Position Title: Student Success Lecturer (First Generation)
Department: Ctr Student Success and Retention
Campus Location: Washburn University
Application Deadline: Application review will begin as applications are received and will continue until the position is filled. Applicants can be assured of full consideration if submitted by November 12, 2025.
Position Summary:
Washburn University’s Center for Student Success and Retention (CSSR) invites applications for the Student Success Lecturer to begin as soon as December 1, 2025. This is a 12-month, non-tenure track position with benefits. This position in the Center for Student Success and Retention (CSSR) provides direct service to First-Generation students through comprehensive academic supports, especially during their First Year.
The Student Success Lecturer teaches assigned sections of WU 101, and other First-Year transition courses as needed and determined by the CSSR. This position also provides individualized and group learning strategy support, mentoring, and skills building to First-Generation Students. The Student Success Lecturer also monitors student alerts and progress, offering interventions and referrals as required.
Each selected candidate will have a demonstrated commitment to pursuing teaching excellence at Washburn University, including a dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.
About Washburn University:
Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of over 5,500 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals.
Washburn is dedicated to recruiting and retaining a dynamic faculty, staff, and student body and cultivating a robust learning and working environment and curriculum. We employ more than one thousand faculty and staff on our campuses throughout Topeka and strive to offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, and a supportive culture and a healthy work/life balance. Washburn seeks to create an environment that reflects our core values for creating positive IMPACT: inclusion, modernization, partnership, achievement, community and transformation. In 2024, Washburn was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to Great Colleges to Work For® program.
Essential Functions:
• Provides accurate, proactive, and responsive success services for First-Generation students to support their overall success.
• Provides guidance and mentoring to optimize the student experience of First-Generation students and, in turn, improve student retention rates and on-time graduation rates.
• Delivers services related to instruction, assessment of learning, orientation, and resource referrals.
• Facilitates students’ engagement in academic and career planning and in the life of the university.
• Serves an active role in the First-Year Experience (FYE) program, including teaching assigned sections of WU 101 and other First-Year transition courses as needed.
• Teaches one-shot academic workshops focused on First-Generation students to help them adapt to the college experience and discover academic success at Washburn.
• Develops and delivers presentations to students, faculty, and staff to educate them about various programs, policies, and issues related to First-Generation student success.
• Pursues professional development opportunities focused on deepening knowledge of First-Generation issues and improving the effectiveness of the CSSR’s associated interventions.
• Serves as the Faculty Advisor for Alpha Alpha Alpha, the First-Generation Honor Society.
• Supports CSSR programs for First-Generation student populations, such as Upward Bound, the Ichabod Success Institute, etc.
• Acts as an active member of internal unit teams, the CSSR, and University committees.
• Effectively uses the Navigate Student Success Software to provide holistic and coordinated care for First-Generation students.
• Performs additional job-related duties as assigned or as appropriate.
Required Qualifications:
• Master’s degree
• Experience teaching at the secondary or postsecondary level.
• Demonstrated effective interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in teams and independently.
• Proven experience working effectively with individuals of varying academic preparation and from all backgrounds.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the issues affecting the academic potential of first-generation college students.
• Demonstrated dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.
• Official educational transcripts required at the time of hire.
Physical Requirements:
• Some evenings and weekends will be required.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Doctoral degree.
• One or more years of experience teaching at the postsecondary level.
• Experience in college transition programs or other student success programs or services.
• Personal or professional experience overcoming obstacles similar to those of Washburn’s first-generation students.
• Bilingual.
Special Instructions to Applicants: Questions pertaining to this position may be directed to Jennifer Wiard, Associate Dean for Student Success jennifer.wiard@washburn.edu.
Background Check Required