"Academic Coach"

Position Details

Position Information

Position Title Academic Coach

Location Appleton

Department Center for Academic Success

Position Type Staff

Position Description & Qualifications 

Position Title: Academic Coach

Reports to: Associate Dean of Academic Success

Location: Seeley G. Mudd Library

Job Summary

The Academic Coach is a 1.0 FTE critical team member in the Center for Academic Success, providing academic coaching, teaching, workshops, and case management. The work is guided by the CAS’s goal of offering services that center the student’s holistic college experience and make them feel supported to achieve success at Lawrence.

Academic coaching is a collaborative relationship with students designed to empower them to set and achieve their goals, stay accountable and committed, and gain a deeper understanding of their habits, behaviors, thought patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. Through this process, students build strategies to improve motivation, organization and planning, decision-making, and manage academic stress. The coach supports the student in developing self-awareness, resilience, and effective learning strategies, fostering both personal and academic growth.

About the Center for Academic Success

The goal of the Center for Academic Success is to maximize Lawrence students’ academic success. In all its activities, the Center takes a holistic approach to assisting students, recognizing that academic abilities, success skills, and personal concerns are often connected. Services provided by the Center include:

Academic Coaching and Academic Skills: Improving college success skills, including motivation, accountability, goal-setting, time management, study skills, and meta-cognition (the ability to use self-reflection to improve how to learn most effectively).

Tutoring: Providing peer academic support in an individualized (one-on-one or small group) setting.

English as a Second Language: Developing skills in academic English for speakers of English as a second language.

Academic Procedures: Providing information about academic progress, preparing academic petitions, discussing academic policy options, arranging for an incomplete, taking a leave of absence, returning from a leave, or withdrawing from Lawrence.

Courses & Workshops: Offering courses and workshops that address and promote academic success.

Essential Job Responsibilities

· Teach UNIC 117: Academic Well-Being, a 3-unit course designed to introduce students to evidence-based well-being and learning theories that can positively impact success.

· Guide students through highly individualized coaching in a broad spectrum of areas including the co-construction of personal and professional goals, and steps to achieve their goals at Lawrence.

· Help students develop self-awareness, identify strengths, determine academic plans, aligning their values and interests in decision-making, and navigating challenging situations to keep them on track academically towards degree completion.

· Serve as a CAS support advisor for students at-risk academically.

· Utilize Student Success Management System to schedule, track appointment notes, assign cases, and assess intervention effectiveness.

· Contribute to student success activities in the Summer Institute, Lawrence’s summer bridge program.

· Collaborate with colleagues in the Center for Academic Success and our partners across the entire campus to support academic excellence and student outcomes.

· Assess program and co-curricular outcomes.

· Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Needed

· Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to effectively communicate across numerous channels both internally and externally;

· Willingness to meet students where they are, listening attentively, demonstrating positive regard, and providing supportive responses in alignment with the CAS’s core value of centering the student’s experience;

· Experience and demonstrated culturally responsive interactions with diverse populations including, but not limited to, domestic and international students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, AAPI and BIPOC students, first-generation college students, students with disabilities, and students of various ethnicities, cultures, and religious backgrounds;

· Demonstrated professionalism, including ability to exercise discretion when needed;

· Familiarity with college student development theory;

· Ability to effectively refer students to other resources and individuals as needed;

· Willingness and ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment;

· Knowledge of and experience with some of the following (and comfort with learning the others): Navigate360, Microsoft Outlook, Banner, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Canvas or other course management systems, student success management systems and predictive analytics tools;

· Understanding of and appreciation for the value, relevance, and benefits of a liberal arts education, especially one with a strong fine and performing arts component.

Education and Work Experience

· A master’s degree is required.

· Preferred candidates will have:

At least three years of experience working in a higher education setting, preferably in academic support, academic advising, or counseling roles.

College level teaching experience;

Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging;

Substantial experience working individually with students in a higher education setting.

We encourage applications from individuals who will help us create a more inclusive Lawrence by: (1) further diversifying the staff; and/or (2) demonstrating experience with successful diversity-related student support initiatives or research; and (3) showing interest in developing programs to address the academic success needs of a diverse student body.

Lawrence is committed to enhancing the diversity of its faculty and staff and the viewpoints and approaches that a diverse community represents. We strongly encourage candidates who can contribute to diversity at Lawrence to apply. All candidates are encouraged to address in their letters of application the ways in which they could contribute to Lawrence’s institutional mission and commitment to diversity.

LIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS:

Please submit resume, cover letter, and a statement on your experience related to addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in relationship to student academic success and ways that you could contribute to these efforts at Lawrence University.

Application review will begin on July 15th. 

Posting Detail Information

Posting Number S473P

Number of Vacancies 1

Posting Date 

Best Consideration Date 07/15/2024

Close Date 

Open Until Filled 

Special Instructions Summary 

Anticipated Number of Hours per Week 40

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

* How did you hear about this employment opportunity?

Public Job Posting

Internal Job Posting

Agency Referral

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Other

If other, please specify

(Open Ended Question)

Documents Needed to Apply

Required Documents

Resume

Cover Letter

Statement on Diversity

Optional Documents

Additional Document