Alumni Success Coach

Uncommon Schools are committed to ensuring that our graduates both enter into and graduate from a four-year college or university. This fulfills our mission of seeing students to and through college, thus closing the achievement gap between low-income students and their wealthier peers. Under the supervision of the Senior Manager of College Access & Success, the Alumni Success Coach (ASC) will support our high school graduates in achieving their post-secondary goals. In this unique role, you are part of two teams. Each ASC is assigned and reports to their respective high school regional office during the non-travel season. During the travel season, ASC’s will spend most of their time traveling to colleges for students in their assigned caseload up to a 9-week duration each semester. As an ASC, you will focus on providing counseling and programming, identifying the changing needs of alumni and the potential risk factors to their persistence, connecting alumni to campus or local resources, and increasing student independence in managing their post-secondary plans.

Building & Maintaining Relationships

The relationships established and nurtured by Alumni Success Coaches drives our work. The ASC will foster meaningful relationships by:

• Serving as the primary liaison between Uncommon, its alumni, and college administrators
• Developing a personal, professional relationship with each alumnus within their caseload consisting of 300+ alumni throughout the school year
• Formally Liaising between DoCC, principal, SPED coordinators to ensure students succeed
• Collaborating with college counseling team to ensure successful handoff of current high school students to alumni community
• Leveraging regional Alumni Support Team members throughout the school year
• Researching and meeting key individuals (e.g. deans, admissions counselors, financial aid officers, special program directors, EOP officials, R.A.’s, professors, etc.) on assigned campuses who will remove barriers to persistence for Uncommon alumni
• Being available to students during the evening and weekends to support with any issues that may arise
• Planning winter and spring alumni events to foster continued community; send care packages during exam season

Counseling & Programming

The Alumni Support Coach will work relentlessly to aid and support Uncommon alumni to achieve a 4-year college persistence rate by:

• Advising students on academic issues including choosing a major, building relationships with professors, study habits, time management, etc.
• Making individualized academic plans with each student reflecting on strengths and weaknesses and setting appropriate goals to push student’s growth
• Helping students take full advantage of their post-collegiate experience; meeting each student where they are and then pushing them to work towards next steps in his/her personal progress.
• Helping connect students to resources on campus including study abroad opportunities, academic help centers, writing centers, advisement offices, mental health offices, etc.
• Assisting with re-enrollment and transfer processes
• Pushing into College Seminar; leading high school based family workshop introducing the Alumni Support Program.

Communication & Outreach

The Alumni Support Coach will use all available resources to contact and engage alumni within their caseload by:

• Leveraging all forms of communication to connect with 100% of their caseload including in-person meetings, zoom meetings, e-mail, phone calls, text messages, social media, etc.
• Collaborating with parents/families of alumni to support alumni with enrollment, financial or other concerns when necessary
• Providing alumni updates to school leaders and appropriate staff when requests are made

Caseload Management

The Alumni Support Coach will optimize and streamline the constant flow of alumni updates they receive by:

• Maintaining an up-to-date record of each interaction, obstacles, and academic progress in the alumni database
• Managing and reporting accurate post-secondary data of caseload to direct manager and assigned school team
• Continually assessing the potential that alumni will complete college based on their academic, financial, socio-emotional and personal well-being; prioritize support for students at the greatest risk of stopping out
• Using data to inform and manage their caseload priorities
• Ensuring accurate contact information is maintained in database
• Sending routine emails/text messages to all alumni with study tips, words of encouragement, opportunities and other relevant messages
• Contributing to network-wide alumni communication (e.g., alumni website and newsletter)

Administrative Duties

The Alumni Support Coach will also perform administrative tasks and duties that include, but are not limited to:

• Make travel arrangements and submit all receipts for eligible travel reimbursements
• Social media maintenance
• Check-ins with their manager, high school principal, and Director of College Counseling

Requirements

• Passion for and alignment to the mission of Uncommon Schools
• Demonstrated college knowledge (e.g., college application process, financial aid process, general college knowledge and policies, etc.)
• Effective public relations and networking abilities
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Self-starter with strong prioritization skills
• Excellent organization, time management, and tenacious follow-up skills; ability to prioritize and demonstrate an appropriate sense of urgency

Educational Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Master's Degree preferred

Experience Requirements

• 4+ years of professional work experience required
• 2+ years of experience in working with students in a college advisement, college counseling or college enrollment capacity
• Demonstrated knowledge of the college application process, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the CSS Profile, and other pertinent college application and enrollment tasks
• Demonstrated knowledge of key academic and financial aid policies at the collegiate level
• Preferred: 2+ years of experience working with students who are first generation and/or from an urban school district

Travel Requirements

• Must be willing to travel via car, bus, train, and/or plane for up to 8 weeks a semester to visit alumni on their college campuses in the assigned caseload region.

Other Requirements

• Valid driver’s license
• Personal vehicle for travel (mileage for campus visit travel is reimbursed according to published IRS mileage rates)