Student Success Advisor

Student Success Advisors (SSAs) fulfill a vital role for students by providing academic advising, career guidance, and holistic support focused on well-being beyond the classroom. They inspire, motivate, and challenge students to achieve on-time degree completion. Through their meaningful relationships with students, SSAs make a crucial contribution to student retention, persistence, and completion.

• Provide holistic advising to students, which includes: Going beyond academics to build relationships focused on the whole student; empowering students through those relationships to make the most effective decisions for their education. Ensuring student understanding of academic requirements, degree audit tools, and related registration and enrollment processes. Meeting individually with students to identify strengths and challenges and to help create success plans that address needs and offer academic, personal, and campus engagement opportunities. Proactively outreaching to all new/continuing students to assist in the creation and/or modification of completion plans that position students to achieve self-defined personal, career, and academic goals.
• Advise incoming first-year and transfer students throughout their enrollment process, including occasional events for recruitment purposes, to ensure they are best set up for success during their time at SUU.
• Function as a Strong Certified Practitioner and conduct career assessments with students to further refine their career goals and planning over the course of their degree.
• Maintain knowledge of university resources related to student finances, holistic wellness, academic support, and other high-need services. Refer and follow-up with students as necessary.
• Collaborate regularly with college faculty, staff, and administrators as well as a wide network of other campus colleagues and partners regarding enrollment, retention, and completion initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• 4 Year / Bachelors Degree
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport in developing meaningful relationships with students and campus colleagues.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong and authentic relationships with students from a variety of backgrounds.
• Demonstrated ability to both collaborate with teammates and to work independently on efforts that support institutional and team goals.
• Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to synthesize data and take action based on complex information.
• Experience using and comfort with technology (student information systems, basic Office programs, etc.), as well as the ability and willingness to quickly learn new computer-based programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in higher education, counseling, or a closely related field.
• Experience working in a higher education setting; at least two years of experience in academic advising strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of current and emerging trends related to student affairs, retention, and completion.
• Knowledge of student development theories and their application in an advising setting.
• Knowledge of/experience with specific academic area of assignment.

This position is contingent on funding. Due to recent changes in H1B visa fees, Southern Utah University is no longer able to sponsor international faculty and staff that require an H1B visa and are currently living outside of the United States.