Working/Functional Title
UIA Fellow/Strategic Initiatives Manager
Position Summary
This position is place-based in East Lansing with a 4 days in person and 1 day remote schedule. Travel within the Continental U.S. will be required several times per year for UIA activities.
OVERVIEW
As a member of the Undergraduate Education and Student Success Strategic Initiatives team at MSU, the UIA Fellow/Undergraduate Student Success Strategic Initiatives Manager will report to the Assistant Dean for Student Success Administration and Leadership in the Office of Undergraduate Education. The UIA Fellow/Strategic Initiatives Manager will work closely with university leadership to lead, support, and assess MSU and UIA student success initiatives to ensure all students can learn, thrive, and graduate. Specifically, the UIA Fellow/Strategic Initiatives Manager will:
- Assist with the setting and implementation of the student success strategy on campus;
- Project manage and lead strategic student success initiatives on campus and across the UIA;
- Work with senior leaders to identify, analyze, and find solutions for student success barriers;
- Assist in planning campus wide student success events;
- Work closely and collaboratively with student groups, leadership and organizations to incorporate the student perspective in all internal and external efforts.
- Understand and support advising and retention outreach efforts on campus
- Spend approximately 25% of their time devoted to supporting UIA Central initiatives;
- Travel approximately four times a year for three days duration each time to meet with other universities and central staff associate with the University Innovation Alliance.
The Student Success Initiatives Manager will support the implementation of campus wide projects that support student persistence, retention, graduation and overall success to meet MSU’s strategic goal of an 86% graduation rate with no opportunity gaps by 2030. They will work closely and collaboratively with other divisional staff members and student success focused areas across the institution. The incumbent will lead work through campus wide committees to map the undergraduate student experience and support opportunities that increase retention through direct student support programs, policy changes, interventions, and programs all through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The position will conduct, and support, research related to the implementation of campus-wide student success initiatives to propose strategies and initiatives to meet short-term and long-term student success goals.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
- Project manage campus wide student success projects in alignment with MSU’s strategic plan
- Serve as a key collaborator with Undergrad Education units, the colleges, Student Life and Engagement, Institutional Research, University Health and Wellbeing, Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion, and Enrollment Management to support strategic student success efforts
- Participate and coordinate with various campus and divisional level student success teams
- Research and assess policies and procedures related to undergraduate student success
- Serve on division and campus wide committees as a subject matter expert for student success initiatives
- Support MSU’s UIA Liaisons, Provost, and President in UIA-related activities
- Participate in and contribute to UIA Fellows activities, including regular meetings, ongoing Slack channel, retreats, and planning
- Support MSU’s participation in UIA scale projects implemented at MSU
- Coordinate MSU personnel participation in UIA convenings and meetings
- Respond to queries from UIA institutions and others about MSU’s student success efforts
For more information, visit:
https://undergrad.msu.edu/
https://theuia.org/
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Degree
Masters -Student affairs, higher education, or related field
Minimum Requirements
- Knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired by completing a master’s degree in student affairs, higher education, business, Counseling or other related field and minimum of five years of work experience in higher education or a related field
- Knowledge of theories and practice related to undergraduate student success, retention and graduation
- Articulated and proven passion for transformation in higher education to better serve marginalized students
- Evidence of a commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and experience conducting work to close opportunity gaps in higher education
- Ability to manage multiple activities concurrently, to continually monitor their status and to prioritize activities so that deadlines are met with limited supervision
- Ability to work with detailed information with attention to accuracy; strong skills in documentation, tracking, and data collection
- Proven success in innovative thinking to develop and implement creative solutions to complex challenges
- Experience and comfort with working in ambiguity and demonstrated ability to creatively, rapidly, and collaboratively iterate to solve problems
- Ability to work collaboratively and constructively with people at multiple levels and with diverse perspectives
- Demonstrated experience to lead or project manage within a complex organization like a higher education institution
- Ability to access, understand, and interpret data from multiple sources to promote student success through data-informed and innovative practices
- Evidence of the ability to build consensus across multiple divisions of a complex organization
- Excellent communication skills; including an ability to work diplomatically and effectively with campus partners
Desired Qualifications
- Terminal degree
- Direct student advising experience (financial aid advising, academic advising, student affairs advising, disability support advising, etc.) at a large public instituti