Graduate Studies Associate

Job Summary

The Graduate Studies Associate is responsible for providing administrative support for SJSU’s Ph.D. programs, including collaborating with GAPE and GEM staff and institutional partners on managing admissions, advising students, and monitoring TA and GSA appointments. The role leads the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) Dean’s Office team in planning and coordinating all CGS events, including Graduate Advisors meetings, graduate student orientations, specific graduate student events, and award ceremonies.

It provides support to CGS leadership through compiling, analyzing, and summarizing data related to enrollment, student climate, curriculum, and assessment to produce reports and documentation as needed by the College of Graduate Studies. The position is responsible for the overall planning, development, administration, and evaluation of graduate student professional development programs at SJSU; works with the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and GAPE as needed on projects related to the Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education program (SAGE).

The Graduate Studies Associate also supports CGS’s daily activities related to advising of graduate students; drafts letters, memos, announcements, and other communications with the campus; handles confidential and sensitive student information including advising on graduate school practices and university policies and maintains CGS filing systems. This work requires a close working relationship with the CGS Office Coordinator.

• Provide support for Ph.D. students across their student career, including collaborating with GAPE and GEM staff and partner institutions on managing admissions and program progress; advising students on administrative processes; monitoring TA and GSA appointments, in collaboration with the Graduate Studies Analyst.
• Serve as a liaison between SJSU and UC partners in overseeing adherence to policies and norms.
• Help students navigate issues arising due to different processes at each institution.
• Lead the CGS Dean’s Office team in planning and coordinating CGS events including graduate advisors’ meetings, graduate student orientations, and a graduate- and professional-programs fair.
• Create timelines and facilitate the defining of project scope, goals, and deliverables.
• Research best practices for projects, such as graduate fairs and student orientations.
• Support Associate Deans as needed in various assigned projects using platforms such as MS Office, Google Suite, Qualtrics, and other possible statistical packages.
• Plan, develop, administer, and evaluate programs for the professional development of graduate students.
• Collaborate with a variety of partners, including the Career Center, the SJSU disciplinary colleges, the Division of Research and Innovation, and external vendors and service providers to organize a full array of professional development opportunities specifically for graduate students, potentially including career management, professional ethics, communication skills, leadership and management, etc.

• Thorough knowledge of the principles of individual and group behavior
• General knowledge of the principles, practices and trends of the Student Services field
• General knowledge of individual counseling techniques
• Ability to analyze complex situations accurately and adopt effective courses of action
• Ability to advise students individually and in groups on complex student-related matters
• Ability to interpret and evaluate descriptions and explanations of problems brought forward by individuals or student organizations, analyze and define the problem, draw valid conclusions and project consequences of various alternative courses of action
• Ability to compose and appropriately format correspondence and reports
• Ability to work independently and handle multiple work priorities, organize, and plan work and projects
• Strong verbal communication and empathy skills; excellent customer-service and public-relations skills
• Thorough knowledge of or the ability to quickly learn graduate school policies and practices
• Ability to access, gather, and analyze information from a wide variety of…