Director of Student Services & Advising - Cornell Law School

Founded in 1887, Cornell Law School is a top-tier law school, currently ranked 14th by U.S. News & World Report. We offer a 3-year JD program for about 200 students per class, a one-year LLM program for about 100 students from countries throughout the world, and a doctoral (JSD) program for about 2-3 new students per year. Cornell Law School has 41 tenured and tenure-track faculty, including 20 with chaired faculty positions; and 15 clinical professors in the legal research and writing program and in clinics at the local, national, and international level. Our faculty is consistently ranked among the top in the country for scholarly productivity and influence, and has pre-eminence in many areas, including quantitative and qualitative empirical legal studies, international and comparative law, and robust doctrinal scholarship in core fields. Our school is committed to being recognized as the leader among law schools at combining inspiring theoretical, doctrinal, and experiential teaching with cutting-edge scholarship in a supportive, intellectually rich community, so that our graduates can achieve excellence in all facets of the legal profession.

   

Reporting to the Dean of Students, the Director of Student Services and Advising provides counseling, advising, and outreach services to a diverse population of students to enhance their personal, professional, and academic success, ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality student support.

The Director will be responsible for the following:

• Meeting with students on course selection and degree requirements, bar requirements, long-range academic plans and goals, as well as non-academic factors affecting academic performance.

• Providing support and guidance to students in crisis, collaborating with staff and faculty at the Law School and University on complicated/sensitive situations, and working with university departments like Cornell Police and Cornell Health, among other offices, to help resolve issues.

• Assisting students with securing approval for disability accommodations, leaves of absence, and terms away from the Law School’s Ithaca campus.

• Advising students on character and fitness evaluations and issues related to bar qualification.

• Directing Orientation and Convocation programming, as well as other signature student focused events.

This role also serves as a liaison to other administrative offices within the Law School and throughout the University.

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

What We Need

• Bachelor’s degree with 3-5 years of experience in student affairs or equivalent.

• A high degree of professionalism, discretion, confidentiality, diplomacy, and excellent judgment in difficult situations.

• Experience in supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.

• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

• Creativity in developing and implementing innovative programs.

• Demonstrated leadership in campus operations and student services administration.

• Strong oral, written, organizational, communication and presentation skills.

• Ability to navigate a large, complex institution.

• Ability to set a positive tone, projecting a professional and positive image of the Law School and University to internal and external audiences.

• Strong time management skills with an ability and willingness to adjust to changing priorities on very short notice as well as the ability to manage multiple projects with varying deadlines.

• Flexibility and availability to work irregular hours, including nights and weekends.

• Familiarity with student development theory, as well as national best practices and emerging issues for student affairs professionals.

If you possess these experiences and skills this may be the role for you! There are a few other qualifications that we would view as incredibly helpful in this role, to include:

• J.D. and/or a Master’s or Ph.D. in Student Personnel, Counseling, or Higher Education Administration.

• Five or more years of law school student affairs experience. Famili