College Success Coach

College Forward seeks full-time AmeriCorps*Texas members to serve as College Success Coaches at our Austin, Texas site from August 17, 2020 – June 18, 2021, who possess a sincere interest in empowering youth and a passion for higher education. Applicants should possess strong interpersonal, organizational, and research skills to assist College Forward with providing college success services to more than 3,000 collegians and improve and build the sustainability and success rate of the program in order to serve a rapidly increasing number of college students and graduates.

College Success Coaches serve students who have graduated high school and are pursuing a post-secondary degree. These coaches generally work with students one on one and can provide assistance both virtually or in-person to support students through their post-secondary education. College Success Coaches assist students with course registration, financial aid, academic advising, and career development.

Members must serve a minimum of 1,200 hours of service (an average of 32 hours/week) and complete their full contractual term of 10 months in order to qualify for the Eli Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. 

AmeriCorps Benefits:                                                                                

• Living Stipend
• Eli Segal Education Award
• Free medical and low-cost dental and vision insurance
• Monthly mileage and cell phone use reimbursements
• Opportunity to forbear qualified student loans during service

NOTE: Mandatory AmeriCorps training for this position will start on August 17, 2020, for pre-service orientation unless otherwise specified. This position will have recurring access to vulnerable populations. This entails wearing the AmeriCorps logo, visibly, daily.

 In the event of a local, state, or federal disaster declaration, AmeriCorps members may be asked on a volunteer basis or be required by OneStar to activate to assist in disaster response and recovery activities within their communities.  This may involve virtual service opportunities or in-person service opportunities. This may include service opportunities outside of the member’s standard service hours or in place of their standard service duties. In the event of a large-scale, high needs local, state, or federal disaster, AmeriCorps members may voluntarily or be required by OneStar to deploy to an area outside of their service area to assist in disaster response and recovery activities. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Contact one’s assigned collegians once per month by phone, email, online messaging, and possible personal meeting to address specific needs and troubleshoot problems that may arise
• Provide students direct high school to college transition coaching and support in areas including, but not limited to: new student orientation, course registration, financial aid/FAFSA issues, college transfers, career development, and other miscellaneous issues. Conduct research, provide referrals, arrange meetings, and accompany students to appointments as necessary
• Provide extended support and create personalized action plans for students in “red flag” situations, including loss of financial aid, family crises, drop-outs, stop-outs, deferrals, MIA students, and students enrolled in two-year colleges
• Utilize national college enrollment databases and request school transcripts to confirm college enrollment; track, document and report collegian progress toward college graduation
• Coordinate campus gatherings and student mentor programs for students attending select campuses throughout Texas, and periodically make in-person campus visits.
• Orient College Forward’s high school students to the College success program and its services by assisting the High School Program team in preparing and administering college success and transition curriculum to graduating high school seniors; ensure that students successfully enroll in college success services
• Organize and maintain up-to-date student information on student progress including milestones and deliverables in databases and physical files; monitor success program statistics; produce reports as needed
• Submit weekly timesheets, periodic reports (i.e. monthly reports, self-evaluations, and supervisor evaluations), and other service-related documentation as required
• Attend required programmatic and community service events

ANCILLARY FUNCTIONS:

• Provide recognition and leadership opportunities to collegians as appropriate, including giving internal/external awards, writing recommendation letters, and composing recognition articles for newsletter and press releases
• Evaluate college success efforts quantitatively and qualitatively for future program improvement by conducting research on best practices in college success initiatives and gathering qualitative collegian feedback (via collegian surveys, retreats, events and/or meetings)
• Maintain excellent working relationships with supervisors, fellow AmeriCorps members, school district and college personnel, students and families, volunteers, donors, and the greater community
• Update and monitor College Forward’s online social networking sites; respond frequently
• Assist and attend events and programs and assist non-program students on campuses as requested by the college administration
• Serve on project teams on the following subjects, including but not limited to: AmeriCorps member recruitment, mentor program, students who are undocumented, program monitoring and evaluation, community college students, students who are parents services, and community service activities

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

College Forward is a dynamic, progressive and youth-focused working environment. The noise level in the work environment can be moderate to loud. Responsibilities may frequently require an adjusted work schedule and/or evening/weekend hours in order to meet deadlines or satisfy program requirements. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this position successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. College Success Coaches must also submit to and pass a comprehensive criminal background check before a final placement offer can be made, and annually thereafter.

• EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: This position requires at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited, academically-recognized four-year college or university, and a minimum of one-year related experience.
• PHYSICAL DEMANDS: While performing the duties of this position, the member is regularly required to communicate with and present information to others and access information using a computer for several hours at a time. Members must have mobility throughout the office and may be required to travel to area high schools and other service locations to monitor service delivery. Members may infrequently be required to drive or ride distances of up to 250 miles.
• EMOTIONAL DEMANDS: The member must be emotionally mature and be able to handle difficult and complex team member and student situations. Candidates must demonstrate an ability to solve practical problems and deal with frequently changing variables. The member must demonstrate strong interpersonal and coaching skills.
• INTELLECTUAL DEMANDS: Excellent writing and communication skills are essential; English/Spanish bilingualism is strongly preferred. Candidates must be able to read, analyze, and interpret general educational and business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, and governmental regulations. They must exhibit an ability to professionally write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. They must be able to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. They must be able to effectively present information and respond to questions from the general public, clients, students, partners, and managers. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to understand and apply the standard, high school-level mathematical concepts for the purpose of compiling program statistics.