Student Success Navigator-Completion Specialist

needs. He/she will work with and strengthen relationships with grantors who are supporting students and will collaborate with faculty, Admissions, Registrar, Chief Mission Officer, Student Financial Services, and Student Life staff to provide pathways in support of student retention and success. The position requires familiarity with College resources available to help address obstacles impeding persistence, and supported referrals that serve as a bridge to accessing them.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manages an integrative advising process, guiding a
  caseload of students and addressing their academic planning needs by exercising careful judgement based on individual student situations.
• Interprets and clarifies academic policies and processes to students.
• Oversees student registration of assigned
  advisees, guiding them in decision-making about course choices.
• Serves as the first point of contact for advisees in relation to
  complaints about registration matters and if necessary, work with members of the Progression and Registration team to address them.
• Monitors and evaluates students' educational progress by conducting academic progress audits.
• Establishes and maintains
  student files, databases and records; prepares activity reports and analyses
• Leads the College as a program specialist in a
  particular disciplinary area, providing advice on specific programs or specific student groups to internal and external stakeholders related
  to CASAC, HOPE and Renaissance Scholars, PNC, ADN, BSO, Arts & Sciences, Allied Health, Certificate Programs.
• Conduct regular
  meetings with students to determine additional support needs and make referrals.
• Conduct high-impact initial outreach and ongoing
  monitoring of progress to:
  + current students who have been identified as unresponsive to advising attempts by faculty and
  department chairs during the advisement period.
  + students placed on academic probation and suspension at the end of semesters
  + students identified on lists by Admissions and Registrar who have registered, but drop prior to the start of the semester, and within
  first two weeks.
  + students who request to withdraw during the semester and students who stop out
• Liaise with
  department chairs and faculty to identify alternative pathways/programs to benefit student completion.
• Keep appropriate
  documentation and records of student progress consistent with Student Affairs and College procedures.
• Share factors impacting
  persistence and completion identified in exit interviews and student meetings to help inform college retention initiatives.
• Evaluate data regarding students’ progress and contribute to reports, grant proposals, and college-wide updates.
• Serve as a
  member of the Recruitment and Retention Committee and assist in identifying trends and researching best practices in student persistence and
  completion.
• Triage obstacles to persistence faced by students and acts as liaison between students and college offices and
  resources including Academic Success coaching, Accessibility Services, Uwill mental health and wellness support, EFarm, financial aid and
  others as needed.
• Support various enrollment, retention, and completion initiatives of the College.
• Help develop
  corporate partnership cohort enrollment.
• Keep current on college academic programs, academic policies, academic partnerships,
  national trends, and best practices that improve retention and student success.
• Promote and support completion of student
  applications for scholarship programs (e.g. Iroquois and Renaissance) through virtual workshops and 1:1 virtual meetings.
• Adhere
  to FERPA guidelines related to confidentiality of student information and records.
• Ensure compliance with College policies,
  procedures and NYSED regulations and accreditor requirements.
• Undertake all advising and registration duties as assigned by the
  Director.

Essential Functions

This job description is not designed to be a comprehensive listing of
activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned
at any time with or without notice.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Availability for occasional weekly evening
  hours and monthly weekend hours as needed to meet student availability.
• Carry out other duties commensurate with the level of the
  position.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Understanding of and commitment to the mission of the College.
• Familiarity with barriers to degree completion faced by nontraditional students.
• Interest and/or experience in working
  with a diverse study body.
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills to
  interact with students, College staff and faculty.
• Organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Understanding of
  issues related to student development and effective interventions for retention and graduation of historically underrepresented and
  academically underprepared students in higher education.

Technology Skills:

• Proficiency in Windows
  operating environment using MS Office applications (particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), e-mail, and internet programs.
• Facility with, or willingness to learn MS Teams to conduct virtual meetings with students.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Two (2) years of demonstrated experience in student facing roles, or customer-service,
  ideally in support of at-risk populations.
• Demonstrated understanding of the challenges faced by nontraditional college students
  and desire to make an impact in support of their academic success.

Salary: $40,000 to $50,000 (based on experience)

Interested candidates must submit cover letter and resume to resumes@mariacollege.edu with “Student Success Navigator-Completion Specialist” in
the subject line.