Career Center

Position Overview

The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) is seeking a Transfer Student Success Coach to provide personalized support for transfer student participants in the new CLA Stay the Course program. Every year CLA welcomes 1200+ transfer students to the CLA community. Around 40 percent of our CLA students are transfer students, who are more ethnically and racially diverse, more low to lower-middle income, and more likely to be first-generation college students when compared to students admitted directly from high school. The CLA Transfer Student Success Coach will create programs and support strategies that enhance retention, degree progress and career readiness for our low-income, first generation and/or Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) transfer students participating in the CLA Stay the Course program. 

With a recent generous donation, we are able to fund this position and provide scholarships to a cohort of transfer students in a three year pilot program. The Transfer Student Success Coach will support seven CLA Stay the Course scholarship recipients each semester and collaborate with the colleagues to create a program to support a larger group (approx. 150-200)  transfer student participants around career readiness goals. 

The Transfer Student Success Coach will report to the Associate Director of Student Support and Transitions within CLA Undergraduate Education, and they will work closely with the CLA Transfer Advising Team, CLA Career Services Team, CLA Scholarships & Recruitment Team, and colleagues in the CLA Office of Student Experience. 

Job Responsibilities

Success Coaching/Group Coaching (50%)

• Meet regularly with students in the Stay the Course Program; one-on-one and in groups to provide coaching services, offer support and check in through their career development process. 
• Communicate with Scholars frequently through various methods to ensure students participation. 
• Provide expertise relating to the broad range of career fields and majors across CLA academic programs, as well as understanding the spectrum of career opportunities and workforce trends relating to various fields of study.
• Maintain knowledge of university and collegiate policies and curricular requirements through training and collaboration with professional advising staff.
• Facilitate Stay The Course programs and activities where students can build relationships, celebrate successes, and seek counsel from one another to ensure students are building connections with each other.
• Assess students' holistic needs and make appropriate referrals to campus partners as needed. 
• Maintain detailed notes of student appointments and their progress through the APLUS system to ensure successful communication between students’ advisors and the wider campus community.
• Build collaborative relationships with colleagues in CLA and across the University, to develop robust programming to ensure a wide range of experiences for the students within the program.

Teaching & Programming (30%)

• Teach CLA 3002: CLA Career Kickstarter each semester, a required course of the Stay the Course Program in fall and spring semesters.
• Regularly consult with CLA 3001: CLA Transfer Semester Experience and CLA 3002: CLA Career Kickstarter course curriculum staff ensuring appropriate connections are made between the course and this position.  
• Collaborate with CLA Transfer Admissions and CLA Transfer Advising to recruit Stay the Course program participants to develop a diverse student program.
• In coordination with other units, deliver workshops on topics that relate to: academic support, study skills, time management, community building, career/professional development, study abroad, undergraduate research, diversity, campus engagement, etc. to ensure retention and degree progress among the program participants.
• Provide programming each semester to support Stay the Course students in building a sense of community and belonging; expand their academic, personal, sociocultural, and career experience along with tracking for successful academic outcomes.

Research and Assessment (10%)

• Monitor, assess, and collaborate with CLA UGE in providing reports to college leadership on recruitment statistics, yield rates, academic progress, graduation and attrition statistics of the Stay the Course students as they relate to other CLA students.
• Use data gathered to lead annual program assessment and report student progress to the college.

Professional Development (10%)

• Engage in professional development and service activities related to student success and support, within the University of Minnesota community and beyond.
• Continue professional development and scholarly activity to maintain knowledge of trends and best practices (e.g., membership in professional associations, attendance at conferences and seminars, write and publish articles, serve on teams and collaborate with other professional groups, etc.) to serve our high touch student population.
• Participate on Student Services, College and University-wide committees as requested

Expected starting salary range: $50,000-55,000

Three year funded grant position.

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS plus 4 years related experience
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• Demonstrated commitment to the success of students from populations that have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education (BIPOC, first-generation students, low income, people with both visible and invisible disabilities; women; people of various gender and sexual identities and expressions; etc.).
• Well-developed interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to establish strong, trusting, positive, and respectful relationships.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, oral, and written communication skills
• Ability to work some weekends and evenings

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in student affairs/development, social work, college student personnel psychology, counseling, higher education administration, or other related field
• Experience working within higher education and student support services (student employee and/or internship positions will be considered)
• One year experience working with first-generation college students, TRIO programs,or college access programming
•  Demonstrated experience developing, coordinating, and facilitating programming and/or workshops
• Familiarity with developmental advising theory, student development, career development best practices for retention of first-generation college students and/or underrepresented populations, as well as proactive/intrusive advising approaches
• Experience in a teaching environment (teaching assistant, instructor, presenter, etc.)
• Experience with program evaluation and assessment.
• Familiarity with the University of Minnesota academic advising, student support services, and other resources
• Experience with APLUS, PeopleSoft, APAS, and other system and web-based advising tools