Student Success Coach

Overview:

Who We Are:

National Louis is a 135+ year old university that has been grounded in the values of innovation, access, excellence, and equity from its inception. As an institution we believe in providing access to educational opportunity and that education is our greatest lever for social and economic mobility. We are a student-focused community that is committed to continuous improvement and asks how do we become more “student ready” so that we may better serve our students. We believe that through education we are able to empower change and build healthy communities. Our community works hard in the service of students and supports one another like a family.

What We Offer:

At National Louis University we offer our employees an innovative environment to work together and inspire the ideas that will make an impact. As our external environment changes, our employees are provided the opportunities and tools needed to grow both personally and professionally to remain successful. NLU employees and dependents are offered a wide range of benefits, including but not limited to, Health Insurance benefits, Retirement benefits, Paid Time Off and Educational Benefits.

Job Summary

The Student Success Coach is an integral component of the signature undergraduate student experience at NLU, actively working towards supporting student transitions, persistence toward graduation, student's satisfaction and sense of belonging and sustainable employment in their major upon completion. The Coach will be responsible for providing intensive academic advising and support to a caseload of approximately 125 undergraduate students and serving as a guide for academic, career, and personal success, while also connecting the students to wraparound supports and university resources. The ideal coach will be proactive in communicating with students and building confidence around their ability to persist at the post-secondary level and successfully transition to the workforce post bachelor’s degree. The role includes proactive direct student advising, ensuing students stay on-track and meet academic milestone and degree requirements. The Coach works in close partnership with faculty and several other University departments to provide students a comprehensive support model and effective referrals. Additionally, the Coach provides and promotes opportunities for community-building and learning through out-of-classroom student programming. The Coach must be an influential, passionate, equity-minded individual with experience working with first-generation and underrepresented college students to drive change and problem-solve. The candidate must have a general belief that all students have the ability to succeed and be personally driven to change the opportunity gap that currently exists in education and presents barriers toward a successful transition to college and persistence towards graduation.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Provide direct academic advising and coaching support to a caseload of undergraduate students from their transition to NLU until graduation. Coaches should ensure students are meeting their degree requirements by registering them for courses, modifying their degree plans on a quarterly basis, and effectively communicating the curriculum and graduation requirements for each major and in accordance with university policies. As well as provide additional guidance on maintaining satisfactory academic standing for students entering academic warning, suspension or probation. Coaches should support students in major selection and career exploration as well as help build a student’s self advocacy on campus by helping them access wraparound supports available as needed and be actively engaged in referral process, and follow-up.
• Coaches should use in-person engagement (sometimes modified to virtual face-to-face engagement) and technology (texting and calls) for interventions to stay in close communication with their caseload of students – using developmental and intrusive advising practices as well as motivational interviewing when students are struggling to overcome barriers. As well as maintaining accurate and timely student records in platforms such as: BANNER, EAB, and Smartsheets, for which training will be provided.
• Build collaborative relationships with departments chairs, faculty and Career Bridge staff to ensure a cohesive student experience for caseload. Attend Student Success Collaboration meetings and Career Success Team meetings regularly in order to provide a bridge between students, faculty, and career development.
• Share planning and execution responsibilities for the following coaching team led events: Summer Melt, Y1 Majors Exploration Day, Flight Night, Y2-Y3 Registration and Transition events, Study Tables, Ramp Week, Summer and Winter Melt programming.
• Assists in participation in and/or promotion of events, programming and services offered by other University departments such as Student Engagement, Career Bridge, Learning Support, Office of Disability and Access Services, Student Finance Office and more.
• Works with the Director of Student Success and Manager of Student Success to maintain and revise the student support model and wraparound resources to best serve students’ needs while being open to changing policies and practices as needed.
• Other duties as assigned to support student transitions, persistence toward graduation, student's satisfaction and sense of belonging and sustainable employment in their major upon completion.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Education Counseling, or Social Work or closely related field, Master's Degree preferred.
• Two-Four (2-4) years professional experience in advising, teaching, counseling, social work or related field.
• One-three (1-3) years teaching or staff experience at the high school or college level.
• One-three (1-3) years experience working with a diverse student population.
• Coaching and Developing Students: Coaching includes the ongoing development of our students to empower them with the tools, knowledge, opportunities, and agency needed to develop personally, academically, and in preparation of their careers.
• Cross-Cultural Sensitivity/Compassion: Demonstrates an awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs and concerns of individuals from different cultures. Makes adjustments in how he or she communicates out of respect for cultural differences and minimizes the number of cross-cultural misunderstandings.

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  Time Management: Prioritizes tasks and manages time to ensure that deadlines are met. Plans his or her time and sticks to those plans. Prevents or manages interruptions until the highest priority tasks are accomplished.
• Managing Multiple Priorities: Handles multiple assignments and priorities yet still fulfills all commitments. Readily accepts new responsibilities and adapts well to changes in procedures. Gives appropriate priorities to various work demands.
• Problem Solving: Takes a proactive approach to anticipating and preventing problems. When problems occur, defines those problems, investigates obstacles, gathers relevant information, decides whether solving the problem should be a group decision, generates and analyzes alternate solutions and arrives at a workable solution.
• Teamwork: Is an effective team player who adds complementary skills and contributes valuable ideas, opinions and feedback. Communicates in an open and candid manner and can be counted upon to fulfill any commitments made to others on the team.
• Decision Quality: Gathers enough information to allow a trustworthy assessment of risks and benefits of alternative approaches in any decision. Stays focused on objectives and considers both the short-term and longer-term impact of decisions and keeps objectives in mind throughout the process.

Work environment/Physical Demands/Travel Requirements

Collaborative office environment with varied duties requiring multi-tasking and dealing with ambiguity at times. Candidate should be equally comfortable spending time working independently, speaking in front of large groups of students, and collaborating with a team at frequent meeting and strategy sessions.

Additional Comments:

This position may require travel between the Chicago and Wheeling campuses. Candidate should be willing to communicate via text/phone with students at night and on weekends

NLU Inclusion Statement:

National Louis University is deeply committed to serving its community, advancing access and equity, and ensuring that all individuals are welcomed and valued. We are dedicated to fostering a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the core of who we are. These are more than just words to us: they are truly a way of life for the NLU community. We recognize that differences in abilities, age, ethnicity, gender (identity and expression), race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and background bring richness to our work environment. We affirm diverse perspectives, innovative contributions, and authentic presentations of self from every member within the NLU community. We believe inclusion is grounded in the actions we intentionally take each day. Our goal is to inspire and empower NLU employees and community members to cultivate an environment where we collectively focus on uplifting and advancing our institutional culture.

Special Instructions: Please Include the following along with your application: - Resume (Required) - Cover Letter (Required) NLU Employees please also submit an Internal Posting Form