College Success Coordinator

Harlem Children's Zone; New York, Northern (NY, KY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Health insurance

Life Insurance

Short- and long-term disability

Commuter benefits

Career advancement

Employee referral bonus

Wellness discounts

Job summary

Harlem Children’s Zone is seeking a College Success Coordinator to support our College Success Office. The role focuses on student outreach, academic guidance, financial aid advisement, transfer assistance, and community-building activities.

The ideal candidate will have experience working with low-income, first-generation students and will be able to build rapport with students, staff, parents, and the college community while maintaining systems to improve retention and graduation outcomes.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree preferred in higher education, counseling, student administration, guidance, social work, or related area.
• At least 2+ years of experience providing direct services in education, social service, or non-profit environments.

Responsibilities

• Manage and track all college students in the College Success Office using appreciative advising to support transition, persistence, and completion.
• Maintain regular contact with students and counselors to monitor progress and troubleshoot academic, financial, and socio-emotional issues.
• Provide bi-weekly supervision with College Counselors.
• Create and maintain professional development plans for each College Counselor.
• Monitor retention, persistence, and graduation goals and report progress.
• Conduct data quality control checks monthly to ensure data accuracy.
• Partner with leadership to execute academic and social programs.
• Lead data collection for caseloads including transcripts and financial aid data.
• Assist counselors with regular student follow-up and home visits as needed.
• Attend school visits to support high-risk students and schools with many participants.
• Collaborate to onboard team members and transition students to graduation within 6 years.

Skills

Higher education knowledge

Financial aid knowledge

Student development

Engagement strategies

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Microsoft Office

Outlook proficiency

Education

Master’s degree in higher education or related field

2+ years direct student services experience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Outlook

Job description

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) — a world-renowned education and poverty-fighting organization based in New York — seeks an enthusiastic, dedicated, and mission-aligned College Success Coordinator to support our College Success Office.

The College Success Coordinator will bring a passion for the mission of Harlem Children’s Zone: break the cycle of intergenerational poverty with comprehensive, on-the-ground programming that builds up opportunities for children and families to thrive in school, work, and life.

The College Success Coordinator will join the College Success Office team that provides student outreach, academic support and guidance, financial aid advisement, college transfer assistance, summer and winter internship opportunities, and community building efforts within our program. The ideal candidate will have the ability to create a supportive environment and can easily build rapport and professional relationships with students, staff, parents, and the college community, while maintaining systems to improve retention and graduation outcomes.

For more information, check out Want to Work at Harlem Children’s Zone? Here’s 7 Things You Need to Know.

• Master’s degree preferred in higher education, counseling, student administration, guidance, social work, or related area
• At least 2+ years of experience in providing direct services in an educational, social service, or non-profit environment, providing mentoring, coaching, academic advising, personal, and/or career guidance and advice

Who you are

• Knowledge of higher education, financial aid, student development theories, engagement, and high-impact best practices in higher education
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to complete tasks accurately and in a timely manner
• Demonstrated experience working with low-income, first-generation students, and adults
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Outlook

What you’ll do

• Manage and track all college students in the College Success Office using the appreciative advising model, focusing on college transition/persistence/completion, vocational programs, and career readiness
• Maintain frequent and regular contact with students and Counselors to monitor progress and to troubleshoot academic, financial, and socio-emotional issues
• Provide bi-weekly supervision with College Counselors
• Create and maintain professional development plans for each College Counselor to provide quality services to college students
• Monitor and track overall retention, persistence, on-track, and graduation goals to ensure College Counselors are working towards and meeting goals
• Conduct data quality control and assurance check-ins every month to ensure the data required is complete and accurate
• Partner with the fellow Lead Counselor, Specialists, Assistant Director, and Program Director to execute academic and social programs
• Lead teams in the collecting and recording of college data for 100% of caseload, including but not limited to transcripts, bills & schedules, financial aid: FAFSA, TAP, Pell, graduate confirmation, etc.
• Provide support to counselors around frequent and regular contact with students to monitor progress and to troubleshoot academic, financial, and socio-emotional issues
• Utilize stakeholders within the community, organization, and families to ensure participants know that they are supported (may require home visits if deemed necessary)
• Attend 3-5 school visits per semester for high-risk students and schools that have a high number of participants to meet with the Administration (will require travel)
• Ensure that all students are placed on caseloads
• Collaborate to transition and onboard team members as needed
• Partner with counselors to ensure that college graduation is happening within 6 years or less of initial matriculation to college
• Partner with the Assistant Director to create student seminars and events for participants
• Partner with the Assistant Director to identify professional development training for College Counselors to ensure best practices in student engagement, career exposure, retention, persistence, graduation, and overall higher education
• Collect and monitor student information and enrollment
• Perform additional duties and assist with special projects as assigned

Schedule

• Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 5:30 PM, flexibility required
• Some weekends and evenings, depending on site needs and events
• 12 Months

As a member of the Harlem Children's Zone team, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for growth.

Our exceptional full-time benefits include:

• Highly competitive base salaries
• Paid time off
• Employee referral bonus
• Career advancement
• No-cost health insurance
• Life Insurance
• Short-and long-term disability
• Additional voluntary benefits
• Wellness discounts
• Commuter benefits
• Financial wellness perks
• Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)

The salary range for this position is $70,000 to $80,000 per year. Harlem Children’s Zone is an EOE.