Director of Student Success – Position Overview & Job Description
Position Summary
The Director of Student Success is a senior academic leader responsible for developing, coordinating, and assessing a holistic, institutional strategy to strengthen student retention, persistence, graduation rates, and overall student wellbeing. Reporting to the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, the Director provides vision and leadership for a comprehensive Student Success Center that integrates academic advising, academic support services, early alert and intervention systems, success coaching, and wrap-around student support.
The Director collaborates closely with faculty, Academic Affairs, Enrollment & Marketing, and Student Life, and works alongside Student Financial Services, Athletics, Residence Life, Counseling Services, and Institutional Research, to ensure that all students—particularly first-generation, underrepresented, and academically vulnerable students—have the support needed to thrive at the institution. Student Life is a primary partner of the Student Success Center, and the Director works hand-in-hand with the Assistant Dean of Students and Student
Life leadership to deliver a unified, student-centered experience that connects academic success with wellbeing, belonging, and engagement inside and outside the classroom.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and implement a multi-year Student Success strategy aligned with institutional priorities, accreditation expectations, and equity goals.
- Provide strategic oversight for campus-wide initiatives aimed at improving persistence, credit momentum, retention, time-to-degree, and student sense of belonging.
- Use analytics and student performance data to guide decision-making and resource allocation.
- Partner with Student Life leadership to develop a shared, institution-wide retention and student-experience strategy that aligns academic success initiatives with co-curricular engagement, residential life, and student wellbeing programming.
Management of the Student Success Center
- Provide leadership and supervision for the Student Success Center, including:
- Academic Advising and Success Coaching
- Academic Tutoring
- Early Alert and Case Management
- Academic Recovery and Probation Support
- Testing Center (if available)
- Recruit, train, and supervise professional advisors, success coaches, and academic support staff.
- Maintain an Academic Advising Handbook for students, advisors, and general faculty.
Student Support & Case Management
- Actively participate in the Cardinal Care team to monitor students of concern, ensuring academic, behavioral, residential, and personal concerns are reviewed through a single, integrated team with shared protocols for referral, follow-up, and closure.
- Oversee early alert processes, progress reports, and intervention pathways for students experiencing academic, personal, and/or financial challenges.
- Coordinate cross-functional case management with Student Life, Counseling Services, Student Financial Services, Residence Life, and Athletics, including regular joint case conferences with Student Life and a shared protocol for warm hand-offs between academic and non-academic concerns.
- Provide direct support for high-risk, returning, or at-risk students as needed.
- Lead the process of student review during specific time periods such as midterm grades and final grades.
Faculty Collaboration
- Train and collaborate with faculty to encourage timely progress reporting, maximize the use of early alert systems, and proactive interventions.
- Partner with division heads to ensure that faculty have the tools and data needed to support student learning and performance.
- Develop professional development opportunities for faculty related to advising, student support, and academic recovery.
Assessment, Reporting, and Compliance
- Produce regular retention, persistence, and early alert reports.
- Monitor student success indicators (DFW rates, gateway course performance, probation/reinstatement trends, etc.).
- Provide strategic leadership for campus-wide student retention initiatives.
Grants Development, Implementation & Oversight
- Identify, research, and pursue federal, state, foundation, and private grant opportunities that advance student success, retention, persistence, and equity initiatives.
- Lead the writing, preparation, and submission of grant proposals, including narratives, logic models, budgets, and supporting documentation, in collaboration with Institutional Advancement, Finance, and faculty partners.
- Oversee the implementation of awarded grants, ensuring that programs, services, and initiatives are delivered on time, on budget, and in alignment with grant objectives and institutional priorities.
- Provide ongoing oversight of grant-funded programs, including monitoring of expenditures, tracking of program outcomes and key performance indicators, and ensuring compliance with all funder requirements, reporting deadlines, and federal/state regulations.
- Prepare and submit interim and final reports to funding agencies, including narrative, financial, and outcomes data, and serve as the primary point of contact for program officers and external evaluators.
- Build and sustain relationships with grant-making organizations and external partners to support the long-term sustainability of student success initiatives.
First-Year Experience & Transition Programs
- Partner jointly with Student Life to design and deliver new student onboarding, orientation, and first-year experience programming, with shared ownership of academic and co-curricular components to provide incoming students experience a cohesive transition into the College.
- Lead initiatives to strengthen advising structures, credit accumulation benchmarks, and smooth academic transitions.
- Serve on or chair committees related to student support and retention
Leadership & Communication
- Collaborate with campus partners to provide clear communication with students, faculty, staff, and families regarding academic progress and support resources.
- Represent the institution externally in professional associations related to advising and student success.
- Serve as primary campus contact for KC Scholars, and other external student support organizations
Qualifications
- Master’s degree required; doctorate preferred.
- Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in academic advising, student success, retention, student services, or related higher education leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to use data to inform strategy and evaluate outcomes.
- Strong organizational, communication, and collaborative leadership skills.
- Experience supervising professional staff and managing budgets.
- Commitment to equity, inclusion, and supporting diverse learners.
- Proficiency in accessing and utilizing technology and software such as Microsoft Office Suite), database management, and student success technology platforms.
Overview of the Student Success Center
The Student Success Center is the central hub for academic support, advising, and student persistence initiatives across the institution. The office supports students from matriculation through graduation, addressing academic, personal, and financial barriers that may impede their progression. It serves as a collaborative partner to faculty, Student Life, Student Financial Services, Athletics, and Institutional Research, ensuring that the College provides proactive, student-centered, data-informed support.
Core Functions
1. Academic Advising & Success Coaching
- Professional advising for all students or select populations (e.g., first-year, undecided, at-risk).
- Success coaching for students needing additional academic or personal support.
- Help students plan academic pathways, understand degree requirements, and stay on track for timely graduation.
2. Early Alert & Case Management
- Manage early alert system, midterm progress reports, and faculty/staff/coach referrals.
- Coordinate campus interventions, including tutoring, advising follow-up, counseling and Student Financial Services referrals, and academic recovery plans.
3. Academic Support Services
- Tutoring, supplemental instruction, and peer mentoring programs.
- Academic recovery programs for students on probation or returning from suspension.
4. Orientation & First-Year Experience
- Design and implement onboarding, orientation, and early-semester transition programming.
- Oversee the first-year experience
5. Data, Analytics & Reporting
- Track key performance indicators: retention, persistence, DFW rates, credit completion, and student progress.
- Regular reporting to academic leadership, cabinet, and the Board.
- Collaborate on data dashboards.
6. Collaborative Partnerships
- Work jointly with Student Life on student wellbeing, sense of belonging, residence hall outreach, co-curricular engagement, mental health support, conduct follow-up, and crisis response, co-hosting trainings and student-facing events so students experience a unified support system.
- Collaborate with Student Financial Services and Athletics on student success matters (e.g., appeals, compliance, and financial barriers.
- Partner with Student Life on belonging, engagement, and retention — including co-designed programming, shared communication to students, joint training for staff, and a unified approach to first-year transition, residence hall outreach, and student wellbeing.
- Maintain regular standing meetings with the Assistant Dean of Students and Student Life leadership to align priorities, share student-level data within FERPA boundaries, and coordinate intervention strategies.
