Lead Academic Advisor (SSP IV)

Job Description:

Lead Academic Advisor (SSP IV)

Description

• • Position Summary
  • Full-time position available on or after March 2, 2026 for ASC/Undergraduate Advising.
    
    Under general supervision, the Lead Advisor provides advanced leadership for the Advising & Success Center (ASC), the university’s centralized undergraduate advising unit. The position leads equity-minded advising initiatives, supports student retention and timely graduation, and serves as a campus resource for complex academic advising and policy interpretation.
    
    The Lead Advisor delivers high-level academic advising and intervention for students with complex needs, supports advisors and faculty in navigating academic policies, and collaborates with campus partners to improve advising practices. Responsibilities include coordinating targeted advising initiatives, using data to inform program improvements, and ensuring accurate records and compliance with institutional requirements.
    
    This role may serve as a lead or working supervisor by providing guidance, training, and direction to advisors, staff, or student employees and supporting the daily operations of the ASC.
    
    
  • Job Duties
  • Duties include but are not limited to:
    • Lead the planning, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of advising and student success programs.
    • Serve as the campus lead for the centralized undergraduate advising model through the Advising & Success Center.
    • Develop, coordinate, and administer programs, events, and services that support student engagement, retention, and development.
    • Lead the implementation of equity-minded advising practices across advising operations.
    • Design and implement new approaches to advising challenges where established policies or precedents do not exist.
    • Recommend and implement advising-related policy and procedural changes with campus-wide impact.
    • Interpret academic advising policies and approve appropriate exceptions within delegated authority.
    • Collaborate with cross-divisional and external partners to align advising services with campus-wide and system-wide initiatives.
    • Independently handle unusual, non-routine, or precedent-setting situations that impact advising staff, programs, or campus partners.
    • Plan and organize work priorities and select methodologies from alternative approaches to meet institutional goals.
    • Provide advanced academic advising, guidance, and advocacy to support student retention, persistence, and timely graduation.
    • Serve as the final escalation point for complex, high-risk, or sensitive academic advising cases.
    • Assist students in navigating complex academic standing issues, appeals, probation, disqualification, and policy exceptions.
    • Balance student-centered advocacy with institutional standards when resolving advising cases.
    • Provide consultative advising and policy guidance to advisors, faculty, department chairs, and administrators.
    • Support equity-focused student success efforts by addressing systemic barriers and coordinating appropriate referrals.
    • Provide advising guidance and referrals that support registered student organizations and student leadership initiatives, as appropriate.
    • Oversee daily operations of the Advising & Success Center.
    • Provide lead work direction to professional advisors, support staff, and student employees, including onboarding, training coordination, and workflow guidance.
    • Recommend staffing models, caseload distribution, and advising service delivery structures.
    • Develop, maintain, and enforce operational standards, procedures, and documentation.
    • Support and coordinate department-wide advising programs, events, and initiatives beyond individual caseload responsibilities.
    • Ensure accurate, secure, and compliant maintenance of advising records, systems, and documentation in accordance with campus and CSU requirements.
    • Ensure advising operations comply with university, CSU, and regulatory requirements.
    • Develop and lead evaluation frameworks to assess advising program quality, effectiveness, and student outcomes.
    • Analyze advising and student success data (e.g., retention, persistence, equity gaps) to inform strategic improvements.
    • Use assessment findings to support continuous improvement, resource allocation, and service redesign.
    • Translate CSU and campus policy changes into advising practices, training materials, and communication.
    • Develop and deliver training, onboarding, and professional development for advisors and faculty.
    • Conduct studies, surveys, and assessments and prepare reports with recommendations.
    • Contribute to institutional reporting, accreditation, and effectiveness documentation.
    • May be required to obtain additional training and/or certification as part of professional development, based on department and/or campus needs, to stay current with industry standards.
    • At the direction of appropriate administrator, may provide support to other areas as needed.
    • The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, a logical assignment to this classification, or if it involves performing duties of a lower-level classification as required.
    • Other duties as assigned.
  • Minimum Qualifications
  • Education: Equivalent to graduation from a four-year college or university in a related field, plus upper division or graduate course work in counseling techniques, interviewing and job related conflict resolutions
    Experience: Equivalent to four years of progressively responsible professional student services work experience which includes experience in advising students individually and in groups, and in analysis and resolution of complex student services problems.
    
