-, and office-connected responsibilities as needed.
Ability to meet the position’s physical and remote-work requirements, including extended computer work and, for remote work, maintaining a dedicated workspace with reliable internet connectivity.

Nice To Haves

One or more years of direct experience working with undergraduate students in academic advising, new-student or retention programs, orientation, early action, student and academic support programs, or other enrollment and retention activities.
Demonstrated experience using technology to support proactive and effective advising practices and processes across in-person, phone, and virtual or remote modalities.
Demonstrated success supporting a large and diverse student caseload.
A completed or in-progress master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, college student personnel, counseling, education, or a related field from a regionally accredited college or university, or two years of full-time professional-level higher education experience in an academic advising or student affairs office or position.

Responsibilities

Advise a diverse caseload of new and continuing CLAS undergraduate students using developmental and inclusive practices through graduation.
Advocate for students across populations, including students of color, first-generation students, first-time college students, transfer students, veterans, international students, and online students.
Build advising relationships that foster students’ sense of belonging to college and campus communities.
Communicate accurate and timely general, CU Denver Core, CLAS, major, minor, and graduation requirements, and interpret complex college and university policies and procedures.
Develop detailed knowledge of assigned major and minor requirements for a focused caseload.
Document student contacts, including email, phone, virtual, scheduled, and drop-in advising interactions.
Provide individualized support and refer students to relevant campus resources.
Participate in professional development to stay current with academic advising best practices.
Prepare and facilitate in-person and virtual advising presentations and appointments for first-time, first-year, and transfer students, including online-only students, during New Student Orientation.
Support processes that ensure the accuracy of new student records and degree audits related to prior learning and transfer credit.
Collaborate with campus partners to promote new-student engagement experiences, including First-Year Experiences.
Develop, conduct, and track proactive outreach campaigns for the advising caseload and specific student populations using advising tools and systems.
Implement retention and early intervention initiatives for students needing academic support, including students at different levels of academic standing.
Collaborate with campus constituents to promote student engagement experiences, such as internships and independent studies, that support career or post-baccalaureate preparation.
Partner with campus offices on student-success initiatives.
Monitor degree progress and help students develop academic plans using advising tools and systems.
Support returning and readmitted students, including students returning from academic suspension.
Complete initial and final graduation checks for fall, spring, and summer graduates.
Represent CLAS Academic Advising on college and university committees.
Serve as a primary advising liaison to designated CLAS departments, programs, and university student-affairs partners.
Coordinate with department liaisons to remain current on major and minor program updates and communicate changes to the advising team.
Collaborate with the CLAS transfer credit and degree audit team and major advisors to support transfer-credit evaluation and degree-audit functionality.
Use CU-SIS, uAchieve, EAB Navigate360, CollegeSource Systems (TES and Transferology Lab), OnBase, and Slate by Technosolutions to advise students.
Use web-based tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Qualtrics for advising presentations and appointments, colleague communication, and assessment of advising initiatives.
Contribute to additional role-, team-, and office-connected responsibilities as needed.