Assistant Vice President for Student Development, Division of Student Affairs

POSITION DETAILS

The Assistant Vice President (AVP) for Student Development serves as a senior leader within the Division of Student Affairs, providing strategic vision and executive oversight of student development, engagement, well-being and academic support areas. Reporting to the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, the AVP is responsible for advancing measurable improvements in student retention, credit momentum, and timely graduation through an integrated, data-informed student success strategy.

In a large, urban, predominantly commuter setting, the AVP is responsible for strategically aligning co-curricular engagement with academic advising to remove barriers to persistence, deepen students? sense of belonging, and establish clear, structured pathways to degree completion. This role frames student development not as supplemental programming, but as a core institutional strategy, integrating academic planning, leadership development, identity exploration, civic engagement, and community building to advance student success.

The AVP shapes a student development model that makes the institution more than a place to earn a degree, fostering a community where all students are known, supported, challenged, and empowered to thrive during and beyond their college experience.

The AVP oversees a comprehensive portfolio that includes:

• Office of Advising
• Transfer Student Success Center
• Hunter Scholars Program
• Manhattan Hunter Science High School Program at Hunter College
• SEEK Program at Hunter College
• ASAP Program at Hunter College
• Office of Student Life
• Office of Student Activities
• The College Association
• Affinity Spaces
• Immigrant Student Success Center
• Purple Apron Food Pantry
• Athletics and Recreation
• Office of Residence Life
• Children's Learning Center
• CUNY Edge Program at Hunter College

The Assistant Vice President (AVP) for Student Development will be responsible for the following duties:

• Provide strategic leadership for student success efforts including student life and activities, student support and well-being, and advising, with a focus on improving persistence, retention, and degree completion.
• Provide vision and strategic direction across student development and advising functions, ensuring alignment with institutional goals related to retention, credit momentum, graduation, and post-graduate success.
• Lead long-range planning that positions advising and co-curricular engagement as integrated levers for achieving institutional access, equity, and completion targets.
• Serve as a senior advisor to college leadership on student success performance, engagement trends, developmental needs, and emerging student populations.
• Advance a cohesive student development framework that connects academic progression, leadership formation, civic engagement, and community-building into a unified student experience.
• Leads initiatives in organizational leadership and effectiveness, driving strategic alignment, operational efficiency, and a culture of continuous improvement across the division.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to associate dean, directors, and managers, cultivating a collaborative, innovative, accountable, and student-focused organizational culture.
• Align staffing models, resource allocation, and budget strategy with measurable student success and engagement outcomes.
• Integrate quantitative performance data and qualitative student feedback to continuously refine strategy and enhance impact.
• Build strong cross-divisional partnerships to ensure student development initiatives are embedded within the broader institutional culture and academic mission.
• Oversee academic advising and student success programs, ensuring accountability for performance outcomes, student progress, and alignment with institutional goals.
• Provide executive leadership for a comprehensive advising ecosystem that directly advances institutional benchmarks for first-year retention, credit accumulation milestones, persistence, and timely graduation.
• Set clear goals and trackable results for advising teams, ensuring they support the college?s key performance indicators (KPIs) and equity-focused student success objectives.
• Utilize dashboards, predictive analytics, and progression data to identify systemic barriers and implement scalable, high-impact interventions.
• Ensure advising frameworks are proactive, consistent, and structured, supporting informed academic decision-making, career exploration, and long-term educational planning.
• Partner with Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management to align advising strategy with curricular pathways, academic policy, and enrollment strategy in support of degree completion.
• Hold advising leadership accountable for continuous improvement through assessment, reporting, and performance management.
• Direct student development and engagement initiatives that foster belonging, support leadership and identity exploration, and build inclusive, vibrant campus communities.
• Champion a campus culture that prioritizes belonging, leadership development, identity exploration, resilience, and meaningful peer connection.
• Ensure co-curricular programs, student organizations, residential experiences, and athletics are intentionally designed to foster personal growth, skill development, and civic responsibility.
• Develop strategies that expand access to transformative experiences, including leadership roles, experiential learning, service opportunities, and community engagement.
• Advance engagement models that reflect the realities of a large, urban, commuter campus, ensuring programming is flexible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse student needs.
• Promote developmental learning outcomes that prepare students not only for graduation, but for professional achievement and lifelong civic engagement.
• Represent the division in campus-wide committees, task forces, and external partnerships to advance strategic priorities.
• Serve as a liaison to align divisional goals with institutional initiatives.
• Advocate for Hunter?s priorities in CUNY-wide working groups while contributing to collaborative efforts that enhance student success across the system.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position is in CUNY's Executive Compensation Plan. All executive positions require a minimum of a Bachelor's degree and eight years' related experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Earned doctorate or terminal degree strongly preferred. Significant progressive leadership experience in student affairs, academic advising, or student success within higher education. Experience working within a large, public, urban, and/or commuter-focused institution. Demonstrated knowledge and experience in working with data and electronic systems; excellent supervisory and organizational skills; the ability to communicate effectively with students, faculty, parents and staff members; and significant knowledge of student development and its relationship to academic success. Demonstrated commitment to equity, belonging, and student-centered institutional culture.

CUNY TITLE

Assistant Vice President

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

$180,000 - $200,000, Salary commensurate with education and experience.

CUNY's benefits contribute significantly to total compensation, supporting health and wellness, financial well-being, and professional development. We offer a range of health plans, competitive retirement/pension benefits and savings plans, tuition waivers for CUNY graduate study and generous paid time off. Our staff also benefits from the extensive academic, arts, and athletic programs on our campuses and the opportunity to participate in a lively, diverse academic community in one of the greatest cities in the world.