Academic Officer

Department:	Faculty of Arts: Undergraduate Office	Effective Date:	November 2010
Grade:	USG 9	Reports to:	Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Arts

General Accountability

The Academic Officer reports and is accountable to the Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies. The position is responsible for carrying out, in part or in whole, Undergraduate Office/Arts Faculty functions in a very wide range of areas: admissions, applicant liaison, course timetabling and scheduling, student records and advisement systems, grade report assessment, academic advising, and statistical analysis and tracking.

Nature and Scope

The Arts Undergraduate Office (AUO) provides wide-ranging service to the Faculty of Arts as a whole as well as the University of Waterloo community in the areas of undergraduate curriculum development and change, and in the broad area of student engagement, which includes student recruiting, academic counselling and advisement, as well as any new initiatives focused on outreach, engagement and retention of new students, current students, and/or alumni. Specific activities and specializations of the AUO include communications and publications, recruitment and liaison, applicant counselling, admissions and transfer credit assessment, student advisement, course counselling and confidential counselling, student academic discipline, academic and standings progress monitoring, transition and retention, enrolment management support, and curriculum development and support.

The AUO serves a clientele of approximately 4,000 undergraduate students (of an estimated 7,000 full- and part-time students in Arts) with a wide range of needs and interests, and other significant groups including a large and various audience of Arts Faculty applicants and potential applicants, the Dean of Arts, Arts’ other Associate Deans, the Arts department Chairs and Associate Chairs: Undergraduate Studies, other offices and areas of the university, and other educational institutions and members of the public. Student clients may be full- or part-time, on campus or at a distance, OSS or non-OSS, domestic or international, young or mature, internal or external transfers, Honours Arts Year I, non-degree, in Honours Arts and Business regular or co-op, or in upper-year Liberal Studies.

While each of the five academic staff members holds a position representing particular aspects and focuses within the AUO, the relationships of the particular functions are very close, and the positions have the core skills of academic counselling and advisement in common. All academic staff members work in co-ordination and frequent communication with each other and with the Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies, to promote the successful achievement of the goals and purposes of students in the Faculty of Arts, and of the Faculty’s overall mission.

The Academic Officer is one of 11 staff members in the AUO, which is headed by Arts’ Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies.

Statistical Data

Number of Arts departments:	15 + School of Accounting and Finance
Number of Arts academic disciplines:	More than 30
Number of Arts academic plans:	More than 230 majors, minors, options, diplomas, etc.
Average number of first-year students receiving assistance with Fall and Winter course selection, per term	500 – 600
Average number of students under purview of Dean of Arts Office: Liberal Studies: 1,600 Honours Arts, Year One: 750 Arts and Business, Year One: 500 Transfer students: 400 Non-degree students: 200	3,450
Average number of large classroom scheduling requests per term:	125
Average number of Arts courses and related components offered per term:	1,200
Meetings of Regulations Committee per year:	24
Meetings of UGAG per year:	6
Meetings of Timetabling Committee per year:	3

Specific Accountabilities

Faculty of Arts Timetabling Officer

Serves as a member of and attends meetings of the university-level Timetabling Committee and provides essential support to the Associate Dean regarding the Associate Dean’s own responsibilities to the Timetabling Committee.
Gathers and collates information from the Scheduling Officers of the Faculty of Arts and consults with the Scheduling Office of the Registrar’s Office regarding the term-by-term building of the Arts and university course-offering and room schedules.
Responsible for scheduling term classes in specialized teaching spaces in the Faculty of Arts each term and preparing room grid for the Registrar’s Office.
Distributes Timetabling Committee results to Arts’ Scheduling Officers and makes changes to the schedule as needed.
Co-ordinates with Arts’ Scheduling Officers for optimal classroom space utilization.
Reviews faculty-wide course pre-enrolment reports and offers suggestions to Arts’ Scheduling Officers.
Reviews enrolment reserves, enrolment capacity, and enrolment activity for Arts’ courses.
Writes reports and makes recommendations regarding Faculty teaching space issues to the Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies as requested.

