WHAT DOES AN ACADEMIC COORDINATOR DO?

Updated: Apr 14, 2026. The Academic Coordinator develops and manages comprehensive academic support programs for student-athletes, guiding academic goals, course selection, and study habits. This role also coordinates with faculty, parents, and counselors to address academic and behavioral challenges, while monitoring progress and eligibility. The role also supports recruitment, advising, and communicates academic updates to coaches and administrators.

Key Responsibilities of an Academic Coordinator

1. Academic Coordinator Responsibilities

  • Student Support: Provide advice and information services to prospective and current undergraduate students, faculty, and staff.
  • Visit Coordination: Arrange and coordinate prospective student visits.
  • Schedule Management: Assist in the development and entry of academic schedules for the spring, fall, and summer semesters.
  • Course Coordination: Coordinate departmental courses, assign rooms, manage the syllabi repository, and process textbook orders each semester.
  • TA Coordination: Notify teaching assistants of their assignments, support training programs, coordinate evaluations, and review sessions.
  • TA Support: Acquire desk copies of textbooks, reserve rooms for office hours, and assist with teaching assistants’ needs.
  • Seminar Support: Assist with weekly undergraduate seminars by tracking attendance, delivering materials, and supporting visiting speakers.
  • Data Collection: Collect data to support recruitment, curricular, and co-curricular programs, and alumni engagement using specialized databases.
  • Exam Scheduling: Assist in the development of final exam schedules and manage textbook requests for undergraduate and graduate courses.
  • Event Coordination: Coordinate and oversee academic events, including alumni reunions, themed dinners, and commencement ceremonies.
  • Order Management: Work with the department buyer to place orders supporting undergraduate programming and academic courses.
  • Purchasing Compliance: Follow policies and procedures governing the use of the institutional purchasing card.
  • Academic Tracking: Use academic audit systems to track student academic progress.
  • Database Management: Maintain the alumni database, manage email distribution lists, and communicate with students.
  • Meeting Coordination: Attend meetings with enrollment services and university partners.
  • Meeting Management: Manage schedules for academic leadership and coordinate room access requests for courses and events.
  • Facility Coordination: Place and track work orders with facilities management and cleaning services for department spaces.

2. Academic Coordinator Functions

  • Course Review: Review OSHA course lists to establish priorities for updating content and presentations.
  • Priority Planning: Prioritize updates based on OTE directives, guidance, and requests.
  • Inventory Management: Maintain inventory of OSHA and non-OSHA courses and curriculum.
  • Instructor Consultation: Consult instructors on course updates and improvements.
  • Instructor Communication: Communicate with instructors thirty days before course start to review lesson plans and course assets.
  • Training Collaboration: Collaborate with the Extended Education Specialist II on off-site training opportunities.
  • Asset Management: Identify, secure, and maintain training assets, including health and safety equipment.
  • Program Reporting: Submit regular reports on program activities to the management team and Program Committee, and provide information upon request.
  • Content Facilitation: Facilitate contributions of student artwork and writings to the newsletter.
  • Project Participation: Participate in special projects, meetings, trainings, workshops, and events by senior management.

3. Academic Coordinator Details and Accountabilities

  • Course Coordination: Coordinate, maintain, and review course planning.
  • Certification Coordination: Coordinate, maintain, and review local certification and accreditation projects.
  • Seminar Coordination: Coordinate, maintain, and review thesis and referencing seminars.
  • Presentation Coordination: Coordinate, maintain, review, host, and deliver welcome presentations for new students.
  • Guide Management: Propose and discuss changes to student and faculty guides.
  • Administrative Support: Provide administrative support to the community coordinator.
  • Academic Support: Provide academic support for students and faculty, including program requirements, course planning, academic issues, and project support.
  • Satellite Support: Provide academic support to satellite campuses.
  • Event Participation: Attend local admissions and marketing events, including information sessions and fairs.

