The Michigan State University Office of Undergraduate Education oversees undergraduate academic policies and facilitates institutional wide initiatives focused on enhancing undergraduate learning. We engage in everything from the orientation and welcome of first-year students to the enhancement and oversight of selected academic programs and co-curricular initiatives. Focused around the five opportunity areas for student success https://undergrad.msu.edu/strategyretention/sues, Undergrad Ed seeks to ensure every student MSU admits can learn, thrive, and graduate.
The Pathways Persistence Programs in Undergraduate Education are an affirming, dynamic network of programs dedicated to fostering student success by supporting persistence, academic excellence, and community. As part of MSU’s on-going effort to redesign the university to ensure that all students can learn, thrive, and graduate, these programs address barriers to success and create structures that promote equitable outcomes. Grounded in equity and social justice, the Pathways Persistence Programs take meaningful action to reduce opportunity gaps and support students’ persistence toward graduation, recognizing that persistence—the commitment to stay the course despite challenges—is key to student achievement.
The cohort programs within the unit—Bailey Scholars, Dow STEM Scholars, First-Generation Leadership & Innovation (FLI) Vanderploeg Scholars, the Residential Initiative on Sustainability and the Environment (RISE) and TRIO Student Support Services (SSS)—offer high-impact experiences such as mentoring, career development, and living-learning communities. Through evidence-based initiatives, largely funded by external sources, the Pathways Persistence Programs cultivate conditions that empower students to develop self-discovery of purpose, educational success, sense of belonging, empowered community, and well-being.
The Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment (RISE) program sits within the Pathways Persistence Programs unit and reports to the Director of Pathways under the Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Student Success. RISE is an interdisciplinary living learning community designed to support students who are broadly interested in environmental studies, planetary health, and sustainability. The program serves 250 undergraduates across four years. Key components of the program include:
- Co-curricular Learning Experiences: Support several structured environmental experiential learning projects in partnership with faculty affiliates.
- Holistic Advising & Mentoring: Intensive, proactive advising, coaching, and peer mentoring throughout students’ tenure at MSU, addressing academic progress, career planning, and socio-emotional aspects of the transition to college.
- Student Success Programming: Academic, socio-emotional, wellbeing and career and career-focused programming designed to build community, strengthen cohort identity, and enhance sense of belonging
- High-Impact Learning Experiences: Opportunities such as undergraduate research, mentoring, and internships to support student success and career readiness
Michigan State University is advancing RISE 2.0, a strategic initiative to strengthen the program’s academic foundation, expand interdisciplinary curriculum, deepen faculty engagement, enhance experiential learning pathways, and ensure the long-term sustainability and institutional integration of the program. As part of this effort, the Assistant Program Director supports the Program Director in implementing key priorities emerging from the RISE visioning process over the next year.
The Assistant Program Director (APD) will report to the Program Director (PD) of the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment (RISE) and assist in overseeing all aspects of the program with emphasis on co-curricular opportunities, advising, and cohort engagement.
This position will:
- Supervise several co-curricular student teams focused on various environmental topics including food and agriculture, water, and energy.
- Work alongside the other Pathways Persistence Programs to represent RISE within the Pathways and Undergrad Ed units, as well as across campus.
- Ensure achievement of program goals by strategically aligning program services and staff effort.
- Work closely with advising staff, admissions, and faculty affiliates to enhance student support structures.
- Assist the PD in managing a large, complex budget funded through endowment and institutional funds, coordinating with multiple stakeholders.
This position requires occasional nights and weekends.
Primary Duties:
Supplemental Advising, Student Mentorship, and Academic Support (50%)
- Provide supplemental academic advising to first and second year RISE students to address academic, career planning, and socioemotional aspects of the transition to college and successful launch into their major.
- Develop, implement, and supervise a holistic peer mentoring program designed to address the five opportunity areas for student success with specific attention to the unique needs of students pursuing environmental majors.
- Serve as the program advising lead to participating colleges and academic advising community.
- Note: This position provides supplemental mentoring and oversight of advising functions and does not serve as the student’s primary degree or major advisor
Outreach, Partnerships, and Advocacy (25%)
- Assist PD in the annual recruitment and outreach for each new cohort of incoming students.
- Report, document, and present student success data and program outcomes at campus, regional, and national conferences.
- Represent the Pathways Persistence Programs at outreach and engagement events.
Teaching (5%)
- Co-teach UGS seminar course for first- and second-year students
Administrative and Program Management (20%)
- Coordinate enrollment in multiple sections of UGS.
- Assist with developing, monitoring, and reporting budget for all programming initiatives
- Support management of co-curricular activities across multiple environmental interest areas.
- Plan, manage, and implement programming around the five opportunity areas of student success including RISE summer retreat and early arrival program.
- Hire, train, supervise, and evaluate RISE student staff, undergraduate Peer Mentors and Undergraduate Learning Assistants.
- Support program recruitment and early arrival programs.
- Coordinate academic support and potential tutoring services.
- Serve as a member of the Pathways Persistence Program staff and participate in regular meetings, professional development, and other duties as identified.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Masters -higher education, student affairs, environmental education, or other related field.
- Master’s degree or equivalent experience in higher education, student affairs, environmental education, or other related fields.
- Two to four years of experience with undergraduate student support programs or academic advising in higher education, preferably in areas related to environmental sustainability.
- Demonstrated competency in workplace technologies including Microsoft Office Products and experience with student support technology systems.
- Proven commitment to undergraduate student success.
- Excellent communication skills; including the ability to work diplomatically and effectively with campus partners.
- Demonstrated ability to work with students and colleagues from diverse backgrounds and evidence of promoting effective teamwork among faculty and staff.
- Ability and experience managing and supervising student staff towards program goals.
- Ability to access, interpret, document, and track data from multiple sources to facilitate and promote student success through pro-active and innovative student services to promote student success.
- Knowledge and experience across multiple environmental interest areas, ideal candidate will have experience as an environmental educator
- The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in academic advising within a college or university setting; knowledge of undergraduate student success concepts, theories, and/or practice; and experience teaching, advising, leading, and/or mentoring diverse undergraduate students.
- Candidate should have knowledge of current environmental challenges, careers, and opportunities.
Applicants must submit a cover letter and a curriculum vitae (CV) to be considered. Please note that supplemental materials such as transcripts and additional documents will not be reviewed.
Applications that do not include the required cover letter and CV will not be considered for review.
This position will remain open until filled. For fullest consideration, applications should be submitted from June 9, 2026, through June 23, 2026.
Applications received after June 23, 2026, will be reviewed only if the position remains unfilled following the initial interview process.
Review will begin on June 24, 2026.
06/23/2026
https://undergrad.msu.edu/advising-transitions/pathways2persist/rise
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
