Position: Advising Coordinator

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A complete description of the position follows:

Under general direction from the Director of the Athletic Study Center, the Advising Coordinator has functional responsibility for planning, directing, controlling, and evaluating the advising component which is charged with enhancing the academic success, retention, and graduation rates of the campus’ 1,000 current and former student athletes.

The component provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive set of coordinated advising services (one-stop shopping) including individual advising, group advising, programming, and counseling pertaining (but not limited) to major, College, university, PAC-10, and NCAA rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

These services are coordinated with those provided by ASC’s tutorial component and other student services across the entire campus, including College advising programs (such as Letters & Science, Environmental Design, Natural Resources, Haas Business, Chemistry, Engineering, etc.), student services such as Financial Aid, Career Center, and Admissions, major advising, the Student Learning Center, Student Life Advising Services, CalSO programming, Summer Bridge, and the Disabled Students’ Program.

The Advising Coordinator manages the component in the context of increased national scrutiny of athletes, their academic well-being, and their progress toward and rate of graduation.

Student athletes are arguably the highest profile sub-population in the student body, particularly in the revenue sports of football and men’s basketball. As a result, consequences for Advisors’ mistakes or failures in judgement can result in poor publicity locally and/or nationally for the campus. Even in the lower profile non-revenue sports, coaches typically pass on their pressure to win to the Academic Advisor and his/her student advisees.

The Advising Coordinator is responsible for the individual work of the Advisors and the quality of advising they deliver in addition to ensuring the overall success of the advising component and representing the component to the campus and external constituencies.

His decisions have major impact upon the campus. He solves any problems that cannot be resolved at the Advisors’ level, working with coaches, faculty, Intercollegiate Athletics administrators, PAC-10 and NCAA officials and leaders of other campus units to handle highly sensitive and political issues with expertise and diplomacy. He represents the unit as needed in campus, PAC-10, and NCAA investigations.

The Advising Coordinator’s effectiveness in working with coaches, Athletics administrators, faculty, campus student services staff, alumni, and boosters is critical as these constituencies may have sharply diverging goals for the student athletes they work with.

The Advisors serve as an interface for student athletes between Berkeley’s athletic and academic programs.

The Advising Coordinator must possess a unique tool set to move easily between each and must balance competing claims for student athletes’ time and attention. Advisors must enlist the collaboration and cooperation of these groups and work creatively with them to identify problems and develop solutions.

The Advising Coordinator must also be an effective manager as he hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates Advisors, assigning them to specific sports. Each team has a unique culture, thus there must be a good fit and rapport between each coach, the Advisor and the student athletes he or she works with.

It is critical that the Coordinator foster an ongoing partership and build trust between coaches, student athletes and advising staff with clear communication and an understanding of common goals. The Coordinator fosters a welcoming advising environment that develops student athletes’ abilities as self-sufficient learners.

Under general supervision and guidance of the Director (MSP II), the Advising Coordinator operates with a high degree of autonomy and has full responsibility for the unit’s advising component, including program development, maintenance, and evaluation, as well as the supervision of 2.5 FTE Advisors (Student Affairs Officers), each of whom supervises 2-3 student peer advisors.

RESPONSIBILITIES

70% - Advising Coordinator

The Advising Coordinator manages the advising component and provides leadership to develop coordinated and effective services in an environment of limited resources.

Strategic Planning. Develops short and long-term goals for the advising component in accordance with Athletic Study Center mission. Engages in short- and long-term planning, design, maintenance, and evaluation of student service programs and develops program policies.

Coordination of Student Service Delivery. Coordinates the provision of superior services to students. Using knowledge of each Advisor’s experience, knowledge of campus, former athletic experience, and personality, assigns sports to, and coordinates scheduling and monitoring duties of, the advising staff. Troubleshoots problems with faculty, coaches, and other campus constituencies that cannot be resolved at the Advisor level. Works as a team member with the Tutorial Coordinator and Academic Specialist to provide coordinated services for student athletes.

