Undergraduate Academic Advisor

Job Summary

Under direction of the Director Undergraduate Advising and Policy, the Undergraduate Academic Advisor has the lead staff responsibility to ensure a quality experience for undergraduate students housed in colleges outside the Graduate School of Management (GSM): students seeking minors offered by the School, including the Technology Management Minor, the Accounting Minor and any future minor degree programs, along with students that are seeking to change into the Business Major. Address difficult problems in advising, identifying barriers and issues, and propose solutions. Provide in-depth, wide-ranging and complex academic advising to undergraduates, prospective students, faculty, and other administrative units. Certify minor completion, facilitate student petitions, coordinating the minor programs with all faculty and staff stakeholders at the GSM, and promoting the minors on campus. Coordinate change of major process, including implementing OASIS tools and lottery system. GSM is a hybrid workspace, as determined by the Director.

Department Overview

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management is consistently ranked among the premier business schools in the United States and internationally. The principal goal of the School's programs is to produce graduates who have the ability, knowledge and motivation to perform effectively as leaders in business. The GSM has offered undergraduate minors for more than two decades and will launch a new Business Major in Fall 2025. Academic Advisor positions have substantial delegated authority from the Academic Senate and the Dean that they independently exercise within broad policy and procedural parameters established by the Academic Directors of the minor programs. They play the lead role in the delivery of academic advising services for students and collaborate with appropriate campus partners to deliver services. The academic advisors help students develop academic competency within the University system; guide students in course and major selection; teach self-evaluation of academic success; and help students interpret and understand policies. The academic advisors develop a support network for students that include awareness of, and access to, the academic and personal resources (tutoring, counseling, etc.) on the campus and in the community; assist students in pursuing exceptions to policies; and, engage in solving complicated problems including those that require referrals to psychological counseling and long term follow up. The academic advisors are also responsible for working with the faculty of the GSM on governance, curriculum, and other matters of undergraduate education. The academic advisors have a prominent role carrying out those activities. The academic advisors work with the appropriate campus partners to develop electronic tools for monitoring both progress toward a degree and quality of advising, and provide appropriate referrals to support general student wellbeing.

65% MINOR PROGRAM AND CHANGE-OF-MAJOR ADVISING

• Serve as primary advisor for GSM Minor and change-of-major student populations.
• Advise students on a wide range of course possibilities and/or ways to complete degree requirements that may not be clearly defined.
• Guide students on the change of major requirements for business students, helping them develop multiple course schedule options, including options for alternative majors.
• Provide group advising sessions to help students navigate requirements.
• Find efficient ways to address student advising demands such as using webinars, workshops, and virtual front desk.
• Maintain the confidentiality of student information in accordance with the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and other laws and regulations.

30% ACADEMIC ADVISING PROGRAM SUPPORT

• Support academic and advising-related programs, including but not limited to newly admitted student Orientation programs and yield events such as Aggie Day; participate in commencement-related events.
• Maintain and update the GSM Minor student websites and perform content edits, updates and additions for information on course offerings, academic requirements and other pertinent information.
• Develop strong working relationships with other campus academic advisors to communicate GSM policies and to help promote all GSM Minor programs.
• Work with faculty and the Academic Operations team to help resolve student enrollment issues, manage waiting lists, help instructors with classroom concerns and prerequisite petitions, and provide PTAs to students as appropriate.  
• Represent the GSM at a variety of undergraduate-related events and activities.
• Collect and analyze data to support and further the strategic goals of the GSM minor programs.
• Provide further support as requested by Director of Undergraduate Advising and Policy.

5% PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION

• Participate in campus advising trainings, meetings, and seminars, and the UC Davis annual advising conference, and other activities to develop and improve student advising.
• Communicate with the advising team, faculty and staff in GSM, and campus offices to implement best advising practices, refer students who seek enrichment, research placements or specialized services to appropriate contacts, and maintain consistent interpretation and implementation of policies and procedures.

Minimum Qualifications - For full consideration, applicants are encouraged to upload license and/or certification if required of the position

• Bachelor's degree in STEM field, academic advising, counseling, higher education, student services, psychology, sociology, or related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience identifying and determining appropriate level of advising or referral services for individual students, providing immediate crisis counseling, triage, and referrals to students in academic, financial, or personal difficulty.
• Knowledge and experience working with culturally diverse communities in an academic environment.
• Experience with undergraduate curricular elements and structures such as courses, units, prerequisites, majors and minors, with experience examining and assessing college transcripts and compute or review on-line computations of grade point averages and grade point balances.
• Experience prioritizing and organizing a heavy workload to achieve timely progress on multiple projects, distributing appropriate effort among the projects to meet deadlines and maintain a high level of productivity.
• Interpersonal communication skills to interact positively, cooperatively, and professionally with team members, administrators, staff, students, and the general public all of varying ages, cultural backgrounds and perspectives.
• Writing, editing and proofreading skills to prepare clear and accurate correspondence, reports and concise summaries. Knowledge of state and federal laws governing confidentiality of student records.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working independently evaluating, planning, and coordinating both small and large projects. 
• Experience working at a UC, and UC Davis in particular, in undergraduate academic advising.

Salary or Pay Range:

• $24.19/hr. - $43.44/hr. (Dept. budgeted range: $24.19/hr. - $32.57/hr. Commensurate with experience)

 Percentage of Time: 50% Variable

• Shift (Work Schedule): Monday – Friday, 10am-2pm (hours may fluctuate depending on department needs)

Work Environment

• Hybrid (3 days a week, with potential for more days during certain weeks of the quarter) M-F 10am-2pm (hours may fluctuate depending on department needs) Gallagher Hall, Room 2209 
• Requires some limited travel; must be able to drive to all GSM campuses, including Sacramento, Davis, San Francisco and San Ramon campuses. Valid California driver's license required.