4. Academic Coordinator Roles

  • Calendar Management: Manage, prioritize, and coordinate calendars for undergraduate and graduate academic leadership, and prepare briefing materials.
  • Call Management: Manage calls from faculty, staff, students, parents, external stakeholders, and the public.
  • Reception Support: Provide backup support for academic affairs reception and exam proctoring services.
  • Administrative Support: Support academic affairs and student services leadership during the coordinator’s absence.
  • Course Scheduling: Schedule and manage nursing courses across academic systems in consultation with academic leadership.
  • Vendor Coordination: Serve as a liaison for testing services, including ordering materials, managing enrollments, and reconciling invoices.
  • Advisory Support: Provide advisory input on operational issues, concerns, and ongoing program management.
  • Planning Coordination: Manage, facilitate, and maintain academic planning grids, including courses, instructors, schedules, and locations.
  • Correspondence Management: Prepare correspondence and data for clinical agencies regarding placements and student and faculty requirements.
  • Access Coordination: Provide faculty information to clinical agencies for system access management.
  • Student Placement: Assist with clinical placements, coordinate assignments, and communicate with agencies on unit usage and survey requirements.

5. Academic Coordinator Additional Details

  • Meeting Facilitation: Facilitate meetings with students who are late in completing mandatory clinical requirements, including CastleBranch and My Clinical Exchange.
  • Documentation Management: Compose and process written documentation, general correspondence, reports, accreditation documents, program review materials, and travel documents.
  • File Management: Manage office files for academic leadership.
  • Travel Coordination: Assist with travel arrangements for academic leadership.
  • Administrative Support: Support academic affairs leadership during the administrative coordinator’s absence.
  • Faculty Planning: Manage clinical, didactic, adjunct, and temporary faculty planning and evaluation processes.
  • Appointment Coordination: Coordinate assignments, initiate appointments for prospective temporary faculty, schedule interviews, and support rehire follow-up.
  • Orientation Planning: Plan, organize, and implement temporary faculty orientation, including room scheduling, food orders, agendas, materials, and registration.
  • Event Coordination: Collaborate with the academic affairs team to plan and support the execution of convocations, ceremonies, job fairs, senior pictures, faculty CPR courses, and events.

6. Academic Coordinator Essential Functions

  • Program Coordination: Support administrative activities across academic programs, ensuring efficiency and compliance with policies, procedures, and specifications.
  • Technical Support: Provide technical advice and problem-solving assistance, answer inquiries, and interpret policies for students, faculty, and academic leadership.
  • Program Communication: Improve and support communication of essential information about academic programs, including admission requirements, policies, and content.
  • Content Development: Compile and edit content for reports, proposals, promotional materials, journal articles, financial records, and program documentation.
  • Program Evaluation: Evaluate program performance and progress toward objectives, analyze results, and recommend improvements to meet deliverables.
  • Data Analysis: Collect and analyze data on student progression, program evaluation, and compliance using multiple databases and archiving systems.
  • Reporting Development: Develop tracking and reporting methods to monitor student and academic program activities.
  • Academic Support: Support academic, scholarly, and administrative work; communicate information; compile responses; prepare reports; and assist with citations.
  • Student Engagement: Enhance the student experience by arranging seminars, study sessions, and workshops.
  • Content Writing: Develop, compile, and write coursework, communications, and promotional materials, including newsletters, brochures, and flyers.
  • Schedule Coordination: Prepare, organize, and disseminate schedules, course descriptions, outlines, and syllabi in coordination with faculty.
  • Timeline Management: Maintain timelines and ensure accurate and timely documentation and communication among stakeholders.

7. Academic Coordinator Role Purpose

  • Program Coordination: Coordinate all aspects of fellowship program administration, including manuals, housing, utilities, visas, travel, and conference expenses.
  • Application Management: Process applications and maintain accurate and current files for applicants, fellows, and alumni.
  • Rotation Coordination: Coordinate off-site rotations for fellows, residents, and medical students.
  • Selection Coordination: Oversee and facilitate the interview and selection process for fellowship candidates and elective rotations.
  • Inquiry Response: Respond to inquiries received through the internet, fax, ERAS, and telephone.
  • Meeting Coordination: Work with managers and physicians to schedule meetings, lectures, and conferences.
  • Lecture Coordination: Coordinate external lectures for attending physicians and fellows.
  • Conference Coordination: Book conference rooms for educational meetings, CME lectures, grand rounds, and core lectures, and manage funding, grants, honorariums, and travel.
  • Office Support: Process incoming and outgoing mail, distribute materials, and order stationery, business cards, and forms for printing.
  • Payment Processing: Produce weekly payment records for non-contracted physician compensation, check requests, travel reimbursement, expenses, and grant tracking.
  • Attendance Monitoring: Monitor attendance, vacations, and leave records.