Program Development and Implementation. Through the use of both qualitative and quantitative survey methods on a regular basis, the Coordinator assesses general academic, financial, personal and career needs of the population and determines staff projects and programmatic duties to address these needs. Develops, coordinates, and evaluates programs designed to encourage the academic progress and intellectual development of student athletes, including new student orientations, adjunct courses, intensive workshops, faculty mentoring, Summer Bridge advising, student peer advising, career and graduate school, post-eligibility scholarship and degree completion programs, and other mandated activities. Responsible for the advising program for student athletes in Summer Bridge; develops and implements activities, including course planning, student testing and placement, advising, weekly workshops, and maintaining progress towards and evaluating the achievement of successful completion. Also develops programs for recruits and parents.

Oversees the use of new technologies as appropriate.

Supervision and Management. Supervises 2.5 FTE Academic Advisors that provide comprehensive advising services to students. Coordinates hiring process for new Advisors. Designs and coordinates training program to ensure high-quality advising.

Prepares performance appraisal standards and periodically evaluates performance. Troubleshoots complex or difficult problems for Advisors.

Provides professional development opportunities.

Program Evaluation. Evaluates success of advising program using both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, such as paper and e-mail surveys, focus groups, exit interviews, and special meetings with student athletes, coaches, faculty, major and college advisors, leaders of student services units across campus, the Tutorial Coordinator, the Academic Specialist, the Assistant Athletic Director for Student Services, and the Faculty Athletic Representative.

Campus and External Relations. Forges effective relationships with faculty, staff, and administrators, working closely to enlist their support of and involvement in the advising component’s programs. Develops collaborative partnerships within and across division lines and strengthens ties to the academic programs and faculty committees. Attends monthly coaches’ and college advising staff meetings, keeps them apprised of critical issues, policies, procedures, and academic deadlines related to the student athlete population, and plans and implements orientations on student athlete advising for new coaches and advisors.

Works with staff in other support services, such as Student Life Advising Services, the Student Learning Center, the Disabled Students’ Program, College and major advising units, Intercollegiate Athletics, CalSO, etc. Meets with Dean of Undergraduate Division in Letters and Science regarding college policies and procedures. Serves as liaison with ASC Faculty Advisory Committee. Forms and coordinates ASC Student Advisory Committee and the Faculty Mentor Program.

Attends Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics when appropriate. Serves as liaison with sports psychologists in the University Health Services for issues arising from student athletes’ psychological difficulties.

Represents the advising component and the unit and serves as consultant to the campus, the PAC-10, and NCAA on policy and procedural issues that impact UC Berkeley’s student athletes. Advocates on behalf of student athletes who are having academic difficulties.

Responds to local and national news media on request. Makes a variety of both written and oral presentations to a wide array of campus groups, alumni, high school and community college students and staff members, other College and campus staff members, and parent groups.

Represents Berkeley as a member of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics and other professional organizations.

Recruiting. Assists in recruiting new student athletes to campus, serving as a representative of the University; this includes meeting with over 300 prospective student athletes and their parents and attending receptions and other recruiting events. Responsible for reviewing University requirements and curricula, arranging meetings with faculty members, clarifying academic opportunities, giving an overview of the academic support program, and answering questions they and their parents may have concerning the campus. Evaluates recruits for academic success based on interviews, grades, and test scores and uses these assessments for orientations, advising, and scheduling once the student athlete is admitted to Cal.

Other Duties as Assigned. Assists Director in developing overall budget for advising component and related programs and activities like Faculty Night, peer advising, Summer Bridge, and new student athlete orientations.

Writes reports and analyses as needed for the Director on programmatic issues including campus, NCAA, state, and federal policies affecting the component’s activities, and recommends programmatic and procedural changes to the Director.

30% Advisor/Counselor

The position provides general advising and counseling to specific groups of student athletes in the areas of course enrollment, college and university requirements, NCAA regulations, study strategies and skills, and career planning, graduate/professional school preparation, and internship development. The Coordinator’s caseload is generally 200-300 student athletes across a broad range of schools and majors which are generally seen on an as-needed basis, especially during key periods of the semester such as add/drop periods.

