Officer: Academic Advisor (Post Level 10/11) at University of the Free State

Duties and responsibilities:

• Contribute to academic advising during the process of registration on the BFN campus.
• Provide academic advising support and referral to prospective students about degree/programme selection.
• Collaborating with faculties (i.e. Education, Theology and Religion) to develop and deliver academic advice and support, where required.
• Connect students to student support stakeholders (on-campus professional staff - academic and support)
• Develop and deliver contextualised just-in-time academic advising services for students.
• Present student academic support and wellness initiatives (i.e. Central Academic Advising Learning Communities) aligned to the AA cycle.
• Contribute to the Kovsies Advice edition, where necessary.
• Maintain accurate records of interactions with students (case management system).
• Maintain systematic and frequent student communication and engagements (emails, SMSes, and calls).
• Maintain a relationship with the UFS Advising Network.
• Participate in research and academic advising practice-related training and development opportunities (eg. Centre for Graduate Studies and ELETSA webinars)
• Contribute to the training, development, support and supervision of Advisor/transition advisor in academic advising.
• Develop work plans for advisor/transition advisor
• Support the ongoing training and development advisor/transition advisor in academic advising.
• Contribute to the quality assurance (qualitative and quantitative data collected from academic advising   initiatives) within the UFS.
• Use evidence-based practices to inform academic advising practices
• Participate in learning and teaching research within the institution.
• Participate in research-driven academic advising practice within the institution.
• Contribute to research output in academic advising through conferences, presentations, and/or publications through appropriate channels

Inherent Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or an Advanced Diploma/B.Tech degree/Postgraduate Certificate on NQF Level 7 in the field of Social Sciences/Education or a relevant field.
• A minimum of two (2) years' relevant experience in higher education.
• A minimum of two (2) years’ experience in teaching and learning (academic advising, tutoring, success coaching, etc.)
• Certification as a trained Academic Advisor (ie, AAPD SLP)(attach proof).

Recommendations:

• Three (3) years’ relevant experience in academic advising.
• Honours degree on NQF level 8 in the field of Social Science/Education or relevant field.