Academic & Professional Development Specialist

A. General Summary of Position:

The Academic and Professional Development Specialist is based in the Biology Department and collaborates with the Student Success Center in the College of Science and Mathematics as well as with other University departments. The specialist provides holistic mentoring and coaching to Biology majors, particularly upper-level students, to help them acquire the skills to pursue and balance academic, professional, and personal goals. This includes providing intensive discipline-based advising; supporting students to identify undergraduate research positions; offering academic and professional development workshops to provide information and training for research, internships, and other career opportunities; and guiding students to identify and apply to post-graduate programs.

The Specialist also develops new advising systems within the Biology Department to enhance and further individualize the guidance that students receive, trains and supports Biology faculty in advising and mentoring strategies, and consults with the Chair to address complex advising situations. The Specialist engages in ongoing assessment and data analysis to understand patterns of student success and challenge within the curriculum. Informed by that analysis, the Specialist supports curriculum enhancement through course development and revision and engages in longer-term strategic planning to address future curricular needs. The Specialist also collaborates with faculty to prepare and submit grant proposals aimed at student training and curriculum development and manages research training programs within the Department. The latter includes developing research training workshops and mentoring student trainees.

B. Examples of Duties:

Academic Mentoring

• Serves as a liaison between the Biology Department and the Student Success Center (SSC) with the goal of enhancing comprehensive, discipline-based advising and mentoring of undergraduate students in Biology, especially upper-level Biology majors.
  
  
• Develops new systems, strategies, and procedures to engage greater numbers of students in in-depth advising and mentoring and enhance advising effectiveness.
  
  
• Connects students with support resources on campus to enhance academic success and overall well-being.
  
  
• Works with students, the Chair of Biology, the SSC, the Registrar, and Undergraduate Studies to address complex advising, degree audit, and transfer credit problems.
  
  
• Makes recommendations to the Chair of Biology regarding course repeat waivers, waivers of requirements for the Biology major and minor, GPA issues, and transfer credits.
  
  
• Trains and supports Biology faculty in advising. This includes training faculty in best practices for advising, as well as understanding specific academic policies and procedures, the degree audit system, and WISER use.
  
  
• Functions as first contact for discipline-specific advising inquiries and for student complaints to the Department.
  
  
• Collaborates with the SSC at recruitment, enrollment, and orientation events to recruit, advise, and enroll new students.
  
  
• Coordinates with the SSC on individual and group advising and enrollment efforts during pre-registration and add-drop periods. Participates in University-wide Advising Collaborative meetings and professional development.
  
  
• Maintains a database of student advising notes.
  
  
• Stays abreast of new student enrollment data, collaborates with Biology staff to monitor course waitlists, and makes recommendations to the Chair about course capacity adjustments
  
  
• In addition to a close collaboration with the Student Success Center, the incumbent interfaces with the Registrar's Office, the CSM Deans' Office, Undergraduate Studies, the Dean of Students, and other key University departments in addressing and resolving complex student issues, such as those faced by students returning after suspension or dismissal or by students facing personal crises.
  
  
• Reviews courses taken at other institutions for potential transfer credit. Career mentoring of students to identify and apply to research, internship, and career opportunities
  
  
• Guides students toward undergraduate research opportunities aligned with their interests and facilitates placement in labs.
  
  
• Mentors and serves as a resource and role model for students in identifying and pursuing career pathways in biology
  
  

Collaborates with the Academic & Career Engagement & Success Center (ACES) to:

• Identify undergraduate-level and post-graduate internship opportunities develop new industry partnerships leading to student opportunities plan and encourage participation in STEM career fairs and other career networking events.
  
  
• Teaches professional development workshops appropriate for careers in Biology.
  Mentors and supports students to identify appropriate graduate programs and to complete graduate school application packages.
  
  
• Provides guidance on writing research statements, personal statements, and CVs appropriate for graduate schools and careers in Biology.

Curriculum Assessment and Development and Strategic Planning:

• 
  Supports efforts to devise and implement enhanced mechanisms to assess student learning in Biology courses.
  
  
• Works with Biology faculty to assess the curricular content of the Biology major and to develop a curricular map of the major in light of Departmental learning goals. Identifies strengths as well any content gaps or redundancies.
  
  
• Supports the Biology Curriculum Committee and faculty to engage in longer-term curricular planning.
  
  
• Devises mechanisms to provide research opportunities to increased numbers of students, such as in research-based courses or workshops.
  
  
• Supports faculty in curriculum development, especially in developing innovative course lab experiences.

Data analysis and planning:

• 
  Collects and analyzes data regarding enrollments, demographics, retention, progress through the Biology major, and graduation, for the purpose of identifying barriers to successful progression and developing effective interventions for success.
  
  
• Meets regularly with Biology Chair to discuss short-term educational needs of undergraduate majors.
  
  
• Engages in longer-term strategic planning regarding curricular, advising, and student development issues.
  
  
• Assists Chair in connecting with Enrollment Management and coordinating course planning needs.
  
  

Grant Writing and Management of Research Training Grants:

• Collaborates with faculty to develop grant proposals to fund undergraduate training grants.
  
  

Acts as training grant manager, which includes:

• 
  Advertises program and recruits and selects students
  
  
• Works with students and faculty to match students to research labs
  
  
• Mentors students in program
  
  
• Leads mentoring workshops for faculty and facilitates faculty mentoring of students
  
  
• Develops, schedules, and teaches professional development and research skills workshops and other enrichment and training activities
  
  
• Develops and leads field trips
  
  
• Strategizes with the principal investigators (Pls) to overcome challenges and improve the program; identify barriers to meeting program goals and strategize alternative projects to support these goals.
  
  
• Manages day-to-day program operation
  
  
• Maintains and archives all documentation, materials, and data related to the project to ensure
  compliance with federal grant requirements

Other:

• 
  Acts as main liaison with other programs, departments and colleges within the University to coordinate program development, initiate and implement collaboration, share programmatic ideas, coordinate student recruitment and maintain a program network.
  
  
• Insures that advising guidance documents are comprehensive and provide up-to-date information about curricular options, regulations, research opportunities, and academic and career planning resources.
  
  
• Provides website support to disseminate current and supportive advising and curricular information.
  Acts as Biology Department liaison to committees requiring knowledge of Biology undergraduate needs.
  
  
• Acts as liaison to Registrar, Enrolment Management, and Financial Aid offices on issues related to credits, degree audits, enrollments, etc.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A Master's degree in the biological sciences. PhD strongly preferred.
  
  
• At least 4 years of work experience in a university or college environment, including experience mentoring, advising, and/or teaching undergraduate students in the biological sciences
  
  
• Prior experience developing and leading professional development or research training workshops
  
  
• Prior formal training in mentoring
  
  
• Prior experience in federal grant proposal preparation
  
  
• Ability and interest in working with students from diverse backgrounds
  
  
• Strong commitment to student support and student success
  
  
• Skills in data management and analysis, including proficiency with spreadsheets and database management software
  
  
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with students, faculty, staff, and administrators
  
  
• Strong attention to detail and ability to write concisely.
  
  
• High degree of initiative, self-direction, and resourcefulness
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality
  
  
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency in MS Office suite.

For Professional Unit Positions:

* Is this job required to be on-call? No
Supervision Received: The Student Development Specialist in Biology reports directly to the Chair of the Biology Department.

Supervision Exercised: The Director of Undergraduate Advising in Biology directly supervises 2 student assistants.
Number of non-student employees directly supervised:0
Number of non-student employees indirectly supervised:2

Application Instructions:

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date.

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting. All other candidates will be considered after that period.

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link:

Grade: 32

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.