Curriculum Advisor (post level 10) at University of the Free State

About the Job

Duties and responsibilities:

General Administration

• Provide assistance to the Teaching and Learning Manager with the welcoming and orientation of the 1st year students.
• Perform any reasonable ad-hoc requests as requested from the Dean, Vice Dean, Teaching and Learning Manager and Faculty Manager from time to time.
• Facilitate the process of recognition of modules for students who transferred from another qualification within the UFS or from another university.
• Provide assistance to the Faculty Manager with the arrangements and planning for registrations at the beginning of the year, as well as the start of the second semester. This includes training of additional staff to assist with registration.
• Liaise with CTL and Blackboard and communicate with students.
• Perform meeting administration for support staff.

Client Support

• Provide assistance with the answering of enquiries received on the generic programme specific proxy email address.
• Provide assistance with general student enquiries (through walk-ins, emails and referrals).

Academic/Curriculum Advising

• Represent the faculty on the Academic Advising Forum. Provide inputs and incorporate information received at the forum, into daily operations.
• Provide inputs during the compilation of the Faculty Rule Books w.r.t curricula, faculty rules and general rules.
• Interpret and apply the general rules and faculty rules in order to provide academic advice to students during registrations.
• Interpret and apply the general rules and faculty rules in order to do quality control of student records during the course of the year.
• Act as liaison between students, Programme Directors, Dean, Vice- Dean, Teaching and Learning Manager, Faculty Manager, Registrar’s Office, and Student Academic Services with regard to student enquiries and student records and registration.
• Provide academic advice to students during registrations and lift academic blocks.
• Refer students to the appropriate support services on campus, such as CUADS, CTL and Kovsie Counselling and other relevant stakeholders.
• Upload information in accordance with the Case Management System.
• Act as supervisor over student assistants who also provide academic advice during registrations.
• Provide assistance to the Marketing Officer at Open Days by giving programme advice to prospective students.
• Act as an advisor to Programme Directors.
• Act as liaison between the faculty and relevant structures such as Student Academic Services (SAS), Student Finance Division, Centre for Graduate Support, Directorate for Student Discipline and Mediation, Faculty Student Counsel, or IRSC/Student Affairs.
• Act as liaison between the faculty and other structures such as Library, Careers Office and Teaching and Learning office. This includes the Library Open Day/Career week/Student engagements.
• Act as student liaison between the Bloemfontein, Qwaqwa and South Campuses.

Documentation/Records

• Responsible for record maintenance of undergraduate students and postgraduate (PG Dip & Honours) students’ academic records through data capturing and recordkeeping. This includes the manual registration of students.
• Interpret and apply the general rules and faculty rules in order to do quality control of student records during the course of the year. This includes checking student academic records according to the relevant curriculum to ensure that students comply with the general rules and faculty rules.
• Process student records in preparation for Faculty Examination Board. This includes identification of expected graduates, candidates with distinction, special examination/assessment candidates and possible exclusions (academic progression).
• Process student appeal forms in preparation of the Faculty Readmission Appeals Committee.
• Process student records in preparation for the Faculty Admissions Advisory Committee.

Graduation

• Provide assistance in the graduation hall during graduation ceremonies, such as row control, handing out seat numbers to students etc.

Inherent requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or an advanced diploma/BTech degree/postgraduate certificate on NQF Level 7.
• Minimum of two (2) years’ relevant working experience in curriculum and academic advising in a Higher Education environment.

Recommendations:

• Experience with a learning management system (preferably Blackboard).
• Knowledge of the General Rules.
• Basic computer skills in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to function with ease in the University’s parallel-medium and richly diverse working environment.

Competencies

Required competencies:

• Results oriented.
• The ability to cope with a frequently changing environment and to adapt to evolving situations.
• The ability to be reliable, responsible, dependable and to fulfil obligations.
• Strategic thinking.
• The ability to plan work and to follow plans.
• The ability to carefully analyse information and use logic to address issues and problems at work.
• Business Acumen:
• The ability to adhere to rules and strictly follow work regulations.
• Proficient in using MS Office.
• Leading.
• The ability to lead, take charge of situations, and offer opinions and directions to others.
• The ability to be cooperative with others, display a good-natured attitude and encourage people to work together.
• Building coalitions
• The ability to interact with others and establish personal connections with people.
• The ability to make decisions through consultation, collaboration and working with close supervision.

Please ensure that all relevant documentation is attached to your application.

• A detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter.
• Copies of qualifications (please provide the SAQA accreditation in the case of foreign qualifications).
• A copy of your identity document (ID or passport in the case of foreign nationals).
• Proof of registration with a Professional Body (if applicable).
• A copy of your driver’s license (if applicable).
• Confirmation of employment from current employer / last employer if unemployed (only applicable to external applicants).