Student Experience Advisor

Centennial College; Toronto; On-site; CAD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Centennial College's Student Experience Office supports an unparalleled educational experience by focusing on student conduct, equity, inclusion, and access to services. The SEA role delivers mediation, restorative practices, and case management to guide students through informal resolutions and formal processes.

Collaborating with Centennial Success Advisors, Residence Life, International Education, and other units, the SEA develops educational programs, provides advocacy, and promotes a fair,

Qualifications

• Three year degree/diploma in education, counselling, social work, or psychology; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Education/coursework in student development theory, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and diversion, investigation and adjudication, conflict resolution, mediation, or restorative practices
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in the field of student affairs, advising, and/or student conduct, providing support and educational services to a diverse student population, including managing complex and disruptive behaviours related to community safety and mental health

Responsibilities

• Develops knowledge and skill-building programs to facilitate students’ holistic development as caring and engaged community members.
• Serves as an expert advisor to Centennial Success Advisors in student cases, including supporting the implementation of students’ success plans.
• Creates resource materials and coaches students to ensure they understand their rights and responsibilities in order to effectively participate in formal processes (i.e., does not serve as investigator, but as a neutral and supportive guide and advocate when needed).
• Facilitates educational programming and conduct interventions that support student development, citizenship, and positive behavioural change.
• Enables restorative practices to repair harms and rebuild trust following an incident (including those that fall within formal student conduct processes); this includes facilitating restorative circles with students and impacted others.
• Facilitates student adjudication processes and participates in legal proceedings when required and supports punitive recommendations when justified (for serious conduct/behaviour), and initiates developmental, and restorative outcomes as appropriate.
• Identifies risk and liability, such as discriminatory behaviour, abuse of power, and unfair application of process exhibited by managers or their employees and advises on mitigation of the risk.
• Assesses cases/inquiries at a lower risk level to determine institutional risk and risk of harm to individuals and advises managers accordingly, in consultation with the Associate Director, Student Community Standards & Supports.
• Actively participates on the College’s Case Management Care Team where sensitive/confidential details of cases are discussed to determine outcomes.
• Serves as case lead to coordinate complex cases with multiple incidents and/or many institutional impacts.
• Provides guidance, training, and consultation to manager and staff on student complains and conduct matters, ensuring procedural fairness, consistent application of policies and practices, informed decision-making, and risk mitigation.
• Analyzes data trends regarding conduct behaviours, policy gaps, etc. to identify student experience improvements (which could range from educational programming to policy updates to procedural/practice changes).
• Supports the Associate Director, Student Community Standards & Support by attending various College committees, events and/or meetings related to the overall student experience.

Skills

Conflict resolution

Mediation

Case management

Data analysis

Social media familiarity

Education

Three year degree/diploma in education, counselling, social work, or psychology

Education/coursework in student development theory and ADR

Experience in student affairs and advising

Tools

Social media platforms

Job description

Centennial College recognizes and affirms Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Indigenous ways of knowing as central to the vibrancy and uniqueness of its learning and working academic mission. We strongly encourage applications from members of Indigenous communities and all equity-deserving groups including Women, Racialized, Persons with Disabilities, and LGBTQ+ communities.

We also recognize that Centennial is situated on the Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and pay tribute to their legacy as well as that of all First Peoples that have been and remain present here in Toronto. We recognize that First Peoples come from sovereign Nations and that part of understanding our responsibilities of residing on this territory are understanding the true history, circumstances and legacy of the Treaties signed here (such as the Toronto Purchase, Robinson-Huron Treaty and Williams Treaties) and including pre-contact Treaties and Agreements between sovereign Nations and that all peoples in this area are therefore Treaty people with obligations and responsibilities to all our relations.

Position Summary

The Student Experience Office (SEO) supports the College’s commitment to provide students an unparalleled educational experience by deepening transformative and educational approaches to student conduct and ethical decision-making, interpersonal conflict, and involvement with College services and opportunities that facilitate learning, persistence, and the development of student citizenship around principles such as responsibility, accountability, and inclusion. As such, the SEO functions in alignment with the Centennial Advising and Pathway Services (CAPS) model that is built upon pillars of creating a relational, empowered, seamless, holistic, and educational experience for Centennial College students.

