Nursing Academic Advisor

General Info: The Nursing Academic Advisor provides academic advising to JMU undergraduate declared nursing majors and new transfer nursing majors. The individual works under the guidance of the Nursing Undergraduate Program Director and under the direction of the Nursing Department Head and the Director of University Advising to assist with the recruitment and advisement of prospective and enrolled students.

The Nursing Academic Advisor position is a 12-month, non-tenure track, Administrative and Professional Faculty position.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The role includes, but is not limited to, the following key areas of responsibility:

• Provides academic advising for freshman and sophomore nursing majors and nursing declared transfer students


• Participates in the BSN admissions processes as needed


• Prepares and updates printed and web-based advising materials to assist prospective students and to support faculty in advising for the BSN program


• Provides group and individual advising and departmental tours for prospective and enrolled students as needed


• Assists the Undergraduate Program Director and the Department Head with other academic program tasks and services


• Teaches an academic course per semester or provides equivalent teaching support as needed by the department


• Represents the Department of Nursing at recruitment events and responds to inquiries into the programs offered by the department

The Nursing Academic Advisor helps students formulate academic plans based upon their career goals and aspirations and advises them on the General Education curriculum, nursing program curriculum including pre-requisite courses, degree requirements and the nursing application process. The Nursing Academic Advisor helps students understand course requirements within the context of the discipline; is accessible to students and responds to their requests for assistance in a timely manner via email and individual appointments and maximizes availability to meet with students during fall, spring and summer pre-registration periods.

The Nursing Academic Advisor demonstrates genuine caring and concern for every student; communicates with advisees on a regular basis throughout the year with regards to their progression standards and progress towards admission to the nursing program and effectively communicates information about important events, registration dates and deadlines, course offerings and other departmental advising information.

The Nursing Academic Advisor provides help to freshmen and sophomore students on academic probation and suspension by helping them understand what courses they should take and the grades they will need to make to recover their good academic standing; helps students identify other strategies to improve academic performance and assists those students not admitted to the nursing program to identify and formulate other options for a major as needed.

During the summer, the Nursing Academic Advisor participates in summer orientation programs to advise new freshmen and transfer students; assists them with course registration and participates in training sessions for freshman and transfer advisers. The Nursing Academic Advisor also assists with summer orientation presentations to parents and students.

The Nursing Academic Advisor provides advising assistance to the department by helping with departmental presentations to parents and prospective students and departmental tours to interested students and families; prepares and updates advising information tools and resources including print and web-based information; tracks students as they progress in the major and maintains accurate data for the department and provides assistance to the department in coordinating overrides into specific courses and identifying course transfer credits.

The Nursing Academic Advisor will provide academic teaching support equivalent to teaching one course per semester as needed by the department; provides service to the university community by serving on committees and/or participating in departmental service projects; participates in departmental meetings and retreats; serves as a member of the University Advising network and attends scheduled meetings and builds effective partnerships with other departments, faculty and staff across the university.

Qualifications: A master's degree is required. Experience in academic advising is strongly preferred. The successful candidate must be student-oriented; have a working knowledge of and commitment to academic advising best practice in higher education; the ability to interpret and explain complex academic requirements within the context of the nursing discipline; have strong organizational skills and the ability to multi-task and work with integrated student information systems; excellent communication skills (both oral and written) and exceptional interpersonal skills.

Pay Rate: Commensurate with experience

James Madison University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer and especially encourages applications from minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.

by Shane Turner via NursingFacultyJobs.com