Director, GRAD Administrative Services

Department

Provost UChicagoGRAD Admin & Policy

About the Department

UChicagoGRAD, a part of the Office of the Provost that supports graduate education across the University, is an innovative national model for preparing graduate students and postdocs to succeed while at UChicago and beyond. With teams focusing on admissions, fellowship advising, writing support and public speaking training, diversity initiatives, career exploration and planning, and administration, UChicagoGRAD works with campus partners to support students and postdocs at every stage of their academic careers and beyond. UChicagoGRAD functions as a one-stop shop for graduate students and postdocs to access resources that support timely degree completion and to enhance professional preparation that helps them translate their degrees into a variety of careers. UChicagoGRAD works with academic departments and divisions as well as campus-wide offices to develop and implement outreach, recruitment, and yield efforts; graduate and postdoc-focused programs, workshops, and events; training and support tailored to UChicago graduate students and postdocs; and administrative practices and policies in support of graduate education.

Job Summary

The job develops and implements a variety of student affairs activities, including orientation and onboarding programs for incoming students. Acts as the primary point of contact for student inquiries. Uses breadth and depth of expertise in student affairs to develop future enrollment strategies using admissions and financial aid data.

Responsibilities

• Oversees the graduate administrative processes to ensure compliance with external and internal policies with a specific focus on student payments.

• Works collaboratively with central and divisional leadership to establish consistent policies and processes for graduate student payments and funding.

• Acts as a liaison between the graduate divisions and the central offices responsible for payments, including the Office of the Registrar, the Office of the Bursar, Graduate Financial Aid, and Shared Services.

• Prepares and presents reports to relevant stakeholders on graduate student payments and administrative issues.

• Convenes and manages administrative teams to address and educate the University of Chicago community on interdivisional administrative issues, processes, and policies.

• Supports campus administrators as the University-wide resource on graduate student payments and administrative issues.

• Develops and implements communications and training for administrators with graduate student payment responsibilities.

• Establishes and supervises financial wellness programming for graduate students.

• Supervises GRAD Administrative Services team including employees and students.

• Manages the execution of the school's registration, enrollment, grading, and graduation procedures. Creates plans to coordinate student affairs activities between students and faculty.

• Identifies and implements technological solutions to improve operating efficiencies and assure veracity of data gathering.

• Recommends process improvements for programs that relate to critical student-life improvement, including emergency management, accommodations for students with disabilities, and/or the administration of health care services and programs for students.

• Collaborates with academic divisions in educating students on safety issues. Interprets student disciplinary issues and prepares an annual university summary of disciplinary actions. Counsels students, parents, and staff in response to concerns, and handles complex situations including student crises.

• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.

• Advanced degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of relevant experience in student administration or closely related field.

• Demonstrated experience in data management and analysis.

• Understanding of graduate education.

• Background communicating technical issues for a non-technical audience.

• Demonstrated change management experience.

• Familiarity with University of Chicago campus and culture.