Student Advising

Co-ordinates academic progression and academic standing review for the Arts Academic Advising team (Honours Arts, Year One; Liberal Studies, and Arts and Business). As such, reviews all change standings decisions and facilitates individual student decision review with the appropriate academic advisor(s), Records Co-ordinator and/or Arts Assistant Registrar. Responsible for generating comments and decisions codes for the Office of the Registrar.
In conjunction with the Academic Advising team and Arts Student Recruitment team, co-ordinates First-Year Course Selection including database design and updates, web forms, email replies to Honours Arts students, and block enrolling into first-year courses.
Supports, on an as-needed basis, the student academic advising function of the Arts Undergraduate Office, as determined by the Associate Dean and Manager – Academic Advising.
Maintains in-depth and current knowledge of Arts’ undergraduate curriculum and academic requirements for all programs; of Arts’ admissions regulations and practices; of the University policies and Faculty regulations of particular relevance to student issues; and the sources of support and help that are available to students, both within and outside the University.
Applies a continually evolving understanding of both the breadth and boundaries of his/her authority in relation to his/her duties.

Support to the Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies

Provides primary aid and support to the Associate Dean through the regular collection, analysis, and report of the relevant data pertaining to a large and diverse variety of student issues, including such matters as secondary school histories, enrolment figures and patterns, grades and grade performances, convocation patterns, retention, etc.
Provides regular reports on student enrolment and convocation for presentation at General Group and other Faculty or University-wide committees.

Service to Committees

Service to the Arts Undergraduate Affairs Group (UGAG)

Attends meetings of UGAG as a non-voting member.
Relays, presents, and seeks the committees input regarding Arts’ timetabling/scheduling issues and concerns.

Service to the Arts Admissions Committee

Provides advice and information to the Faculty and its Admissions Committee on associated matters, as required.
Provides support in other categories of applicant assessment, both on-campus and online, as directed by the Manager – Academic Advising.

Service to the Arts Regulations Committee

Attends bi-weekly meetings of the Arts Regulations Committee, a sub-committee of UGAG, as a voting member.
Provides essential support towards the committee’s goals of discussing current Faculty regulations and practices and making recommendations to UGAG.

Faculty of Arts Academic Services and Activities

Provides guidance, advice, and support to Arts Undergraduate Officers, Undergraduate Assistants/Co-ordinators, the Registrar’s Office, the Affiliated University Colleges, and other Arts faculty members regarding the nature, handling, and operation of the University of Waterloo student records and student advisement systems.

Holds detailed and close knowledge of the electronic systems underlying the admissions, advisement, progression, and degree audit functions of the university records processes, and works closely with the Assistant Registrar for Arts.
Provides guidance and support in the matter of SISP/SA issues, consulting in this area with Arts Computing Office members as appropriate.
Provides Arts departments with various data extracts pertaining to current enrolment figures on a regular basis or by special request.
Carries out a regular assessment, testing, and modification of academic progression rules.

Researches and produces QECO letters.
Provides administrative or other support for Arts Undergraduate Office initiatives as defined by the Associate Dean: Undergraduate Studies.

Recruitment, Engagement, and Student Life

Assists the Manager – Academic Advising and the Manager – Recruitment in the preparation of and participates in the post-offer preregistration sessions and initiatives scheduled for new Arts entrants in June and July.
In conjunction with the Arts Academic Advising team, develops content for web-based publications and outreach efforts related to First-Year Course Selection.
In collaboration with the Senior Academic Advisor, acts as a resource for web pages geared towards current students, including web-advising.
Attends Universities Fair, and March Break Open House or other venues/events when necessary, acting as part of the Arts recruitment team.

Significant Internal Relationships:

Arts Undergraduate Office personnel
Undergraduate Officers in the Faculty of Arts
Office of the Dean of Arts
Office of the Associate Dean of Arts, Co-op and Special Programs
Registrar’s Office, including Admissions, Records and Systems, and Scheduling and Examinations
Arts department staff
Arts Scheduling Officers
Institutional Analysis and Planning
Arts Computing Office