• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $73,000- $82,000

Position Summary

The Graduate Student Affairs Assistant Director is responsible for the development, management and execution of services and initiatives supporting Columbia Engineering graduate students (MS and PhD). The Assistant Director serves as a key resource for academics, advising, housing, conduct and policies. The Assistant Director is expected to collaborate closely with the Associate Director and/or senior members of the Engineering Student Affairs team.

The incumbent provides streamlined operational management of graduate student affairs, including overseeing housing allocations, student advising, along with signature academic and professional development student events. The student population is approximately 4000 MS and 800 PhD students. The Assistant Director collaborates closely with the nine academic Departments and university partners to proactively enhance the graduate student experience.

The Graduate Student Affairs Assistant Director is part of Columbia’s Engineering Student Affairs division, which supports the academics, co-curriculars, and professional development of students across Columbia Engineering’s K-12 Outreach, Undergraduate, Graduate, and non-Degree programs.

Responsibilities

Graduate Academic Affairs - 45%

• Educate graduate students, administrators, and faculty about school and university policies. Assists in academic policy review and revision.
• Review graduation clearances for all graduate degree levels (MS, MPhil, PhD, DES)
• Together with the Associate Director of Graduate Student Affairs, manages school level academic programs, specializations, and tracks (such as but not limited to the Advanced Master’s Research Specialization, Global Engineering Track, and xMS).
• Review and process doctoral student requests such as change of status forms, doctoral student childcare subsidy requests, doctoral fieldwork requests, and doctoral fellowship tracking.
• Maintain, analyze and report on student enrollment, registration, and academic standing, ensuring data integrity across systems.
• Collaborate on the development and implementation of new academic initiatives.

Graduate Student Affairs - 30%

• Advise graduate students on complex academic policy issues, providing high-touch support and case management. Collaborate with other schools, offices, and departments (GSAS, ISSO, Registrar, Health Services, Student Financial Services, and Columbia Residential) on student cases as needed.
• Drafts and distributes communications to proactively inform students and departments on policies, procedures, and other notices, and provides timely responses to inquiries and requests.
• Serve on the Engineering Student Affairs graduate student on-call team providing crisis intervention for graduate students experiencing difficulty. Responsible for engaging with the student/s and then connecting the student to the appropriate resources for further engagement. Assist with responding to urgent situations.
• Serve as a key member managing the Engineering Student Affairs graduate student conduct committee operation and investigative process. Maintaining student conduct and community standards by serving as a hearing officer or scribe for disciplinary hearings and educating students about academic and community standards.

Graduate Housing - 10%

• Oversee graduate housing allocation for SEAS graduation students in Columbia Residential buildings.
• Manages graduate housing inquiries, communications, and presentations. Advise students navigating internal and external housing options.
• Lead collaboration with Columbia Residential on student housing situations including housing emergencies.

Academic and Professional Development Events - 10%

• Lead and coordinate key onboarding, orientation, and professional development programs for doctoral students, including Engineer Your PhD (EYP), Three Minute Thesis (3MT), and PhD Connect.
• Partners with other Engineering Student Affairs teams, including Student Life and Professional Development and Leadership (PDL) teams to innovate programming to meet evolving student needs.

Additional duties as assigned. - 5%

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor degree is required; graduate level work is preferred. Minimum of 4 years of related experience required.
• Understand student and academic affairs opportunities and challenges affecting the constituents, consisting of a diverse population - domestic and international.
• Ability to represent the Program and School professionally at events. Demonstrated ability to take initiative and work independently, accepting responsibility and accountability for assignments, within a team environment.
• Ability to balance multiple tasks with competing deadlines, demonstrated ability to pay strict attention to detail and exercise discretion in handling confidential information. Experience working in a team environment, and the ability to work independently.
• The ability to interpret and apply standards and the ability to communicate complex policies and procedures to students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders.
• Strong technical competency is required; demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of student services database software and on-line resources, and the willingness and enthusiasm to respond to the needs of students in an increasingly technologically dynamic society.
• Proficiency with Google suite of products, MS office (Excel with pivot tables, vlookup), PowerPoint, publishing software, social media, etc.
• Ability to analyze and work with a large volume of student, course and other types data.
• Must be willing to work on occasional evenings and weekends, on a needed basis, especially when on-call and student crises arise.
• Possess excellent interpersonal and administrative skills. Ability to work independently and under pressure, with high level of attention to detail. Candidate must exercise good judgment and flexibility.
• Must be able to prioritize multiple tasks with minimal supervision. Must be able to communicate effectively and tactfully with staff, faculty, students, employers, and alumni in small and large group settings.
• Must be able to exercise good judgment, diplomacy and flexibility, with a student-wellness mindset. Positive, mission-oriented, forward-thinking attitude and sense of humor a must.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.