Doctoral Academic Support Lead

Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE). More than 50 years ago, Walden University was founded to support adult learners in achieving their academic goals and making a greater impact in their professions and communities. Students from across the U.S. and more than 115 countries are pursuing a certificate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree online at Walden. The university offers more than 100 online degree and certificate programs. Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, hlcommission.org. For more information, please visit WaldenU.edu and WaldenFacts.com.

OASIS Overview

Walden’s Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS) provides instruction to help students develop academic and professional skills for success. We align our support with university-wide, degree-level learning outcomes. Everyone in OASIS collaborates with teams across Walden to ensure we connect students with flexible, seamless instructional support where and when they need it. Walden has approximately 11,000 doctoral students studying in 26 programs. On OASIS’ Doctoral Academic Support team, we provide students with instructional support in line with the university’s doctoral-level competencies and learning outcomes.

The Lead for Doctoral Academic Support plays a pivotal role by managing daily operations and staff on Doctoral Academic Support team. Together with the team’s Associate Dean, the Lead helps implement our strategy in alignment with other doctoral student support at Walden. The person in this role will develop expertise in Walden’s doctoral curriculum to help inform our team’s vision and work. Based on Doctoral Academic Support team needs and priorities, the Lead also can join OASIS and/or university working groups, engage with university faculty, and participate in professional development. This role includes opportunities for communication and collaboration with faculty and staff teams at Walden that provide doctoral support. Key traits sought for the person in the Lead role include being proactive, flexible, growth-minded, and organized. The person in this role will bring heart to their work with students and with colleagues.

Walden’s Values and Mission 

Walden University provides a diverse community of career professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves as scholar-practitioners to effect positive social change. Students, faculty, and staff choose Walden because of our commitment to social change, and we keep our values in mind with every action we take. 

We are a teaching institution specializing in online higher education. We are committed to inclusive teaching and learning in all our academic endeavors with intentionality, using a framework of shared accountability to enhance and advance the equitable health and wellbeing of communities, systems, and organizations.

Our Students

Walden is a broad-access institution. We teach the students we have, nurture their curiosity, and support them as they develop academic skills to reach their degree goals. Walden serves a majority female-identifying student body, with over 40% African American and Black students and over 40% White students, as well as over 15% Latino/a/x and Asian and Pacific Islander students. We proudly embrace our LGBTQIAA+, (dis)abled, and first-generation college students, working parents and caregivers, as well as military veterans, and the unique cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds of all our students. Most importantly, we acknowledge the impact of intersectionality on the lives of our students, and we strive to provide community, support, and rigor tailored to the individuals that are our students.  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the Doctoral Instructional Support Specialist team, currently consisting of five staff with potential to grow.
• Coordinate with OASIS Instructional Services to ensure balanced doctoral staff workloads across projects, as guided by OASIS and doctoral team strategy and priorities. 
• Collaborate with the Associate Dean to implement strategy for our team. 
• Oversee writing assessment support across doctoral programs, including assessing essays and leading norming sessions (training for the Lead on both tasks will be provided) with staff and/or faculty, in line with Walden’s policy and doctoral-level writing standards.
• Participate in academic residency presentations and other synchronous online or on-site instructional sessions (on-site sessions would require occasional travel).
• Serve as the doctoral team’s point person for maintaining the OASIS Doctoral website, in collaboration with the OASIS Content Management team.
• Support the Associate Dean and the OASIS data team in collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on students’ use of our services and resources. 
• Participate in the OASIS Extended Leadership group.
• Support other duties as assigned in line with Walden and OASIS priorities and student needs, which could include a flexible work schedule outside of regular business hours.
• Contribute to building a positive team culture and a healthy workplace in OASIS and beyond.

As their time permits, the Lead for Doctoral Academic Support also provides direct student support. Based on their experience, the person in this role will flex to provide instructional support based on students’ needs and team priorities. Support can include: 

• Reviewing course curriculum to ensure relevant OASIS instructional resources are included to scaffold students’ skill development throughout their Walden program.
• Tutoring students in academic skills topics based on the Lead’s experience. 
• Contributing to development of effective audio, video, or self-paced instructional resources.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in higher education, preferably in a supervisory capacity. 
• Master’s degree with educational background and/or professional experience in online adult learning required; past or current doctoral program enrollment or completed doctoral degree, preferred.  
• Experience leading and/or working with a team to provide instructional support to students in online educational programs, particularly in a university cocurricular instructional department.
• Experience with data collection and reporting, including regular use of data management tools (Tableau, Power BI, Qualtrics, and/or Microsoft Excel), required.
• Value working with individuals from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Strong problem-solving, collaboration, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to adapt well to change in a fast-paced environment based on students’ needs.
• Experience with learning management systems (e.g., Canvas and Brightspace), authoring (Articulate Rise or comparable), customer management (e.g., Banner and Salesforce), and/or virtual communication tools (Microsoft Teams and Zoom), required.

In support of the pay transparency laws enacted across the country, the expected salary range for this position is between $59,923.09 and $108,334.92 annually. Actual pay will be adjusted based on job-related factors permitted by law, such as experience and training; geographic location; licensure and certifications; market factors; departmental budgets; and responsibility. Our Talent Acquisition Team will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements. The position qualifies for the below benefits.

Adtalem offers a robust suite of benefits including:

• Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance
• 401k Retirement Program + 6% employer match
• Participation in Adtalem’s Flexible Time Off (FTO) Policy
• 12 Paid Holidays

For more information related to our benefits please visit: https://careers.adtalem.com/us/en/benefits.

We are proud to be an EEO employer M/F/D/V. At Adtalem, we welcome everyone and have a strong commitment towards diversity and inclusion. We encourage our Colleagues to be their true authentic selves and support laws that prohibit discrimination everywhere we do business. We also maintain a drug-free workplace.