Director of Academic Success Position at Georgetown

Director of Academic Success – Office of the Dean of Students

The Georgetown University Law Center seeks applicants for a senior administrative position, the Director of Academic Success (DAS), to begin on or before August 15, 2016.    

Reporting to the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students and serving as a member of the student affairs leadership team, the DAS has six primary areas of responsibility, with additional responsibilities as assigned.

First, the Director develops, implements and manages co-curricular programs to support the academic development and success of the school’s nearly 2,000 JD students, with a primary focus on first year students. Currently, such programs include individual and group tutorial programs for first year JD students and the 1L 101 continuing orientation program, which features seminars on topics such as study habits, case briefing, outlining and exam-taking. Second, the Director develops resources for and counsels JD students who are having academic difficulty, with a focus on exam preparation and exam-taking strategies. Third, the Director supervises and advocates for the Barrister’s Council, one of the nation’s premier student-run appellate advocacy, trial advocacy and alternative dispute resolution competition programs. Fourth, the Director serves as a senior academic adviser, counseling individual students on academic policies, upperclass course selection, the intersection of academic and career planning, and related personal and academic development issues. Fifth, the Director plays an important role in developing and expanding co-curricular experiential learning opportunities for students, partnering with the Dean of Students and other senior staff to develop and deliver programs that enhance students’ professional success skills. And sixth, the Director supervises the head of wellness programming at the Law Center and collaborates with the Dean of Students to develop the strategic direction for the school’s nationally acclaimed wellness programs.

Requirements: 

• JD from an ABA-accredited law school with a record of academic and extracurricular success in law school
• At least two years of law practice experience
• At least one year of law teaching experience or the equivalent, ideally with a focus on legal writing and analysis with superior written, oral and interpersonal communication skills 
• Ability to think imaginatively and critically about how to measurably improve law students’ academic development, and to design and implement programs to promote that development
• Ability to work collaboratively with a highly diverse population of students, faculty and administrators, including many students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in law schools
• Ability to juggle multiple competing priorities and meet firm deadlines
• Ability and initiative to forge partnerships with faculty, staff, students, alums and the DC legal community
• Knowledge of and interest in recent changes in legal pedagogy and the legal profession
• Excellent judgment and natural compassion
• An appreciation of the wellness challenges confronting law students and practicing lawyers
• An appreciation of the Jesuit tradition and mission of Georgetown University.   

Preferred: Significant experience as a competitor in or coach/instructor of law school moot court and/or trial advocacy competitions.