Associate Dean, Graduate Student Services - Lynch School

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,445 full-time undergraduates and 5,125 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 878 full-time and 1,201 FTE faculty, 2,750 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.2 billion, and an endowment in excess of $2.8 billion.

The Associate Dean of Graduate Student Services within the Lynch School of Education and Human Development is a key member of the Dean's senior leadership team and provides leadership and oversight for The Office of Graduate Student Services activities. The Associate Dean supports the general welfare of graduate students, including advising graduate students individually and in groups, building relationships between the graduate office and graduate students, staff, and faculty, and promoting a culture of success and inclusion in graduate student life. The position provides critical strategic direction, long-term planning, and operational oversight for The Office of Graduate Student Services, reaching across all graduate degree programs under the Graduate School, including those delivered in residence, as well as online. The position will monitor national and global trends, anticipate challenges, identify solutions to complex situations and emerging issues and identify opportunities for improved services. The Associate Dean is also engaged in decision-making, policy development, and problem solving for University-wide graduate student services issues.

Job duties include:

Oversee the management of doctoral student processes including programs of study, comprehensive exams, approval of dissertation committees and the dissertation process, extensions in time, leaves of absence and other doctoral student services processes

Oversee the management of the master's student processes including programs of study, comprehensive exams, course substitutions, academic standards, leave of absence/withdrawal, readmission and other masters student services processes

Oversee grievance processes for graduate students

Convene and Chair the Academic Standards Committee.

Follow-up with implementing remediation plans for undergraduate and graduate students found to be at academic risk or who were placed on academic probation.

Coordinate Student Services for MA and PhD students, including coordination with other BC offices, including GSA, Connors Family Learning Center, University Counseling Services, University Health Services, Disability Services, Office of International Students and Scholars etc.

Faculty Advisor to Graduate Education Association and other graduate student organizations within the Lynch School of Education

Oversee policies and processes for Graduate Programs of Study

Supervise staff responsible for academic advising as well as office support staff

Oversee all graduate student awards with special attention to Commencement-related activities

Work with Faculty Awards Committee to assure timely decision-making on Diversity Fellowships, Dissertation Fellowships, and Summer Dissertation Development Grant Awards

Oversee graduation clearance for all graduate students and coordinate Lynch School graduation ceremonies (Award Ceremony and Diploma Ceremony)

Full-Time Equivalent Hiring Range: $107,700 to $134,650; salary commensurate with relevant experience.

Qualifications:

Minimum 5-7 years professional level higher education administration experience or similar setting

Doctoral Degree in Education or Psychology, appropriate experience in a leadership role in an academic setting.

Academic background and ability to have an in-depth knowledge of faculty research, an in-depth knowledge of academic programs; and highly specialized knowledge about a wide range of things, such as certification and licensure requirements in states.

Ability to fully comprehend the research of faculties in the significant number of areas within education and applied psychology and present this to students in a way which is comprehensible and exciting.

Excellent communication and writing skills, with ability to make presentations to various groups.
Ability to develop and cultivate relationships with key individuals, groups and institutions and build both informal and formal networks with campus departments and relevant community groups and individuals, university community, and external community.
Ability to build teams to attain goals

It is essential to have leadership who will care for the whole person in each of the staff members and keep the pressure from turning to tension. This includes mentorship and care for their professional development. It requires an ability to select staff wisely, including the wisdom of seeking diversity among the staff.

The position demands the ability to engage with a wide variety of constituencies with multiple frames of reference. These constituencies include deans and directors, faculty, and students with highly diverse backgrounds and personalities. What unites them is that they are all under some form of pressure. In this environment, the ability to move with ease among all the various groups is very important as is the ability to bypass pressure points to move the collective work forward.

The leadership needs to originate and inspire fresh, innovative ideas with a responsiveness to changing the environment, procedures, and ways of operating.