Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Accomplishments
Awards
Languages
Languages
References
Timeline
Generic

SOKE KWAI KONG

New York

Summary

Advocate for innovation and student success with over a decade of experience in higher education administration. Proven track record in enhancing academic programs, managing large-scale admissions, and developing strategic student support services. Expertise in optimizing processes to improve student outcomes and foster impactful academic initiatives. Experience includes roles at prestigious institutions such as Columbia University and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Overview

17
17
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Assistant Director of Academic Affairs

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
New York
06.2021 - Current
  • Manage and oversee academic activities and student advisement - primary contact for 600+ students; direct mentorship and tutoring programs to ensure student success and engagement.
  • Develop, plan, and execute strategic recruitment efforts, program information sessions, student events, academic programming and workshops.
  • Independently implement and streamline processes for tracking and managing students' resources -- effectively decrease processing time and increase efficiency and accuracy of record keeping.
  • Oversee all communication to faculty and students, implement and enforce policies and procedures to ensure alignment and compliance with program and University requirements.
  • Supervise two graduate interns and a program coordinator on all communications and activities related to academic affairs.
  • Collaborate with Department Administrator and Career & Professional Officer to identify and select course TAs/graders, organize and administer training sessions and evaluate TA/grader performance with course instructors.
  • Work closely with program and department leadership to design academic calendar, course schedule and provide support on the admission process.
  • Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with various departments, academic programs and key stakeholders at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Senior Coordinator for Student Success

WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
New York
09.2017 - 05.2021
  • Company Overview: Graduate School of Medical Sciences
  • Served as the point person for student support and services: Advised students on academic- and institutional-related policies and communicated new initiatives to program leadership and administrators; managed 400+ international students, including F-1 visa advising.
  • Supervised three Designated School Officials: Developed and implemented processes; conducted training on F-1 regulations and best practices.
  • Led a team of six to generate content for newsletter. Responsible for editing and designing page layout for printing and electronic distribution.
  • Created and managed content for the website and social media, resulted in increased engagement and 1000+ new followers. Collaborated with the Office of External Affairs to develop and execute social media strategy.
  • Successfully led and oversaw the MS program Inaugural Commencement with 200+ graduates and 500+ guests.
  • Liaised and collaborated with students and leadership stakeholders in planning, organizing, and executing recruitment and admissions, orientation, commencement and student-led events and activities.
  • Graduate School of Medical Sciences

Program Coordinator, Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis

WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
New York
05.2016 - 08.2017
  • Company Overview: Graduate School of Medical Sciences
  • Managed and provided support to program chairs, directors and 55+ faculty members on elements of program and course development including Graduate School policies and procedures.
  • Managed 60+ PhD students, monitored students' academic progress and advised students on program requirements, policies and procedures.
  • Managed budget, organized and executed seminars, annual retreat, student events, including materials and brochure design.
  • Oversaw recruitment and admission activities, facilitated Admission Committee meetings, and maintained a detailed database to track admissions data, alumni placements and publications for training grant purposes.
  • Graduate School of Medical Sciences

PhD & MS Program Manager

ICAHN SCHOOL of MEDICINE at MOUNT SINAI
New York
11.2010 - 04.2016
  • Company Overview: Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
  • Managed and oversaw recruitment initiatives, admission process and event planning of six PhD programs and a Master's program, including utilized qualitative and quantitative evaluations to analyze and measure the success of events, drive strategy, identify areas of weakness and implement improvements.
  • Monitored 400+ students' academic progress, including academic and policies advisement.
  • Directed and collaborated with program leadership, faculty and students to implement community-building events, orientation and commencement.
  • Developed, generated and maintained a detailed database to track admissions statistics and program outcomes for grant submission, marketing purposes and Board meetings.
  • Generated and reconciled annual financial reports on faculty efforts for the Dean's Office.
  • Created and maintained content for the website and bi-annual newsletter.
  • Participated in the Graduate School Steering Committee, Curriculum Committee and Recruitment meetings, national and local recruitment fairs and Annual Graduate Research Education and Training (GREAT) conference.
  • Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Administrative Assistant

ICAHN SCHOOL of MEDICINE at MOUNT SINAI
New York
08.2008 - 10.2010
  • Company Overview: Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
  • Provided a range of administrative support to program directors, faculty and administrators. Worked closely with the Admissions Committee to review and process applications.
  • Managed and liaised with the Registrar to ensure academic records and student information were accurate and up-to-date.
  • Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Education

B.A. - Communication, Anthropology

Hunter College
New York

School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Drake University
Iowa

Skills

  • Learning management systems (Blackboard, Canvas, Drupal)
  • Design software (InDesign)
  • Survey tools (Qualtrics)
  • CRM and CAS software
  • Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
  • Data management strategies
  • Policy implementation techniques
  • Stakeholder collaboration
  • Process improvement methodologies
  • Operations management

Certification

  • Project Management
  • Fundamentals of Social Media

Accomplishments

  • Weill Cornell Medicine, Initiated a quarterly Graduate School newsletter, WorthWEILL., Improved operational efficiencies by streamlining administrative processes and developing e-forms.
  • Icahn School of Medicine, Successfully collated admissions and program statistical data going back to 2004, which enabled the organization to generate various reports seamlessly for recruitment, training grants and marketing materials., Initiated a web-based scheduling and application platform to increase admission process efficiency. This platform was adopted by and fully implemented across the medical and graduate schools in 2014.

Awards

Outstanding Service by Mount Sinai Staff Award, 12/01/12

Languages

  • English
  • Cantonese
  • Malay

Languages

Chinese (Cantonese)
Native/ Bilingual
Malay
Native/ Bilingual
Chinese (Mandarin)
Limited

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Assistant Director of Academic Affairs

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
06.2021 - Current

Senior Coordinator for Student Success

WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
09.2017 - 05.2021

Program Coordinator, Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis

WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
05.2016 - 08.2017

PhD & MS Program Manager

ICAHN SCHOOL of MEDICINE at MOUNT SINAI
11.2010 - 04.2016

Administrative Assistant

ICAHN SCHOOL of MEDICINE at MOUNT SINAI
08.2008 - 10.2010

B.A. - Communication, Anthropology

Hunter College

School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Drake University

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