How to hire an academic affairs director

How to hire an academic affairs director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step academic affairs director hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an academic affairs director job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new academic affairs director
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an academic affairs director, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An academic affairs director's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, academic affairs directors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of academic affairs directors.

   Type of Academic Affairs Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Academic Affairs Director	Postsecondary education administrators oversee student services, academics, and faculty research at colleges and universities. Their job duties vary depending on the area of the college they manage, such as admissions, student life, or the office of the registrar.	$33-86
   Dean	A dean is responsible for overseeing the educational operations of the assigned department, enforcing school policies, and monitoring the students' progress by coordinating with the teachers and setting up procedures to improve teaching methods. Deans administer educational training and programs for the students, as well as extra-curricular activities to develop the students' social behavior, maximize their potentials, and increase their self-confidence... Show more	$23-72
   Registrar	A registrar's role is to process and maintain accurate records within an institution or establishment. They are the main point of communication to obtain various kinds of information... Show more	$13-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Financial Aid
   • Colleges
   • Academic Programs
   • Student Services
   • Curriculum Development
   • Educational Programs
   • Alumni
   • Academic Support
   • Persistence
   • General Education
   • Academic Integrity
   • Academic Policies
   • Oversight
   • Faculty Recruitment

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and track individual sorority members monthly study hour requirements.
   • Experience in the support of transition and retention strategies for multicultural student populations to address differentials in attrition and retention.
   • Deliver training seminars to faculty, administrators and staff providing services to veterans.

   More academic affairs director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the academic affairs director job description is a good way to get more applicants. An academic affairs director salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for an academic affairs director in North Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level academic affairs director. Additionally, an academic affairs director with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average academic affairs director salary

   $112,527yearly

   $54.10 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level academic affairs director salary

   $70,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average academic affairs director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$155,298	$75
   2	Connecticut	$131,396	$63
   3	District of Columbia	$121,203	$58
   4	New York	$114,164	$55
   5	Maryland	$112,181	$54
   6	Washington	$110,288	$53
   7	New Jersey	$109,936	$53
   8	Arizona	$109,455	$53
   9	Utah	$109,085	$52
   10	Pennsylvania	$104,910	$50
   11	Florida	$96,875	$47
   12	Georgia	$92,648	$45
   13	Hawaii	$53,821	$26

   Average academic affairs director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University of Maryland, Baltimore	$162,402	$78.08	4
   2	Oregon Health & Science University	$146,520	$70.44	2
   3	Capital Health	$136,250	$65.50
   4	Fortegra	$131,642	$63.29
   5	Sage Therapeutics	$128,950	$62.00
   6	Live Nation Entertainment	$128,092	$61.58
   7	Pharmaceutical Product Development	$127,469	$61.28
   8	Intel	$127,151	$61.13	3
   9	Pacifi	$125,801	$60.48
   10	UT Health East Texas	$124,911	$60.05
   11	Rutgers University	$124,149	$59.69	12
   12	Thomson Reuters	$122,462	$58.88
   13	Glaxosmithkline	$119,472	$57.44
   14	Spectrum	$117,598	$56.54	1
   15	Yale University	$116,305	$55.92	3
   16	New Jersey Economic Development Authority	$114,732	$55.16
   17	Corning Incorporated	$108,338	$52.09
   18	Amgen	$108,026	$51.94	2
   19	Arizona Board of Regents	$106,514	$51.21
   20	Columbia University in the City of New York	$105,956	$50.94	6

4. Writing an academic affairs director job description

   An academic affairs director job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an academic affairs director job description:

   Academic affairs director job description example

   Washington College, a NCAA Division III member of the Centennial Conference, is accepting applications for Director of Athletic Communications and Academic Affairs. This is an administrative level position in the department of athletics and heads up the departments communications efforts.
   
   The Director of Athletic Communications oversees a staff of one full-time employee, one part-time employee, and a student game-day staff of approximately 12-18 students. Among other things, this position manages the Colleges athletics web site, main athletics social media channels, prepares game recaps and news releases, oversees the athletics communications budget, produces game-day programs, and oversees the departments live-streaming efforts. The position also oversees staffing at home events, including statistics, public address, photography, and live streaming.
   
   As part of the departments administrative team, this position attends weekly Administrative Team meetings and monthly Student Affairs staff meetings in addition to regular Athletic Department staff meetings. This position also serves on the Colleges Athletic Hall of Fame Board.
   
   This is a salaried position that requires frequent evening and weekend hours, both on-site and from home. Given the frequent requirement of work outside of business hours, a flexible schedule during business hours is possible.
   
   Washington College is one of the nations leading liberal arts institutions located in the historic town of Chestertown on Marylands Eastern Shore. Situated on the scenic Chester River we are an easy driving distance from the major metropolitan areas of Annapolis, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
   Education and Experience:
   
   Bachelor's degree required. 3-5 years of athletics communications experience in a collegiate setting required, at least 5 years strongly preferred. Strong knowledge of desktop publishing and web content editing (preferably with PrestoSports) required. Familiarity with statistical software required. Some familiarity with live video production required. Experience managing a budget and staff strongly preferred. Strong knowledge of NCAA Division III rules preferred.
   
   How to Apply
   
   When applying please submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information of three professional references through our

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find academic affairs directors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any academic affairs directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level academic affairs directors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your academic affairs director job on Zippia to find and attract quality academic affairs director candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit academic affairs directors, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new academic affairs director

   Once you've found the academic affairs director candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new academic affairs director first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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