    A master’s degree in Counseling, Clinical Psychology, Social Work, or a job-related field may be substituted for one year of professional experience.
    
    A doctorate degree and the appropriate internship or clinical training in counseling, guidance or a job-related field may be substituted for two years of the required professional experience for positions with a major responsibility for professional, personal or career or counseling.
    
  • Preferred Qualifications
  • • Five (5) or more years of professional experience providing academic advising, student success programming, or retention-focused services in a higher education setting.
    • Five (5) or more years of experience leading or coordinating advising programs, or student success interventions with campus-wide or multi-unit impact.
    • Experience interpreting academic policies and supporting complex advising cases, such as academic standing, appeals, petitions, or exceptions.
    • Demonstrated expertise in admission eligibility and bachelor’s degree evaluations; and comprehensive advising on graduation requirements in accordance with Title 5 and CSU policies. Knowledge of prerequisite impacts on student registration, registration processes, and experience using ERP and degree audit systems are also preferred.
    • Experience using student success technologies or data systems (e.g., EAB Navigate, CRM platforms, student information systems) to support advising, outreach, or assessment.
    • Experience designing, implementing, or leading equity-minded academic advising or student success initiatives that address retention, persistence, or graduation outcomes
    • Experience leading or coordinating targeted advising interventions for first-year, transfer, undecided, or academically at-risk students within a centralized advising or student success model.
    • Prior experience in a higher education or CSU setting.
  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
  • • Ability to interpret and apply program rules and regulations.
    • Ability to use initiative and resourcefulness in planning work assignments and in implementing long-range program improvements.
    • Ability to obtain factual and interpretive information through interviews.
    • Ability to collect, compile, analyze and evaluate data and make verbal or written presentation based on these data.
    • Ability to recognize multicultural, multi-sexed and multi-aged value systems and work accordingly.
    • Demonstrated ability to make decisions and carry through actions having implications with regard to other program or service areas.
    • Thorough knowledge of the principles of individual and group behavior.
    • General knowledge of the principles, practices and trends of the Student Services field.
    • General knowledge, or the ability to rapidly acquire such knowledge, of the overall operation, functions, and organizational procedures of the campus.
    • Ability to advise students individually and in groups on complex student-related matters.
    • Ability to interpret and evaluate descriptions and explanations of problems brought forward by individuals or student organizations.
    • Thorough knowledge of the policies, procedures, activities, and practices of the program area to which assigned, or the ability to quickly acquire such knowledge.
    • General knowledge of the policies, practices and activities of Student Services programs outside the program to which immediately assigned.
    • General knowledge of the principles, problems and methods of public administration, including organizational, personnel and fiscal management.
    • General knowledge of interview techniques and advanced statistical and research methods.
    • Ability to carry out very complex assignments without detailed instructions.
    • Ability to advise students individually or in groups on varied and complex matters.
    • Ability to determine the appropriate course of action and proper techniques to utilize while engaged with individuals and groups in personal interactions of a sensitive nature.
    • Ability to reason logically and analyze and solve the organizational and operating problems of one or several program areas.
    • Ability to plan, coordinate, initiate actions necessary to implement administrative or group decisions or recommendations and ability to evaluate programs, services, policies and procedures.
    • Ability to analyze and define complex organizational, policy or procedural problems or situations accurately, collect and evaluate data, draw valid conclusions and project consequences of various alternative courses of action.
    • Ability to understand the roles and responsibilities of others and to gauge relationships accordingly by taking into account the variety of the interrelationships, motivations and goals of the members of the organization served.
    • Ability to establish and maintain effective, cooperative and harmonious working relationships with a variety of individuals in circumstances which involve the denial of requests or the necessity to persuade others to accept a different point of view.
  • Special Conditions
  • • Position may be required to travel.
  • Physical Requirements
  • The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  • Salary Range
  • Anticipated starting salary will be $6,320 per month plus excellent paid benefits. Salary will depend on the qualifications of the successful finalist. (Full range: $6,320 - $9,014 per month.)
    
