Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Life

Position Focus :

The Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Life serves as the Dean of Students, and as such is responsible for cultivating Yale SOM’s mission-oriented culture across the academic and extracurricular student experience for master’s degree students.

Reporting to the Deputy Dean of Academic Programs at the Yale School of Management (SOM), this position provides leadership and has overall responsibility for the strategic direction and implementation of comprehensive and integrated student programs for the school and works collaboratively with other SOM departments to ensure comprehensive and integrated delivery to enhance the school’s culture.

Essential Duties :

• Set strategy, plan goals and activities, and set policies and guidelines for Academic Affairs and Student Life (AASL) under the supervision of the Deputy Dean.
• Serve as advisor to the Dean on matters of student experience and engagement.
• Direct the design and execution of a range of student programs and services for Yale MBA, Master of Advanced Management, and MMS residential students including academic counseling and performance monitoring, communications, joint degree programs, teaching support and tutoring, mental health counseling, oversight of all student-life activities and liaison with Student Government, institutional research, curriculum coordination, and the Global Study Requirement.
• Lead and develop a proactive and effective AASL team, including both managerial and support staff, to ensure comprehensive and integrated services that supports the vision and mission of the school.
• Provide leadership in the management of AASL budgets. Monitor and control financial activities. Prepare budgetary recommendations.
• Identify matters of academic policy and procedure that need re-evaluation and proactively bring them up for discussion with the Deputy Dean and appropriate faculty committees.

Serve as ex officio member of appropriate faculty committees, both standing and ad hoc. Draft and update important academic publications such as the Yale SOM Bulletin.

Serve as advisor and ex officio and non-voting member of the school’s Honor Committee and provide support to the Faculty Review Board.

Provide guidance to both students and faculty involved with the Honor Code and the Faculty Review Board.

Interpret and enforce academic policies and procedures. Monitor and administer processes associated with student academic standing, as appropriate, including probations.

Serve as primary liaison to university departments on topics that pertain to students, including the Office of the General Counsel.

Serve as a member of the Academic Standards Committee.

Develop and implement procedures to handle emergency and crisis situations that pertain to students. Provide guidance, support and referral services as appropriate.

Provide and direct academic counseling activity provided by AASL staff.

Direct and design programs to assist students with psychological counseling resources including overseeing the SOM embedded counselor.

This responsibility includes directing workflow of the counselor, check in meetings with the counselor, development of workshops, trainings and other activities with the counselor.

• Lead Orientation and Commencement activities for residential students.
• Facilitate and enhance communication among students, faculty, and administration.
• Work in concert with the Offices of Admissions and Career Development to deliver student services and ensure excellent student experience.

Work collaboratively with the Office of Inclusion & Diversity, Business Office, IT, Development and Alumni Relations, and Communications to ensure comprehensive and integrated service delivery and to develop statistical analyses on a routine and ad hoc basis.

Special projects as assigned.

Required Education & Experience :

Bachelor’s Degree in a related field. Seven years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Skills & Abilities :

• Ability to build and lead thriving multi-stakeholder community in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• Proven success at multi-tasking and management of competing demands.
• Outstanding oral and written communication and presentation skills.
• Empathetic interpersonal skills that engender trust and confidence in interlocutors, especially when dealing with delicate and confidential matters.
• Strong record of independent judgment and decision-making with respect to policy and guideline standard-setting and management.
• Ability to handle crises as well as a wide range of short- and long-term management issues.
• Willingness and ability to participate in after-hours events and management of crises.
• Developmental management skill with respect to promoting staff members’ professional development and advancement.
• A team player who works well with other members of the senior staff.
• A leader with a positive and can-do attitude who supports the mission of the school and represents the school well, working collegially with peers and colleagues within and outside the university.
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and track record of building and leading diverse, inclusive teams

Preferred :

MBA, Master’s, or appropriate professional degree. Six to ten years progressively responsible, demonstrated experience with evidence of ability to work effectively with students, faculty, and staff.

Demonstrated experience leading / managing and developing a team, experience working in higher education (specifically in student services and / or student affairs). Global orientation.

Competencies :

• Customer Service Focus Listening carefully to and understanding customers’ needs and proactively responding to those needs in a consistent and timely manner.
• Teamwork / Communication Working cooperatively to achieve common goals. Support cooperation, collaboration and the sharing of information.
• Product Excellence Provide the best quality product available and continuously upgrade standards to maintain quality.
• Leadership Provide direction and motivation to others through communication, modeling appropriate behavior, optimism and high achievement
• Innovative Openness to new ideas and their implementation. Ability to react and adapt to changing situations appropriately.
• Strategic Thinking Recognize opportunities, identify critical, high pay-off activities and prioritize them to attain goals.
30+ days ago