Team Lead, Academic Advising

Overview

The Team Lead, Academic Advising leads the Undergraduate Coordinator and Advisors (Advisors) and provides academic advising in the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) under the guidance of the Senior Manager, Operations. This role provides Advisors with leadership, workflow management, support on complex student cases, and training. This role reports on advising trends and provides recommendations to address challenges the team is facing. The Team Lead, Academic Advising is also responsible for student support and engagement in alignment with SAF’s student engagement strategy. This role supports the professional undergraduate program offerings of SAF by ensuring students have access to accurate student resources. Working closely with the Senior Manager, Operations and the advising team, they support over 2,000 SAF students every year.

Responsibilities

Leads Undergraduate Coordinator and Advisors

• Trains and supervises the SAF undergrad advising team, including distribution of responsibilities and performance management
• Creates and maintains comprehensive advising training resources and manuals
• Addresses and supports Advisors on complex, out-of-the-ordinary student academic and co-op sequence cases. Works with Counselling, AccessAbility, Constable Services and other units to ensure all needs of student support are met
• Provides a high level of support to the Advisors through daily check ins, monitoring workflow, and ensuring advising coverage
• Leads Advisors on collaborative projects, sets clear and reasonable expectations, and provides ongoing feedback
• Fosters a positive and friendly team environment that aligns with SAF culture strategies that will empower Advisors to support students
• Leads the collection of data from surveys and events to provide data-driven recommendations for student support or advising practice initiatives
• Reports advising trends, successes, and challenges to the Senior Manager, Operations to support management-level decisions. Proposes recommended implementation approaches that support proactive access to resources and wellness support for students
• Backs up the portfolios and work of advising team as needed during periods of high volume or absences
• Oversees and supports successful advising tasks, such as, student communications, incomplete grades, academic progression, degree completion audits, transfer requests, petitions, accommodations, enrollment, sequence changes, degree checklists, sequence creation, etc
• Supports the coordination and organization of the calendar change process. This may include serving as the Calendar Representative, compiling course and program changes for submission to the Undergraduate Calendar, and updating and proofreading content

Advising

• Maintains in-depth and current knowledge of Arts' undergraduate curriculum and academic requirements for the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) program, as well as University policies and Faculty regulations of relevance to student issues and supports
• Maintains working knowledge of Computing and Financial Management (CFM), Math CPA, Science Biotech CPA, Masters of Accounting (MAcc), Sustainability and Financial Management (SFM) and Arts and Business program requirements
• This role performs a broad spectrum of responsibilities including but not limited to student advising, student engagement, academic integrity, calendar management, and performing and overseeing core advising functions (e.g., meeting with students, supporting students with program sequences, enrollment, student resources, difficult situations, accommodations, academic progression, petition support, etc.)
• Advises and oversees course selection and enrollment to support students in meeting degree requirements as scheduled. Maintains in-depth knowledge and documentation on enrollment (permissions, course overrides, section switches, plan modifications, work-study sequence changes, letters of permission and exchange)
• Acts as the first point of contact and provides support to students in personal and academic crisis within UW ethics and crisis management guidelines. This may involve assessing the urgency and arranging for emergency appointments at Counseling Services when appropriate, and providing practical assistance when necessary
• Works closely with the Senior Manager, Operations on academic progression student cases and oversees Recommendations to Graduate reviews
• Supports the Co-op and Student Engagement Coordinator in SAF with sequence change workflow and correspondence

Student Support and Engagement

• In collaboration with the Co-op and Student Engagement Coordinator and the Advisors, initiates and plans various student-focused events to provide proactive resources and wellness support that connect to the SAF student engagement strategy. This could include events, info sessions, wellness initiatives, workshops, etc
• Implements new student advising initiatives, such as a monthly AFM Newsletter, engagement events, or peak drop-in advising in student space
• Maintains active communication with students to ensure awareness of deadlines, resources, student engagement initiatives and events
• Ensures SAF representation and knowledge of relevant student groups, Arts and University initiatives, associations, and student support opportunities
• Collaborates with internal support units to support all students and to increase their sense of belonging and improve the overall student experience. Offer equity informed initiatives and resources, with a focus on underrepresented students (e.g. connecting with relevant resources, such as Connection Collective)
• Works with leadership and other campus resources to identify and implement early outreach opportunities

Committees, Meetings, and Representation

• Leads AFM academic advising team meetings
• Contributes to faculty advising meetings and cross-campus Advising committees
• Meets regularly with Senior Manager, Operations to provide updates, review challenges and brainstorm future opportunities
• Prepares informative presentations to present at events such as orientation, recruiting and academic decision-making, international exchange, etc. Sessions may include large groups of colleagues, current students, faculty, potential applicants and their families
• Represents SAF at various SAF events. This may include advising events, convocation receptions, student awards ceremonies, Fall Open House, March Break Open House, Ontario University Fair, You at Waterloo Day as well as in transition events such as Waterloo Ready and Orientation

Accuracy of Publications and Records

• Maintains student records in a confidential manner and adheres to UW Records policy and retention guidelines
• Ensures proper recording of student advising notes
• Prepares and reviews documentation for the Undergraduate Web pages and other publications to ensure they are updated and accurate
• Reviews the School of Accounting and Finance content in the UG Calendar prior to publication

SAF Administrative Support

• Answers faculty questions regarding undergraduate and School policies and procedures
• Supports and may act as a backup to the Scheduling and Undergraduate Manager
• May be asked to support the CFM or SFM Program Manager with advising or other initiatives
• Prepares data and statistical reports as required for a variety of SAF stakeholders

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of education and advising and supervising experience
• 3+ years of supervisory or people leadership experience, including skills dealing with diverse teams and situations. Demonstrated experience related to the above-mentioned key accountabilities
• 3+ years of undergraduate academic advising or counselling students in an academic environment, including sound working knowledge of UW policies and procedures as they relate to undergraduate curriculum, academic requirements/regulations/guidelines
• Demonstrated ability to lead team-based efforts and supervise and assign workflow of direct reports
• Demonstrated ability to mentor, support and provide clear expectations to direct reports. Experience offering career development to a team would be an asset
• Demonstrated experience working with staff and issues of confidentiality, with a sensitivity to diversity and inclusion
• Demonstrated performance showing strong prioritization, organization, communication (oral and written), problem solving, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to develop and communicate service standards and collect data to provide recommendations
• Ability and inclination to use diplomacy, tact, good judgment when interacting with students, staff, and faculty, even in difficult interactions
• Demonstrated ability to resolve individual conflicts actively and constructively, to engage in difficult conversations, and to find collaborative solutions
• Knowledge of AFM, CFM, Math CPA, Science Biotech CPA, and SFM undergraduate curriculum, academic requirements/regulations/guidelines
• Strong knowledge of University of Waterloo resources, processes, policies, and procedures, specifically those related to degree requirements, faculty academic policies, co-op, student well-being, and student success
• Knowledgeable about the needs and concerns of students and a commitment to student engagement and success
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and demonstrate a sensitivity to diversity
• Demonstrated ability to provide crisis support to students
• Ability to work independently, with minimal direction, and a proven team-player who can also enjoy collaborative work and helping others
• Ability to manage a large volume of work, changing and conflicting priorities, and overlapping deadlines
• Advanced use of MS Office products, especially Teams, Word and Excel
• Advanced understanding of data sources available to support Academic Advising, including ASIS and Quest
• Demonstrated ability to use technological solutions to improve processes and communication
• Vulnerable sector check required

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion. As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources athrhelp@uwaterloo.caor 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.