    
  • Compensation & Benefits
  • Commensurate with qualifications and experience. As a member of the 23-campus CSU System, we offer an extremely competitive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, outstanding vacation, health, dental, and vision plans; a fee waiver education program; membership in the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); and 15 paid holidays a year. Link to (Bargaining Unit: 4) Benefits Summary: CSU Employee Benefit Summary
    
    
  • How to Apply
  • To be considered, qualified candidates must submit a completed Stanislaus State online employment application, cover letter, and resumé. Applications are accepted electronically only. Please note that failure to completely fill out each section of the online application may result in your application not receiving consideration. To apply online, please click the “Apply Now” button on this page.
  • Application Deadline
  • February 13, 2026
    
    
  • Criminal Background Clearance Notice
  • Satisfactory completion of a background check (which includes checks of employment records, education records, criminal records, civil records; and may include motor vehicle records, professional licenses, and sex offender registries, as position requires) is required for employment. CSU will make a conditional offer of employment, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the continued employment of a current CSU employee who was conditionally offered the position.
    
    
  • Additional Information
  • Campus & Area
    California State University, Stanislaus serves the San Joaquin Valley and is a critical educational resource for a six-county region of approximately 1.5 million people. The University is fully committed to creating a culture of diversity and inclusion - one in which every person in the University community feels safe to express their views without fear of reprisal. Widely recognized for its quality academic programs, the University has 10 nationally accredited programs and 662 faculty members. 94 percent of full-time faculty holds doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. The University offers 43 undergraduate majors, 16 master's programs, 7 post-graduate credentials, a doctorate in education and serves more than 10,000 students. New instructional facilities have been built for the unique pedagogy of professional programs, laboratory sciences and performing arts.
    
    Stanislaus State continues to receive national recognition with its ranking as one of the best 384 colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review. The University was one of 12 public universities in the nation to be recognized by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities for demonstrating exceptional performance in retention and graduation rates. In addition, U.S. News and World Report ranks Stanislaus State in its top 10 among public universities in the West, while Washington Monthly honored Stanislaus State as the West’s No. 1 university for the money. Stanislaus State also is recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education.
    
    Clery Act Disclosure
    
    Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the annual security report (ASR), is now available for viewing at https://www.csustan.edu/annual-campus-security-report . The ASR contains the current security and safety-related policy statements, emergency preparedness and evacuation information, crime prevention and sexual assault prevention information, and drug and alcohol prevention programming. The ASR also contains statistics of Clery Act crimes for Stanislaus State for the previous three years. A paper copy of the ASR is available upon request by contacting the office of the Clery Director located at One University Circle, Turlock, CA 95382.
    
    Equal Employment Opportunity
    
    The university is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, medical condition, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, covered veteran status, or any other protected status. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. The person holding this position is considered a ‘mandated reporter’ under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083, revised 7/21/17, as a condition of employment.
    
    Applicants requiring necessary accommodations to the application process may contact the Human Resources Department at (209) 667-3351. California Relay Service is available at (800) 735-2922 voice and (800) 735-2929 TDD. As a federal contractor, we are committed to attracting a diverse applicant pool. Please consider completing the Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability form (your response will not be shared with the search committee) at: Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability PDF Form .
    
    CSU Stanislaus hires only individuals lawfully authorized to work in the United States. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.
    
    The CSU is a state entity whose business operations reside within the State of California. The CSU prohibits hiring employees to perform CSU-related work outside California.
    
  • The individuals who appear to be the best qualified for this position will be contacted by telephone or email for an interview.
    
    INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
    
    

Advertised: Jan 29 2026 Pacific Standard Time
Applications close: Feb 13 2026 Pacific Standard Time