The Student Experience Advisor (SEA) is a facilitative, caring and student-centred educator and advocate who transcends transactional conflict and conduct management towards transformative experiences for students to enhance their experience and overall development. General responsibilities of the SEA position include creating conditions for students to develop as engaged and caring citizens; diversion of issues, conflicts, and complaints towards informal resolutions (which includes mediation, restorative practices, conflict coaching; student conduct education and support); community/relationship healing and student advocacy; and staff capacity-building and support around procedural fairness and case management. As such, a successful SEA also provides skilled student conduct investigation and adjudication for the resolution of sensitive and challenging cases based on institutional policies and procedures (e.g., Student Code of Conduct Policy and Resolution Procedures, the Student Complaint Policies and Procedures, Harassment and Discrimination Policy and Procedures related to students) and strong working knowledge of harassment and discrimination, gender-based and sexual violence, anti-oppression, human rights, equity, inclusion, diversity, and legislative considerations as it relates to the portfolio. As the SEA responds to student needs, they also develop proposals to enhance institutional frameworks related to the portfolio as appropriate.

The SEA collaborates with key internal partners such as the Centennial College Student Association Inc., Emergency Management & Public Safety, The Centennial Place Residence, International Education and all units within the Student Success Portfolio, working closely with the Centennial Success Advisors under the CAPS model, as well as academic managers.

Responsibilities

• Develops knowledge and skill-building programs, in connection with the broader co-curricular framework, to facilitate students’ holistic development as caring and engaged community members.
• Serves as an expert advisor to Centennial Success Advisors in student cases, including supporting the implementation of students’ success plans.
• Creates resource materials and coaches’ students to ensure they understand their rights and responsibilities in order to effectively participate in formal processes (i.e., does not serve as investigator, but as a neutral and supportive guide and advocate when needed).
• Facilitates educational programming and conduct interventions that support student development, citizenship, and positive behavioural change.
• Enables restorative practices to repair harms and rebuild trust following an incident (including those that fall within formal student conduct processes); this includes facilitating restorative circles with students and impacted others (who may be other students, staff, or community members).
• Facilitates student adjudication processes and participates in legal proceedings when required and supports punitive recommendations when justified (for serious conduct/behaviour), and initiates developmental, and restorative outcomes as appropriate.
• Identifies risk and liability, such as discriminatory behaviour, abuse of power, and unfair application of process exhibited by managers or their employees and advises on mitigation of the risk.
• Assesses cases/inquiries at a lower risk level to determine institutional risk and risk of harm to individuals and advises managers accordingly, in consultation with the Associate Director, Student Community Standards & Supports.
• Actively participates on the College’s Case Management Care Team where sensitive/confidential details of cases are discussed to determine outcomes.
• Serves as case lead to coordinate complex cases with multiple incidents and/or many institutional impacts.
• Provides guidance, training, and consultation to manager and staff on student complains and conduct matters, ensuring procedural fairness, consistent application of policies and practices, informed decision-making, and risk mitigation.
• Analyzes data trends regarding conduct behaviours, policy gaps, etc. to identify student experience improvements (which could range from educational programming to policy updates to procedural/practice changes).
• Supports the Associate Director, Student Community Standards & Support by attending various College committees, events and/or meetings related to the overall student experience (such as Residence Life, Sexual Violence, Case Management, Health and Wellness, and Equity and Inclusion).

Qualifications/Experience

• Three (3) year degree/diploma in a relevant field (i.e. education, counselling, social work, and/or psychology); or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Education/coursework AND experience in student development theory, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and diversion, investigation and adjudication, conflict resolution, mediation, or restorative practices
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in the field of student affairs, advising, and/or student conduct, providing support and educational services to a diverse student population, including managing complex and disruptive behaviours related to community safety and mental health
• Adept at designing and delivering intentional learning and development workshops/programs in accordance with Universal Design for Learning principles.
• Demonstrated experience as a case manager for high-risk and complex student/client cases.
• Experience in outcome-based program/service planning, assessment, and evaluation.
• Experience compiling and analysing comprehensive data and both developing and positioning/advocating system-wide recommendations for positive change.
• Knowledge of, and considerable experience applying, the Human Rights Code, Occupational Health & Safety Act, Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and other legal and legislated considerations.
• Proven communication and interpersonal skills in handling sensitive and difficult issues with a highly diverse, multi-cultural/ethnic/racial/able students, staff, and community
• Initiative and proven independence of action in making sound decisions with minimal supervision.
• Experience working within a unionized environment.
• Demonstrated experience working with student organizations (i.e. student associations, residence advisors, student workers, etc.) in a developmental or advising capacity.
• Familiar and comfortable using social media platforms.

Proof of credentials or equivalencies from accredited regional or federal post secondary institutions and/or their foreign equivalents will be required at the time of job offer.

We are committed to providing persons with disabilities equal opportunities regarding all employment activities, including access to jobs and accommodations during employment as required, in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).