Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Law

Company: Wake Forest University
Location: Winston Salem
Posted on: September 13, 2020

Job Description:

Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Law Winston Salem, NC

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** Cover letter required for all positions and optional for facilities, campus services, and hospitality positions unless otherwise specified. Job Description Summary

The Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs will oversee the academic policies and procedures for all law school academic programs, including the JD; international LLM, SJD, and visiting researchers; and MSLs. Also responsible for managing the Registrar, the incumbent will take a data driven and consistent approach to administration and be responsible for providing leadership and support to academic units to ensure compliance and smooth functioning. While developing initiatives that contribute to the strategic priorities of the school this position will evaluate and streamline academic process in areas such as advising and degree requirement, course scheduling and exams, program and curriculum review, learning and outcomes, committees and academic events, enrollment and registration. He/she will set short and long-range plans and serve as a resource for information and help to develop and implement the academic vision at the Law School. Job Description

Accountabilities

This position reports directly to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and supervises staff in support of academic administration. The Academic Team will include the Program Director, support staff for specific programs, the Registrar, and a generalist. The incumbent will directly interact with Faculty, Staff, and Students and services as part of the Senior Staff at the School of Law. In this new position, and in the growing dynamic between JD and LLM degrees (both online and in the classroom), the duties and scope of this position may change as the department advances and evolves to consistent and standard operation. We expect the candidate to help build the organization with a focus on achieving streamlined, clear, and efficient academic services.

Required Qualifications

JD required with at least 8 years of progressively responsible experience leading and managing complex legal functions and academic teams. Previous experience developing or administering higher education programs required using metrics as a measurement tool for success.

Must have a strong sense of integrity, respect for differing points of view and the ability to plan and implement large-scale projects in coordination with Faculty and Staff. Experience with organizational development, streamlining historical process, integration of service, strategic planning and outstanding written and oral communication skills. Must be able to work independently, effectively, and collegially with faculty, deans, staff, and administrators. Strong commitment to outstanding service required.

Technology : An aptitude for seeking the best use of technology is required. Strong technological knowledge of Banner and Microsoft suite of products. Capacity to use leading edge technology to improve processes and deliverables. Experience with learning management systems required.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working in a Law School preferred.

C. Functional Outline of Job Responsibilities

This section allows you to describe the specific duties performed by the employee in this position. This section should provide detailed tasks tied directly to the summarized duties found above. Effectively used, each section will group common tasks into functional categories. This outline will eventually drive performance standards and expectations.

In order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, you must indicate whether a responsibility is Essential (E) or Non-Essential (NE). A job function may be considered Essential if this position exists to perform that function, there are a limited number of employees available to do this function, and/or the function requires highly specialized skills.

1. Academic Administration

Work directly with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to evaluate, refine, and implement academic policies, curriculum, and evaluations.

Develop and administer consistent academic policies and procedures across all academic programs.

Implement operations for the Academic Affairs Department including advising, course evaluation, class schedule, appointments, onboarding, offboarding, surveys, and events.

Ensure high functioning service standards by using current technology for all registration processing, exams, enrollment, degree verification, academic record maintenance, and reporting.

Recognize the complexity and differences across law school populations, including JD students, international LLMs, SJDs and visiting scholars, as well as online master’s students. Seek to build systems to best align the services and standardize the operations while meeting the needs of Law Students, Faculty, and Staff.

Increase awareness of common academic issues and recommend solutions.

Set milestones and measurements to best understand and evaluate academic units and design and maintain academic goals and objectives.

Develop and implement process in response to the changing legal environment and for the continued health of our wide and varied curriculum.

Handle on-going academic policy questions raised by students or faculty. Identify policies that need revising or issues that are not addressed by existing policies. Help draft new policies for consideration by academic policy group and faculty, if needed.

Engage in high-level review of the larger curriculum goals and understand the interplay between academic programs, the courses offered, space constraints, and faculty employed.

In coordination with the Deans, review JD, LLM, SJD, and MSL curricula for coherence, relevance, gap analysis, and appropriate sequencing in the individual course offerings. Curriculum review involves assessing whether the appropriate foundational and advanced courses, assessing whether we offer such courses in sufficient numbers to meet student demand, and identifying courses to be added or eliminated, taking into account faculty preferences and resources and space constraints.

Enhance reporting and tracking tools for Faculty and course information. Ensure that the needs of all law school programs are represented in designs of future technology advancements and curriculum guides.

2. Academic Support

Build and oversee plans for various Fellow and/or Student Programs.

Create pathways that guide students through course requirements and towards academic success and meet with Faculty and Staff to develop personalized and supportive environment for advising students.

Meet with individual students, including fully online degree students, to advise on course selection, registration, waitlists, degree audits, or concerns about specific faculty, exams, and grades. Also meet with students who have questions about academic policies or are requesting exceptions to a specific policy.

Provide instructional design support for online courses and ensure that accreditation and regulations are met. Utilize cross campus resources for instructional design when needed.

