The Manager of Undergraduate Success Initiatives provides project management, operational leadership and executive coordination for the Senior Associate Vice-Provost of Student Success. This position is responsible for project leadership and execution on divisional priorities that enhance our ability to remove barriers to undergraduate student success, strengthen collaboration within the division and with institutional partners, drive data informed practices and institutionalize effective & efficient processes and procedures. The ideal candidate for this position will independently prioritize and sequence multiple high-stakes initiatives, adjusting timelines and deliverables as conditions change.
Reporting to the Senior Associate Vice-Provost for Student Success, the Manager serves as a confidential, strategic partner, overseeing complex projects, managing executive priorities, and ensuring alignment, accountability, and execution within the Division of Student Success [DSS]. This position operates with a high degree of independence, exercising significant discretion and independent judgment in managing executive priorities, resolving complex operational issues, and advancing divisional initiatives. This position has no formal supervisory responsibility but may provide functional guidance to student employees, interns, or project team members as needed.
Strategic Project Management
- Serve as the lead project manager for divisional and institutional initiatives sponsored by the Senior Associate Vice-Provost, including the Vol Success Teams, Academic Course Communities, the Academic Advising Career Path and Access & Engagement Success Grants.
- Translate executive priorities into actionable implementation plans with defined timelines, regular status updates, deliverables, KPIs and communications plans.
- Manage project progress across multiple workstreams, assessing risks, identifying barriers or delays, and initiates corrective actions, elevating high-impact issues to executive leadership.
- Synthesizes complex inputs into executive-level status reports with decision-ready recommendations.
- Responsible for timely execution and follow-through on strategic initiatives aligned with divisional and institutional goals.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Coordinate initiatives with key stakeholders from across the University, including the Academic Colleges, Enrollment Management, Student Life, Finance & Administration, Marketing & Communications, and/or Information Technology.
Regularly facilitates divisional and cross-university meetings and working sessions; sets agendas, documents decisions, assigns action items, and ensures follow-through.
Strengthen cross-divisional collaboration and reduce operational silos through intentional communication, increased transparency in operations and shared accountability.
Process Improvement & Operational Excellence
- Identify and implement opportunities to streamline workflows, optimize resource allocation, improve communication processes, and enhance operational efficiency across DSS.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation and resources to ensure consistent, transparent and timely practices for DSS executive priorities.
- Partner to drive the adoption of systems and tools, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Planner, TDX and/or Asana, that strengthen project tracking, reporting, and executive workflow management.
- Ensure initiatives and operational practices align with system, state and federal policies and guidelines as well as the expectations of divisional, institutional and state leadership.
Data, Assessment & Reporting
- Prepares and delivers executive-level briefings and presentations (e.g., project updates, KPI/assessment findings, annual report content) for senior leadership and strategic partners.
- Provide divisional and campus partners with relevant and accurate data on project implementation, status and effectiveness.
- Design and deliver regular program assessment on key executive priorities in partnership with Student Success Analytics.
- Translate complex data analysis into clear, actionable insights to inform executive strategy and operational decisions.
- Produce executive project summaries and annual reports as well as strategic updates for senior leadership and institutional partners within and external to the University.
Other Duties as Assigned
