Academic Support Specialist, College of Medicine

at  University of Saskatchewan

ACADEMIC SUPPORT SPECIALIST, COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

Primary Purpose: To lead, develop, implement, oversee, evaluate and advance a robust medical student academic support team and to collaborate with faculty in support-related to scholarship work.
Nature of Work: Reporting to the Associate Dean, Medical Education, the successful applicant will play an active role in achieving the MD program’s mandate of educating physicians and promoting the skills and attitudes of lifelong learning throughout the medical education continuum by leading its medical student support team across all education campus’ and sites.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Provide oversight of the Academic Support Team
• Oversee the Academic Support portfolio
• Provide feedback and coaching to staff related to the Academic Support portfolio
• Research, determine programmatic needs, and apply best practices in the Academic Support portfolio
• Monitor student academic performance throughout all years of the undergraduate MD program to identify students requiring academic support
• Create early warning system for students experiencing academic difficulty
• Actualize support for struggling students, including support for those in program and on leave from the program
• Develop processes to support students prior to academic difficulty
• Actualize protective processes to prevent academic difficulty
• Evaluate, continuously improve, and support standard practice for remediation and supplemental activities
• Facilitate the academic portion of Learning Plans in conjunction with relevant parties
• Provide coverage for other specialist positions as necessary
• Research and develop opportunities for peer academic support
• Collaborate with the relevant administrative staff, specialist positions, Office of Student Affairs, Office of Career Advising, and COM faculty
• Collaborate with faculty and other team members in the scholarship of learner academic support
• Obtain data, monitor, and actualize program evaluation for continual improvement of the Academic Support portfolio
• Deliver and/or facilitate professional development related to academics both within and outside the COM
• Deliver and/or facilitate learning opportunities for students related to academic skills
• Ensure compliance with all relevant accreditation standards for the MD program of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS)
• Collaborate with national counterparts to ensure comparability to other Canadian Medical Schools
• Ensure cross training for other specialist positions
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Committee Membership (non-voting resource):

• Curriculum Committee, Clinical Skills Sub Committee, Clerkship Committee, Clerkship Competency Committee, Assessment Sub Committee, Year 1 Committee and Year 2 Committee, and Monthly SMSS Meeting

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: A master’s degree in education or education related field is required. Preference will be given to candidates with a PhD. A combination of a master’s degree in a closely related field and relevant experience, or any equivalent combination of experience and education may be considered.
Experience: Considerable experience (minimum 5) in developing, implementing and providing academic support in a post-secondary setting is required. Experience working and collaborating in diverse and inclusive settings is a requirement. Experience in adult education is a requirement.
Skills: A solid foundation of pedagogy, excellent interpersonal and communication skills are required. This professional challenge will require the application of intelligence, innovation, creativity, and passion. The successful candidate will be a leader who embraces challenges, solves problems and thinks progressively.

Please refer the Job description for details