Director of Academic Success at Drake

The Director of Academic Success creates programming and provides support to law students to help them set and reach their academic goals throughout their three years at Drake Law School and the bar exam. The role works individually with any Drake Law student seeking to improve study skills, to identify problems interfering with academic performance, and to provide guidance and recommendations for future academic success. The role also teaches two academic success-focused classes and coordinates larger-scale programming to help law students reach their potential, including Integrated Study Group (ISG) for first-year students and Bulldog Bar Prep for alumni studying for the bar.

The Director of Academic Success serves as an administrative staff member on the Student Services team. The role reports to the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

The Director of Academic Success must demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and a strong ability to direct and implement student support functions.

The Director of Academic Success will have the proven ability to communicate clearly, manage multiple deadlines, and engage with students from all backgrounds. The Director of Academic Success will develop and execute intentional, high impact student services experiences and create a positive culture of student success in the Law School.

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. degree and successful passage of the bar exam
• Experience related to advising students or clients through high-stress, high-stakes situations
• Superior organizational, communication, and relationship management skills
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Demonstrable ability to lead, supervise, and direct student employees and to work as a team with staff at all levels in the accomplishment of goals and objectives
• Ability to gain understanding and proficiency with technologies used in student services

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with teaching
• Experience with providing meaningful feedback to improve academic skills
• Creative and innovative mindset for pursuing an effective strategy to serve an ever-evolving student population
• Experience achieving goals both through self-directed projects and while leading a team
• Strong judgment, decision-making capabilities, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent oral and written presentation skills
• Experience with Starfish or other student management programs
• Candidate should be able to work independently with technology and be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office programs including Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint as well as Zoom and other communication tools

Job Duties:

Bar Exam Support Functions (20%): Coordinate the bar exam preparation program. Provide individual support for at-risk first-time bar examinees, including, meeting regularly, developing customized study plans and strategies, developing and assigning targeted practice exercises, and providing individual analysis and feedback to support preparation for the bar exam. Coordinate the Bulldog Bar Preparation program for alumni. Maintain contact with at-risk bar examinees (first time and repeaters) over the "bar preparation season" (February and July administrations) to provide support, encouragement, and assistance. Provide regular reports analyzing bar exam results, bar support activities, and student outcomes. - (Essential)

Academic Support Functions (20%): Coordinate academic success programming. Continually evaluate student performance, identifying which students appear to be struggling or at-risk; initiate and maintain contact with those who are at-risk or on probation. Provide intensive individual academic counseling to assigned students and advise them on various academic issues. Advise and approve course selections for students below an established GPA with the goal of providing a balanced legal education that aims to improve students' success in law school and on the bar exam. - (Essential)

Teach Bar Preparation Course (Fall and Spring) (15%) - (Essential)

Teach Principles of Legal Analysis Course, in partnership with Assistant Dean for Student Services (Spring) (15%) - (Essential)

Integrated Study Group (ISB) Program (15%): Maintain responsibility for training ISG Leaders. Develop curriculum and direction of the ISG program. Coordinate with relevant faculty to develop curriculum for the program. Direct and implement the practice exam program. - (Essential)

Data Analysis (5%): Analyze law school data and stay current on current trends and best practices in the area of academic success and bar pass, including structural changes to the bar exam and responsive curricular changes. Analyze graduate bar-passage data from all U.S. jurisdictions. Provide periodic internal reports on metrics and progress toward achieving goals for bar passage and academic success to the Law School’s faculty and staff. Research and implement the most current best practices for bar and academic success. Stay abreast of trends in the academic and bar-support fields. Stay current with ABA regulations and bar-admission requirements. - (Essential)

Equity & Inclusion (5%): Support equity and inclusion initiatives and serve as a resource for Law School’s diverse students. - (Essential)

Academic Advising (5%): Serve as academic advisor for an assigned list of students, including a portion of the students on special academic status and academic probation. - (Essential)

Salary & Benefits

The salary is competitive and will be commensurate with the experiences of the selected candidate. 

Drake University offers a competitive benefits package including health, dental, vision, life and disability coverages, flexible spending accounts, retirement plan options and generous time off. Drake University also offers significant higher education cost savings for employees, their partners/spouses, and dependent children through our tuition waiver and tuition exchange programs.

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Interested candidates will be asked to complete the Employment Application. Please attach a current resume/CV and cover letter. Successful candidates must complete the background and reference check process.

If you have any questions about this position, the application process, or working at Drake, please contact us at [email protected]. We are happy to assist you.

Review of Applications Begins:

A review of applications will begin immediately. This position will remain open until filled.  Apply here.

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