Working Hours:

Working hours for this position consist of a 7.5 hour period exclusive of a 1/2 or 1 hour lunch. Specific hours will be assigned at the onset of employment. In this position, the employee will be required to work one evening per week, to be agreed upon at the onset of employment.  The employee may be required to work additional evening or weekend hours.  The employee has the option to work these additional hours, in addition to or in lieu of regular hours. This is an on-campus position that will work with students both in person and remotely. 

Travel Requirements: 

Position requires occasional local travel; employee must have access to transportation. 

Summary:

The goal of Reading Area Community College’s Title V Nuestro Próximo Paso is to catalytically transform the institution by Reframing Enrollment and Advising through the implementation of coaching, proactive advising, and early interventions while simultaneously Reframing Curriculum and Instruction through the implementation of guided pathways, improved gateway course instruction, and development of a Learning Commons.

The Title V Connection Coach as part of the Title V team plays a key role in successfully onboarding new students from the point of application and promoting a positive learning experience through their first year, in an effort to meet student retention, success and completion goals of the college. The Connection Coach provides registration assistance, support, advisement and connections to college resources, aimed at motivating and engaging new students in order for them to be successful. These student interactions take place both in person and online, with over 50% of the Student Success Center appointments occurring virtually. Connection Coaches must be comfortable utilizing various technological tools when conducting advising sessions, for case management and providing instructional technology support to students. The Connection Coaches are responsible for student retention and support and will seamlessly transition students to academic and/or career coaches at established milestones. 

This position is 100% Title V Grant Funded.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

1. Register and Onboard cohort of students and coach them through the process of being a first-time student
2. Provide advising to students, including non-advisees, through walk-in times in office and at targeted special events such as New Student Orientation, Accepted Student Days and Welcome Week Activities
3. Assist students with identifying, planning for, and overcoming potential obstacles in the placement testing, registration, financial aid, and technology processes and procedures
4. Assist students with setting goals and defining steps in education and career planning for the first year
5.  Maintain advising log or case management files to track contact hours, issues and outcomes with appropriate documentation
6. Monitor student progress toward goals and assist students and instructors to problem solve issues that arise related to progress towards academic goals, persistence, attendance, and completion
7. Explain the processes for interpreting transfer credits, prior learning assessment, satisfactory academic progress (SAP) and other credit and financial issues for students
8. Review and stay current on curriculum requirements and policies impacting students, including meta majors and guided pathways
9. Provide targeted outreach and hold meetings (including remote/online) with students flagged from the Early Alert program, with a focus on identified at-risk populations and LatinX populations
10. Create and conduct workshops and information sessions and develop / distribute materials as needed to support student success
11. Develop printed and on-line resources such as first-year guidelines and financial literacy information to help students and their families better understand
12. Participate in New Student Orientations
13. Provide and/or procure bilingual service to monolingual and limited English- speaking program participants and/or their family members as needed to achieve the grant objectives
14. Provide advising/coaching in both English and Spanish language when needed for an advisee and their family
15. Work both collectively as a team and also independently with the ability to make well informed decisions in the best interest of each advisee
16. Identify support that students need with a focus on goal setting, GPA recovery, study skills, test anxiety and stress management skills, time management, and connecting students to helpful resources
17. Conduct workshops and hands-on training how to navigate through institutional technology and campus resources. Assess workshops and training sessions
18. Meet enrollment and retention goals
19. Provide monthly report on activities and initiatives
20. Monitor student progress proactively, and conduct outreach to connect students to services
21. Coordinate student referrals to departments or services to help them overcome social and economic barriers
22. For online learners, counsel and advise students by phone, email, text and other available online technologies
23. Attend staff meetings and trainings as required
24. Meet regularly with the Director of Advising and Retention and Task Force to inform of grant achievements, challenges, or needed support
25. Other related duties as required

Supervisory Responsibilities:                                                 

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications: 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

Required:

1. Bachelor’s degree
2. 2-3 years’ experience in instruction and or student service and/or related field; preference may be given to those with experience as an academic advisor/counselor/recruiter or faculty member in a higher education setting
3. Knowledge of and commitment to serving bilingual/bicultural student populations and others traditionally underrepresented in higher education
4. Bilingual English/Spanish required

Preferred:

1. Bachelor's degree in education, counseling, psychology or related field: preference may be given to individuals who possess a Master's degree
2. Community College experience
3. Experience working at a Hispanic Serving Institution (college or university serving 25% or more Hispanic students) preferred

Other Skills and Abilities:

1. Excellent communication and public speaking skills
2. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work well with people
3. Excellent written communication skills especially in the areas of report writing and business correspondence

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should be very proficient with Microsoft Outlook, other Microsoft Office and Office 365 tools (especially Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) as well as Internet skills. Since many student meetings take place virtually, this individual should also be proficient in using virtual meeting software such as Teams and Zoom. Knowledge of Ellucian Colleague or other administrative software a plus.

Communication Skills:                                                

Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public. Able to communicate effectively via phone, email, SMS texting, virtual meeting software, instant messaging software, and in-person interactions.

Reasoning Ability:                                          

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations.

Mathematical Skills:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Physical Demands: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand, to sit and to reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to walk and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.