Titan Success Center Student Retention Specialist (Student Support Specialist)

Department Information

The Titan Success Center at Indiana University South Bend is a student-centered support hub focused on promoting retention, persistence, and academic success for all students, with a particular emphasis on first-year, first-generation, and first-generation populations. The Center provides holistic support through coaching, resource navigation, and targeted interventions designed to remove barriers to student success.

The office collaborates closely with academic units, Financial Aid, Bursar, and campus partners to ensure students receive coordinated support throughout their academic journey. Key initiatives include first-year student coaching, support for 21st Century Scholars, and emerging first-generation student programming. The Titan Success Center plays a critical role in advancing institutional goals related to student success, and completion.

Job Summary

Department Specific Responsibilities

• Serves as a primary coach for first-year students, providing proactive outreach, academic guidance, and success planning.
• Acts as a liaison between students and campus offices, including the Bursar and Financial Aid, to support financial literacy and resolve account-related concerns.
• Supports targeted student populations, including 21st Century Scholars and first-generation students, through individualized and group interventions.
• Monitors student progress, identify at-risk students, and implement timely interventions to improve retention and persistence outcomes.
• Develops and facilitates workshops, programming, and outreach initiatives focused on student success, transition, and engagement.
• Collaborates with academic advisors, faculty, and student services to coordinate comprehensive support strategies.
• Tracks and reports student engagement, outcomes, and program effectiveness to inform continuous improvement efforts.
• Maintains accurate and confidential student records in compliance with university policies and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guidelines.

General Responsibilities

• Develops and implements programs and initiatives that provide support to students in crisis, facing adversity or challenges, or who belong to underrepresented or minority student populations.
• Interfaces directly with students by attending student programming events, advising student organization leaders, meeting 1-on-1 to discuss support needs, and gathering satisfaction feedback from student participants to implement into future student services initiatives and objectives. Places emphasis on the confidentiality of student concerns, compliance with university policy, and a culture of care in all direct student interactions.
• Collaborates with staff in own department and other departments, as well as academic and campus leaders, on shared student support goals, often coordinating funding to sponsor student programs and initiatives.
• Project outcomes for support services offered at the program, department/division, or campus level. Measures and evaluates the effectiveness of student support initiatives against projected outcomes; regularly prepares reports on the impact on students and the budget, and may present to stakeholders on effectiveness and to secure funding for initiatives moving forward.
• Serves on committees and performs student support research across the field of higher education and at peer institutions to identify and recommend best practices.
• Plans and coordinates communications for student support initiatives to ensure student participation, inclusion, and engagement.
• May provide guidance to other student support staff; makes process recommendations to the manager for improved delivery of service.