Manager of the Department of Student Services - Curator Coordination and Student Support

Job Description

1. Coordination of Curators:

1. Coordinates curators' day-to-day activities in accordance with approved plans, standards, and work cycles.
2. Organizes operational meetings, receives curators' requests, and advises on the application of approved algorithms and the scope of competence.
3. Monitors deadlines for agreed actions, recommendations, and feedback.
4. Identifies recurring difficulties and system gaps and escalates them promptly to the management .

2. Student Support and Referral:

1. Conducts an initial review of concerns received from curators and through the Case Log and checks completeness of required information within the role's remit.
2. Coordinates support for at-risk students and complex cases in accordance with approved procedures.
3. Determines the appropriate referral route, initiates transfer of the case to the relevant unit, and obtains confirmation of acceptance.
4. Tracks the case through to the agreed outcome or closure without substituting for clinical, psychological, medical, legal, or other specialists.

3. Crisis Response and Inter-Unit Cooperation:

1. When risk indicators are identified, activates the crisis-response and escalation protocol and immediately informs responsible persons.
2. Coordinates urgent cooperation among academic schools, psychological, medical, social, residential, security, and other relevant services.
3. Supports continuity of actions, maintains a chronology, and records decisions while limiting information sharing to a need-to-know basis.
4. Participates in anonymized lessons-learned reviews of complex cases and develops proposals to improve protocols.

4. Case Log Monitoring and Data Quality:

1. Monitors the timeliness, completeness, and neutrality of Case Log entries and the currency of statuses, actions, and outcomes.
2. Monitors compliance with access rights, confidentiality requirements, and data-quality standards and reports breaches to the Senior Manager.
3. Prepares operational summaries of overdue actions, elevated-risk cases, referral times, and support outcomes.

5. Communication and Administrative Support:

1. Provides curators with current guidance, contact routes, forms, and work schedules and maintains feedback channels.
2. Prepares correspondence, minutes, reports, and risk information within the area of responsibility and maintains related records.

Qualifications

Education requirements (level, field, licenses, professional certifications, etc.): 

1) A higher education degree in Psychology, Pedagogy, Social Work, Public Health, Educational Management, Public Administration, or a related field;
2) training in crisis response, psychological first aid, student safeguarding and well-being, or case management is an advantage.

Work experience requirements: 

1) At least 3 years of experience in student support, youth work, coordination of social or psychological services, education, or a related field; or
2) at least 1 year of relevant experience with a Master's degree in a related field.

Additional Information

Knowledge:
1) principles of student support, early identification of risk factors, case management, referral, and crisis response;
2) boundaries of non-clinical services and procedures for transferring cases to relevant specialists;
3) requirements for protection of personal data, medical confidentiality, and confidential information;
4) the University's structure, student-support services, and inter-unit cooperation protocols;
5) legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in education and internal University documents.

6) the University's structure, functions of relevant services, and procedures for inter-unit cooperation;

7) the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Status of Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools and Nazarbayev Fund,” other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in higher education, and internal University documents.
Skills:
1) operational coordination of curators and monitoring completion of agreed actions;
2) application of approved screening and response protocols;
3) accurate and neutral case documentation, Case Log maintenance, and data-quality control;
4) handling difficult communications, de-escalation, and coordination of cross-functional cooperation;
5) analysis of operational data and preparation of concise reports.
Competencies:
1) ethics, empathy, and confidentiality;
2) composure and sound judgment in crisis situations;
3) attention to detail and deadlines;
4) teamwork and accountability;
5) ability to respect professional boundaries and escalate situations promptly.

Language requirements: 

Fluency in Kazakh, Russian, and English for work with students, curators, and structural units, Case Log maintenance, and business correspondence.

Recruitment and selection process
Recruitment and selection at Nazarbayev University include the following process: preliminary selection based on experience and qualifications, assessments (e.g. technical skills/capabilities, aptitude, personality, work samples, in-basket exercises, and informal interviews), and motivation.

Formal interviews form the final stage of the selection process.
They are typically based on organizational values and behaviors and conducted in English.
You are encouraged to share your views and values  to identify how they fit into  Nazarbayev University core values