As advisor, the Coordinator:

1. Explains procedures and identifies and troubleshoots problems.
2. Advocates on behalf of and assists students in the negotiation of campus bureaucracies.
3. Develops and maintains effective and productive relationships with academic chairs, academic advisors, faculty, and other key administrative staff.
4. Evaluates transcripts and standardized test scores and maintains academic progress records of students, where appropriate.
5. Serves as the primary liaison between the Career Center and the unit.
6. Provides general counseling regarding social, personal, and athletic concerns.
7. Travels with teams as appropriate, supervising study tables, proctoring exams, and facilitating the completion of homework assignments.

The Coordinator advises a caseload of 40-50 mandated student athletes and 15-20 intensive student athletes.

Mandated students, usually freshmen or transfer students, are required to attend the Evening Tutorial Program. Advisors are given reports on their attendance and must keep track of these students on a regular basis to help ensure their successful transition to the campus. The Coordinator monitors their progress, designs intervention strategies, and makes sure the students in need attend an Education 98 seminar on critical learning skills, receive tutoring in writing, and attend study groups in math, humanities, social sciences, and science.

Intensives are student athletes who are underprepared and require close interaction, about once or twice a week. Many of these cases involve student athletes admitted by exception. The Advising Coordinator familiarizes himself with the student athletes’ academic preparation before coming to campus, and then establishes and continues to maintain a closer, more routine communication with the student and coaches involved. The Coordinator collaborates with the Academic Specialist on developing advising strategies that complement the academic skills-building strategies of these student athletes that enhance their intellectual and personal growth.

For this targeted caseload, the Coordinator:

1. assesses individual students’ needs.
2. advises on specifics of course selection and preparation for a major.
3. coordinates closely with the Academic Specialist and the Tutorial Coordinator to arrange a system of support, including skills courses and individual tutors, that will help these students achieve academic success.
4. participates in the Academic Progress Meeting program, or Intensives Program.
5. refers students to be assessed as needed for learning styles and learning disabilities).

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE

1. Planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating instructional or student service programs at the collegiate levels, including design and implementation of programs tailored to a specific target group and programs with complex logistics involving multiple tasks and priorities.
2. Minimum of 5 years of direct experience working with student athletes in a collegiate setting, with preference given to those having worked in large institutions with high profile sports programs and complex bureaucracies.
3. Demonstrated ability to help students balance the demands of a rigorous athletic program with academic requirements, the ability to enlist coaches’ support in the academic success of their athletes, and the ability to explain athletic demands on their students to faculty.

4. Thorough knowledge of student athlete issues at the University level.
5. Demonstrated a clear understanding of the unique and diverse academic challenges of the student athlete population and the role an academic program plays in helping students balance their athletic and academic demands.

6. Demonstrated experience in working with a diverse student population.
7. Demonstrated leadership ability.
8. Broad-based understanding of the impact of social and personal factors on students’ development
9. Demonstrated ability and experience in assessing the needs of student athletes and has designed special programs to assist their needs.
10. Experience in designing mandated academic support services and also monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on students’ academic progress to coaches and supervisor.
11. Demonstrated effective advising and counseling skills.
12. Demonstrated expertise in labor markets, graduate and professional school preparation, and other career preparation, as they relate to student athletes.
13. Strong writing skills.
14. Evidence of strong interpersonal and group presentation skills; demonstrated skills in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with staff of all levels, including faculty, other advisors, coaches and administrators.
15. Experience with recruiting collegiate athletes.
16. Demonstrated ability to work within an environment that is highly unstructured and variable, making planning difficult. Must be experienced at meeting spontaneous demands while undertaking projects that require advance planning.
17. Ability to work at a fast pace.
18. Has a philosophy about his/her role as an Academic Advisor to student athletes compatible with the Athletic Study Center’s advising emphasis on academic independence and responsibility and have demonstrated experience successfully applying this philosophy in college level advising.
19. Thorough knowledge of NCAA requirements.
20. Must be proficient in word processing, electronic mail, and other office-related software.
21. Must be able to work evenings and weekends, and travel on occasion, as assigned.