Assistant Dean for Advising and Student Support, College of Natural Sciences

University of Texas at Austin

10d•$145,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant Dean is the key management leader for the Advising and Student Support area of the College of Natural Sciences' (CNS) Undergraduate Education and serves as a member of Undergraduate Education's core leadership team. The Assistant Dean oversees the administration, programs, and strategic direction of the organization, including designing a coherent, data-informed advising continuum for CNS undergraduate students across academic, non-academic, and professional advising, as well as student records. The Assistant Dean fosters a culture of student-centered service excellence, operational consistency, and continuous improvement across all advising functions. Discovery starts here in the College of Natural Sciences, where we are changing the world through transformative experiences, education, and research. We are the largest college at UT Austin, home to top-ranked academic specialties, a dozen departments, and award-winning student programs and faculty. Join us and help pave the way for the next generation of leaders and breakthroughs in science, technology, and mathematics. The Office of Undergraduate Education supports the educational mission of the college through faculty instruction support, advising, student success programming, curriculum planning with departments, recognition programs, study abroad, and more. Founded in 1883, The University of Texas at Austin ranks among the top 40 universities globally, with nationally recognized programs across 19 colleges and schools. By creating educational opportunities for all and leading cutting-edge research at scale, the university fosters positive social change, technological advancement, and economic progress - proving that change really does start here. UT Austin offers outstanding employee benefits and total rewards packages. For more details, please see: Benefits | Human Resources.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 6 years of progressive experience managing programs or developing initiatives.
Demonstrated success in academic advising, personnel management, and budget management.
Demonstrated record of successful program development and assessment.
Effective leadership experience with students, staff, faculty, and external stakeholders.
Professional demeanor and excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree.
Experience directing an advising unit in higher education, ideally at a large public research university.
Extensive experience partnering with faculty and academic leadership.
Experience with student success/CRM case-management platforms and using data to drive advising strategy.
Demonstrated creative and analytical thinking.
Experience working with STEM students.
Experience developing and implementing new programs at scale.
Familiarity with UT undergraduate student success programs.
Strong research and data management skills.

Responsibilities

Set priorities and provide leadership for the advising experience of CNS undergraduate students. Identify and implement improved ways to support both thriving and struggling students, including cross-functional collaboration with other units in Undergraduate Education and other colleges. Oversee planning, implementation, and assessment of advising programs, orientation, internal transfer, and college-readiness initiatives, and use retention and persistence data to guide strategy. Coordinate and supervise student services administration for Natural Sciences majors. Advise College leadership on trends and emerging needs affecting students inside and outside the classroom. Oversee college-level academic processes such as academic warning, dismissal, and re-entry.
Provide leadership, supervision, and direction for the Advising and Student Support area, including budget and staff. Establish budget priorities and maintain data on advising initiatives and outcomes. Hire, train, and develop staff; set goals and conduct performance evaluations; manage disciplinary matters up to and including dismissal; address grievances and corrective action plans. Actively invest in staff development, cross-training, and succession planning. Cultivate a culture of excellent, consistent service to students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Administer and supervise non-academic advising policies and procedures. Build support structures for students whose personal circumstances affect their ability to engage fully with academics, and coordinate with campus wellness and mental health resources. Partner with non-academic coordinators on decisions such as retroactive withdrawal and course withdrawal. Manage emergency fund to support student financial needs. Chair the non-academic appeals committee. Ensure adherence to college and university policy.
Supervise the Student Records office, including courses and curriculum, graduation, petitions, catalogs, certificates, and minors. Support the Associate Dean on academic matters and student concerns, and serve as liaison to CNS faculty and Student Conduct and Academic Integrity on student matters, grievances, grade appeals, and conduct issues.
Oversee the advising unit's use of student success and CRM/case-management platforms (e.g., EAB Navigate or comparable systems) to track caseloads, flag students in need of intervention, and measure advising impact. Partner with Undergraduate Education and university IT on data governance, reporting, and adoption of new advising technologies, including responsible use of AI-enabled advising tools.
Represent the Associate Dean and/or College of Natural Sciences on university-wide committees, including the Assistant Deans' Council and Orientation. Build and sustain partnerships with units across campus and other college advising centers. Collaborate across Undergraduate Education to identify areas for improvement and lead implementation of solutions.
Serve as a trusted advisor to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, providing candid counsel on sensitive student, personnel, and policy matters. Act as a sounding board on emerging issues before they reach a decision point and help shape the Associate Dean's approach to complex or high-visibility situations. Exercise sound, independent judgment and discretion when representing the Associate Dean's perspective to faculty, staff, and students. Maintain the confidentiality and trust necessary to be brought into high-level conversations early and consistently. Support the Associate Dean on a range of high-level issues and serve as their designee on student-related matters such as course/term drops and appeals when the Associate Dean is unavailable.
Serve as the College’s designated decision-maker on a defined set of student petitions and appeals, including admissions exceptions, grade changes and grade appeals, course/term drop and withdrawal requests, graduation certifications, and other academic petitions not otherwise assigned to a faculty committee. Exercise independent judgment to render final decisions within college and university policy, escalating novel, high-risk, or precedent-setting cases to the Associate Dean as appropriate.
Other duties as assigned, including supporting special projects and staffing events within CNS.