Associate Director, Veteran Services

Job Summary 

The incumbent leads and provides expert guidance to professional and student staff supporting military affiliated students. They offer comprehensive advising to prospective and current CSULB student veterans, service members, and dependents in support of their academic success. Additionally, the position involves designing, implementing, and administering campus-wide Veteran Services that are equitable, inclusive, and culturally sensitive services, enhancing the quality of campus life for military service members, student veterans and eligible dependents.

Furthermore, this position is responsible for providing services that are equitable, inclusive and provide culturally sensitive services that enhance the quality of campus life, retention, and graduation rate. This position uses a student centered and equity minded approach in all communication and service efforts.

ACPA’s 2024 Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, training, coaching, and expert-level guidance to professional and student staff tasked with supporting military affiliated students.
• Develop and implement academic support strategies based on monitoring of academic progress of CSULB veterans, service members, and dependents.  Serve as academic advisor to prospective and current CSULB student veterans, service members, and dependents.
• Serve as campus point of contact for Veterans Services with expert knowledge of policies and procedures related to educational benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. and California Departments of Veterans Affairs, and CSULB.
• Gather, analyze, and synthesize data about prospective and current CSULB student veterans, service members, and dependents.  Provide director and campus community recommendations for service improvements based on that data.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

Experience using CMS database to retrieve student contact and academic information. Experience using VA Once to enter and retrieve student veteran education benefits information. Knowledge of U.S. and California Department of Veteran Affairs education benefits. Comprehensive knowledge of university computer system for advising students, strongly preferred. Thorough knowledge of office systems and ability to use a broad range of technology, systems, and software applications. Interpersonal skills to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships & communicate clearly & effectively withe vendors, staff, peers, administrators, Campus personnel, clients, state officials, and the public. Excellent writing and editing skills (including grammar, sentence construction and vocabulary) to compose and proofread professional level copy of letters, proposals, reports, meeting notes, invitations and announcements.

Skill in implementing and assuring compliance with federal, state, and University policies and procedures while maintaining good working relationships with staff at all levels within and external to the University. Demonstrated skill in conducting research, developing reports, and presenting findings. Skill in analyzing information, problems, situations, practices and procedures to define problem or objective, identify relevant concerns or factors, formulate logical objective conclusions, recognize alternative and their implications and in generating solutions to the problems as they arise. Skill in sound time management including prioritizing assignments to complete working in a timely manner. Flexibility with changers in the workload, under pressure of deadlines, completing requirements, heavy workload and frequent interruptions.

Skill in analyzing information, problems, situations, practices, or procedures to define the problem or objective; identify concerns or factors, patterns, relationships; formulate logical and objective conclusions; and recognize alternatives and their implications. Experience with a broad range of Microsoft Office Suite (including Excel, PowerPoint, Visio) and Adobe software to ensure the incumbent will be able to prepare a wide variety of correspondence, reports, forms, brochures, flyer's, agendas, minutes, advertisements and text for printed materials and web pages. Skill in making travel arrangements; familiarity with airline schedules, rental car reservations and University travel regulations, etc.

Ability to communicate with an ethnically and culturally diverse campus community.  Ability to follow all university policies, procedures, and guidelines including but not limited to safety, civility, information security, and non-discrimination policies and procedures.  Ability to contribute to a positive university experience for each and every student and assist in achieving the university's commitment to a "vision of excellence."