Team Lead, Academic Advising

The **Student Services** department’s role in student success is to create a culture and environment that unleashes the full potential of all the students at SAIT. Our primary goal is to support Student-First Culture, by focusing on student success and mobilizing all campus community members in this shared goal.

**The Opportunity**

Reporting to the Associate Director, Academic Advising, the Supervisor
- Team Lead, Academic Advising is responsible for overseeing and managing the Academic Advisors. The Team Lead works closely with the Manager of Operations/Administration in the school, the Academic Chairs, and the student services staff to ensure that students receive high-quality, consistent, and timely academic advising throughout their academic journey.

**The Role**:
- ** Planning and Assessment**:

- Participate as a member of the Associate Director’s leadership team for academic advising at SAIT
- Work with the Associate Director Academic Advising and the other Team Leads to align advising processes to be consistent across the institution.
- Work with the other Team Leads to align business processes for integration into the CRM
- Monitor workload and interaction experiences with Freshdesk including gathering feedback for assessment and efficiencies o Incorporate data and engage diverse perspectives to inform decision-making.
- Implement processes for continuous development, assessment, and evaluation of program effectiveness.
- Oversee the preparation, execution, and reporting of results for internal control and general process reviews
- Research best practices for student retention and embed practices into current and new support services.
- Assess and report on the effectiveness and outcomes of academic advising services.
- Resolves complex student issues, informs/consults with instructors, and helps to find appropriate solutions in line with our FIRST principles.
- Coordinate initiatives with other internal stakeholders to enhance the student experience at SAIT.
- Lead the process to develop targeted student communication and develops processes for student-focused advising.
- In collaboration with the Associate Director and the other Team Leads, develop and implement policies, procedures, and best practices for academic advising.
- Identify issues and analyze data to determine trends that are causing students challenges in their pursuit of course/credential completion and propose ideas to resolve these issues.
- Attend regular meetings with the manager and other leaders to determine priorities, review reporting progress, and identify significant issues or areas of concern that could jeopardize the achievement of goals.
- ** Stakeholder Relationships**:

- Work with academic leadership: Managers of Operations/Administration and academic Chairs to ensure a shared philosophical approach and structure to academic advising.
- Build strong working relationships with management, faculty, and staff to support all learners through various stages of their academic journey at SAIT
- Collaborate with other units and departments to support student success initiatives, such as orientation, retention, graduation, transfer, career development, etc.
- Establish strong working relationships with points within student services for case management of at-risk students
- Represent the academic advising unit in various committees and meetings
- ** Employee Development and Supervision**:

- Promote and demonstrate good practices in organizational leadership and teamwork
- Lead and direct the work of the Academic Advisors in the school
- Supervise, train, and evaluate a team of professional academic advisors
- Coordinate and monitor the academic advising caseload and workload distribution
- Recognize high levels of performance
- Promote and manage professional development.
- Mentor, train, and support staff in achieving team and personal performance objectives aligned with departmental and divisional priorities supporting the Strategic Plans as well as the SAIT’s Educational Plan
- Provide guidance and assessments of workflow/processes within the department and identify opportunities to improve efficiencies.
- Lead the planning and implementation of the academic advisor's training plan.
- In collaboration with the Associate Director and the Manager of Operations/Academic Chair, hire and train new academic advisors
- Participate actively or coordinate meetings within the schools pertaining to student success and progression
- Manage vacation usage, office hours, and hybrid functionality (where applicable) of advisors
- Performance reviews of Academic Advisors
- Analyze the results of the departmental key performance indicators, recommend strategies for improvement, and managing individual and team performances to meet desired objectives

**Qualifications**:
- Diploma in combination with extensive experience in academic advising and student services areas in a post-secondary setting; Bachelor's preferred
- 3-5 years' experie