8. Academic Coordinator General Responsibilities

  • ACGME Documentation: Secure all necessary ACGME documentation for program compliance.
  • Recruitment Coordination: Coordinate evaluations and annual recruitment for the fellowship program.
  • Rotation Oversight: Oversee elective rotations and the integration of the fellow program within the division.
  • Fellow Information Management: Update and maintain fellow information, including procedure logs, schedules, and evaluations, in New Innovations.
  • Report Preparation: Prepare and execute reports and surveys mandated by accrediting agencies and academic affairs.
  • Fellow Records: Maintain detailed files, evaluations, and reports on current and former fellows.
  • Curriculum Scheduling: Create lecture curriculum schedules for fellows.
  • Schedule Management: Prepare, update, and distribute schedules, handouts, and assignments for fellows, residents, and medical students.
  • Credentialing Process: Manage the credentialing process for new and reappointed physicians, ensuring paperwork is complete and accurate.
  • Physician Coordination: Work with the division and voluntary attending physicians to support program operations.

9. Academic Coordinator Key Accountabilities

  • Information Sessions: Conduct sessions and provide one-on-one counseling for students and families regarding program requirements.
  • Program Coordination: Assist the Project Director in coordinating outreach, intake, evaluation, and orientation processes.
  • Referral Collaboration: Collaborate with school districts, city offices, and community groups to implement student referral processes.
  • Student Support: Provide academic, social, and emotional support to ensure program retention and student success.
  • Family Communication: Maintain ongoing contact with students and families about progress, attendance, and behavioral issues.
  • Material Development: Assist in developing program materials and forms for operations and student data tracking.
  • Activity Coordination: Coordinate and facilitate academic, social, emotional, and career-related activities for students.
  • Event Participation: Actively participate in program events such as graduations, social events, achievement celebrations, orientations, and community service.
  • Presentation Support: Assist the Project Director in presenting to internal and external audiences to promote the program.
  • Student Monitoring: Monitor student progress, review academic records, and support retention and completion, including daily attendance.
  • Report Preparation: Prepare and maintain reports and documentation per program requirements and objectives.
  • Interagency Communication: Communicate with college offices and external agencies to address student progress and needs.
  • Confidentiality Adherence: Adhere to FERPA regulations and maintain the confidentiality of student records and program documents.
  • Cultural Sensitivity: Maintain respect for a diverse academic environment and for students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds.

10. Academic Coordinator Roles and Details

  • Medical Liaison: Serve as a liaison to the UCMC Medical Staff Office for physician clinical privileges and compliance.
  • Privilege Tracking: Prepare and utilize spreadsheets to track medical staff reappointment privileges for quarterly reappointments.
  • Faculty Support: Assist incoming faculty with obtaining medical staff privileges promptly.
  • Compliance Tracking: Track compliance and assist faculty in meeting requirements.
  • Resource Support: Serve as a resource to faculty for renewing and obtaining medical staff privileges, licenses, and certifications.
  • Academic Support: Assist with academic hiring, reappointment, and promotion materials.
  • Ad Compliance: Review proposed national ads for compliance with university requirements.
  • Faculty Correspondence: Compose invitations and reports regarding faculty votes on appointments and promotions.
  • Evaluation Collection: Obtain teaching evaluations for clinical, research, and didactic faculty encounters.
  • Document Processing: Process and file appointment and promotion documentation in Interfolio, and control faculty access in Box.
  • Collaborative Support: Work closely with the Vice Chair and Associate Vice Chair to respond to queries regarding appointments and promotions.
  • Documentation Management: Keep appointment and promotion documentation up to date.
  • Evaluation Tracking: Track ongoing appointments and promotions, and collaborate with Vice Chairs to obtain timely evaluations.
  • Payroll Management: Enter and maintain accurate payroll information in Workday and other systems.
  • Program Support: Support broad operational activities for faculty affairs program initiatives to meet goals and objectives.
  • Operational Assistance: Assist with the day-to-day operations of faculty affairs programs with guidance from leadership.