In consultation with the Associate Dean and Academic Affairs, create strategic vision for ideal faculty staffing for each program, course and JD section.

Propose and negotiate individual teaching loads.

Take lead in communicating with new Faculty during the onboarding process.

Develop teaching resources to provide to academic managers, academic support, and instructors.

Provide strategic leadership and support for Academic committees on academic administration standards.

Prepare teaching evaluations and track trends. Understand concerns and propose solutions of plans for better support and administration.

3. Management

Oversees all operations of the Academic Teams, including the Registrar. Sets individual and departmental goals and objectives to align us with the current legal market and streamlined business processes.

Understand the programmatic and Registrar services we currently offer vs. what we should offer and seek ways to shift your teams towards that direction.

Responsible for developing annual performance reviews and demonstrating tangible progress and outcomes.

Manages performance, sets expectations, and ensures services are run efficiently and with a friendly, customer service, focus.

4. Other

Strategically utilize the website to enhance communication mechanisms and academic tools.

While engaged in academic programs consider opportunities for creating cross-campus courses with other University programs.

Serve on various academic and administrative committees and participate in local and national professional organizational groups.

Develop and manage an annual departmental budget and preform periodic cost and productivity checks. Set benchmarks to show sustainable growth.

Keep current with educational and academic developments.

Other duties as assigned.

Additional Job Description

Time Type Requirement

Full time Note to Applicant: This position profile identifies the key responsibilities and expectations for performance. It cannot encompass all specific job tasks that an employee may be required to perform. Employees are required to follow any other job-related instructions and perform job-related duties as may be reasonably assigned by his/her supervisor.

In order to provide a safe and productive learning and living community, Wake Forest University conducts background investigations and drug screens for all final staff candidates being considered for employment.

Wa ke Forest  seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce while promoting an inclusive work environment committed to excellence in the spirit of Pro Humanitate.  In adherence with applicable laws and as provided by University policies, the University prohibits discrimination in its employment practices on the  basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, disability and veteran status  and  encourages qualified candidates across all group demographics to apply.  ?

Posted 2 Days Ago

Full time

R0002609

About Us About WFU:

Wake Forest University, formed in 1834, has experienced decades of growth and innovation. WFU is a distinctive university that combines a liberal arts core with graduate and professional schools and innovative research programs. The University embraces the teacher-scholar ideal, which prizes the personal interaction between students and faculty. It is a place where exceptional teaching, fundamental research and discovery, and the engagement of faculty and students in the classroom and the laboratory are paramount.

Wake Forest University is a community of men and women that seeks the enlightenment and freedom which come through diligent study and learning. Its higher goal, however, is to give life to the University motto "Pro Humanitate," as members translate a passion for knowledge into compassionate service. The community shares a tradition that embraces freedom and integrity and acknowledges the worth of the individual. The heritage, established by the school's founders and nurtured by succeeding generations, promotes a democratic spirit arising from open-mindedness and discourse. Wake Forest fosters compassion and caring for others. Its collective strength and character are derived from the values and distinctive experiences of each individual; therefore, it affirms the richness of human intellect and culture and its contribution to knowledge, faith, reason, and dialogue. Furthermore, it strives toward a society in which good will, respect, and equality prevail. To that end, Wake Forest University rejects hatred and bigotry in any form and promotes justice, honor, and mutual trust.?

The University is comprised of: the undergraduate college, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Divinity, School of Law, and School of Medicine (located on the Bowman Gray campus with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center) and today enrolls about 4,846 undergraduates and 2,823 students in graduate programs at its principal location, the Reynolda campus. Students at Wake Forest University enjoy a great deal of access to and interaction with world-class faculty both in and out of the classroom setting with a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Wake Forest employs approximately 2,772 full and part-time faculty and staff.

Wake Forest is a collegiate university offering a vibrant, intellectual community with a rich cultural life, an impressive array of facilities, and a strong athletics program competing in the fifteen-team Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Since its founding, the university has adopted the motto “ pro humanitate ,” which is exemplified by a deep institutional commitment to public service and engagement with the world. Wake Forest has a strong commitment to holistic, eight-dimensional well-being for students, faculty and staff as evidenced in the Thrive initiative.

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Wake Forest is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a beautiful, mid-sized city centrally located in the Piedmont-Triad region of North Carolina. Winston-Salem is a family-friendly city with high quality schools, numerous outdoor recreational activities and events, and is known for its vibrant and thriving arts scene.

Winston-Salem residents enjoy close proximity to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains (1.5 hours) and Atlantic beaches (4 hours), a moderate climate with four distinct seasons, a very reasonable cost of living, and an eclectic variety of restaurants, wine bars, and breweries for dining with friends and family. Winston-Salem offers many of the amenities of a large city but with the sense of community and quality of life of a smaller town.

Keywords: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem , Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Law, Other , Winston Salem, North Carolina