The Director of Academic Advising and Skills leads the Law School's work in providing students with both academic advising and opportunities for skill development, as required by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standard 309. The program offers individual advising, a library of resources, small group workshops, and large group presentations, to all Law School students. In addition, the Director leads the Academic Fellows program and supervises the Academic Fellows—upper-level students who provide peer academic support through office hours and other programming throughout the year. The Director also leads the remediation process for students at risk of falling below good standing, and serves on the Board of Professional Responsibility’s efforts to address reported failures of professional comportment. Pending approval by law faculty, this position may also be required to teach law courses.
Common issues that arise relate to: course selection with regard to both anticipated practice areas and bar exam success, planning a balanced schedule, critical reading skills, time management methods, outlining, exam preparation and writing, and exam review. The Director must be prepared to provide responsive and authoritative advice to students in each of these, and related, areas. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Assistant Dean for Student Life and Building Operations and Dean of Students.
About the Work Unit:
Vanderbilt Law School's Office of Student Life has a mission to create and implement policies, programs, and communication channels to facilitate learning and support the success and wellbeing of every student by developing a culture of accountability, responsibility, inclusion, and respect. The office is designed to help VLS students from orientation through graduation by supporting the academic and wellbeing aspects of the law school experience. Services offered include but are not limited to: oversight of student houses, student government, ONEelevate leadership program for first-generation law students, and academic journals; programs and one-on-one counseling supporting academic skills, advising, and registration; implementation of student ADA accommodations, administration of all law school exams, counseling and crisis management, management of law school major events including Orientation, Commencement, symposia, and major endowed lectureships; planning and management of all student communication and events.
Key Functions and Expected Performance:
The Director bears primary responsibility for ensuring all students have the skills necessary to effectively navigate course work and professional expectations at the law school. To accomplish these goals, the Director designs and presents a comprehensive series of workshops other resources to teach academic skills with special attention to how those skills translate into the practice of law. The Director advises students on course selection to support their academic and professional goals. The Director also works with students individually to diagnose academic weaknesses and develop tailored strategies for improvement.
Students must maintain a minimum GPA in order to remain in good standing at the law school. When students are at risk of falling below this threshold, the Director intervenes to ensure that every effort is made to support the student’s progress. The remediation efforts generally include a meeting with the Director and the Dean of Students to discuss the areas in which the student is struggling. Based on this discussion, the student is typically asked to develop and submit an improvement plan. The Director reviews the submission, sets
additional deadlines, and maintains contact with the student as necessary in individual cases.
In addition to maintaining a minimum GPA, students must maintain a baseline of professional comportment while at the law school. To that end, the law school’s Professionalism Expectations and the role of the Board of Professional Responsibility are articulated in the Student Handbook. The Director serves on the Board of Professional Responsibility and leads the efforts to review and adjudicate alleged violations of any Professionalism Expectations. The adjudication process includes: (1) reviewing the allegations; (2) communicating with the student who allegedly violated the Professional Expectations; (3) meeting with the Board to discuss whether any investigation is warranted; (4) conducting any investigation deemed necessary by the Board; and (5) working the Board to identify the appropriate sanction.
The Director is also primarily responsible for ensuring institutional compliance with ABA Standard 309.
To ensure institutional compliance with ABA Standard 309(a), the Director:
• Understands graduation requirements, and stays current with any changes in related policies;
• Provides individual academic advising both by appointment or during designated drop-in hours;
• Guides students’ course selection decisions;
• Assists students in evaluating whether courses meet a student’s outstanding graduation requirements;
• Assists students with planning a balanced schedule;
• Discusses with students the impact that certain course decisions may have on either a student’s anticipated practice area or their bar exam success; and
• Develops and leads programming to assist students with academic planning.
To ensure institutional compliance with ABA Standard 309(b), the Director:
• Trains Academic Fellows and supervises the Academic Fellows Program;
• Ensures effective communication with the student body with regard to Fellows’ programming;
• Designs and implements programming related to academic and professional skills including: (1) orientation sessions on habit formation and legal writing; (2) critical reading; (3) time management; (4) outlining and review; (5) issue-spotting strategies; (6) exam writing strategies; (7) exam review.
• Develops and maintains a comprehensive library of written academic resources for students;
• Evaluates students’ processes to identify individual strengths and weaknesses, and helps them develop tools to overcome obstacles and meet personal goals with measurable achievement;
• Identifies students each semester who may benefit from individual advising based on student performance and other qualitative criteria that indicate a need for support, and offers the same;
• Establishes and implements short- and long-range goals, objectives, policies, and operating procedures related to academic and professional skills development efforts;
• Monitors and evaluates operational effectiveness and directs change required for improvement;
• Communicates to students about resources relevant at particular times of the semester;
• Builds relationships with faculty and student organization leaders to increase use and visibility of the program.
Supervisory Relationships:
This position reports administratively and functionally to the Assistant Dean for Student Life and Building Operations and Dean of Students.
Qualifications:
• A Juris Doctor is necessary.
• At least 5 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified, or equivalent experience in translatable work is necessary.
• Experience providing student-centered vision and leadership within a higher education setting; knowledge of strategic planning and research needed to support student success is necessary.
• Ability to communicate effectively in written and oral forms is necessary.
• Knowledge of academic culture, policies, and procedures is necessary.
• Knowledge of student support services is necessary.
• Ability to exhibit a positive attitude and to collaborate with coworkers, students, faculty and staff tactfully and courteously in order to maintain effective service-oriented relationships is necessary.
• Ability to communicate effectively and follow oral and written instructions is necessary.
• Strong collaboration, innovation, and leadership skills are necessary.
• Ability to influence without direct line authority is necessary.
• Understanding and awareness of the needs of various student populations is necessary.
• Ability to work independently, to identify and implement innovative strategies, to assess effectiveness in meeting strategic planning goals to increased student retention and success is necessary.
• Excellent customer service skills are necessary.