11. Academic Coordinator Responsibilities and Key Tasks

  • Support Plan Development: Create and monitor individual support plans for at-risk student-athletes, including study tables, tutorials, time management, and progress reports.
  • Class Communication: Create and distribute missed class letters for assigned student-athletes.
  • Faculty Inquiries: Respond to faculty inquiries regarding student-athletes’ academic performance and attendance concerns.
  • Learning Disability Support: Assist with referrals and support services for student-athletes with diagnosed learning disabilities.
  • Eligibility Monitoring: Follow NCAA bylaws, university policy, and conference standards to monitor academic eligibility, degree progression, and performance.
  • Academic Monitoring: Monitor and report the academic performance of assigned student-athletes.
  • Advisement Support: Provide academic advisement support for assigned student-athletes.
  • Faculty Collaboration: Collaborate with faculty advisors during registration to plan class schedules aligned with graduation requirements and missed class expectations.
  • Career Planning: Provide academic planning, major selection, and career exploration assistance for student-athletes.

12. Academic Coordinator Duties and Roles

  • Registration Support: Collaborate with campus partners to register designated freshman student-athletes.
  • Summer Program Support: Assist campus partners with planning, registration, coordination, orientation, and monitoring for summer programming.
  • Recruitment Assistance: Assist prospective student-athletes during recruitment, evaluate transcripts, resolve eligibility concerns, and create action plans.
  • Relationship Building: Develop and maintain working relationships with student-athletes, coaches, faculty, administrators, and departments.
  • NCAA Compliance: Comply with NCAA rules and regulations as part of the athletic department evaluation process.
  • Department Assistance: Assist athletic department staff during peak periods with special workloads and projects.
  • Committee Representation: Represent the department on university-wide committees and projects under the supervision of the supervisor.
  • Supervision: Report to the Director of Academic Support Services and function independently using professional judgment and discretion.

13. Academic Coordinator Duties

  • Reappointment Coordination: Coordinate the reappointment and promotion process for all existing faculty, prepare dossier materials, and track upcoming reappointments.
  • Promotion Coordination: Work with division leadership to determine upcoming faculty promotions.
  • Recruitment Support: Coordinate the recruitment of new faculty, schedule and coordinate search committee meetings, and arrange lodging and visits.
  • Faculty Search Coordination: Support research, ambulatory, hospitalist, and specialty faculty searches.
  • Appointment Process: Coordinate the faculty appointment process, including job postings, search requirements, academic dossiers, headshots, onboarding, and credentialing.
  • Website Maintenance: Maintain and update the division website and support web-based projects.
  • Credentialing Coordination: Coordinate credentialing and malpractice processes for all clinical faculty, including moonlighters.
  • Orientation Coordination: Coordinate yearly faculty orientation, including agenda creation, scheduling, documentation collection, presentation support, AV setup, and catering.

14. Academic Coordinator Details

  • Program Management: Develop and manage a comprehensive academic support program for students.
  • Academic Guidance: Provide guidance to students on academic goals and educational issues.
  • Course Support: Assist students with course selection and study habits.
  • Collaborative Support: Work with parents, teachers, and counselors to address academic and behavioral concerns.
  • Lesson Planning: Coordinate with teachers and center coordinators to develop lesson plans and materials.
  • Record Maintenance: Prepare and maintain student records in compliance with district policies and regulations.
  • Progress Monitoring: Monitor academic progress and eligibility of assigned student-athletes.
  • Weekly Meetings: Meet weekly with freshmen and at-risk student-athletes on assigned teams.
  • Academic Environment: Oversee a structured academic environment for assigned teams.
  • Advising: Serve as the primary academic advisor for exploratory studies student-athletes.
  • Recruitment Support: Assist in the recruiting process for student-athletes.
  • Communication: Communicate academic updates to coaches and athletic administrators.
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