We're seeking a Program Director and a College Success Coach.
Organization Overview
Founded in 2002, CollegeTracks (www.collegetracksusa.org) changes lives by giving low-income, first-generation college bound students the chance to go to college and succeed there. Every Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) graduate deserves the opportunity to attend and succeed in college, regardless of family income, racial or ethnic background, or whether other family members went to college.
CollegeTracks is committed to helping students get into college and to helping them graduate from post-secondary educational institutions. Working full-time in two Montgomery County High Schools—Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Wheaton—CollegeTracks advises juniors and seniors at risk of not getting to college and assists them and their families in applying for and securing financial aid. Additionally, CollegeTracks’ retention program, College Success, supports student development, academic achievement, and personal growth throughout their college career.
CollegeTracks is a featured charity in the 2010–2011 Catalogue for Philanthropy and has become a recognized leader in college access in Montgomery County and nationally.
CollegeTracks Position Descriptions:
Program Director (Wheaton H.S.)—CollegeTracks
Position Summary
CollegeTracks seeks an energetic, passionate leader to serve as the Program Director for its Wheaton HS access site. The Program Director will manage the day to day operations of CollegeTracks’ college access program which guides students and parents through the college search, application, standardized test preparation, financial aid, and transition to college processes. The Program Director will also have supervisory responsibility for two full time staff members and a cadre of 40+ volunteers working onsite. Reports to the Senior Program Director.
The Program Director will:
Program Management
- Develop and execute annual operations plan for the site
- Manage, supervise, and direct staff (core and volunteer) in day-to-day program implementation
- Develop and deliver outreach presentations to students and families in the school and community
- Recruit students into the program with the goal of active and continuous engagement
- Provide college and career advising to students and families about the entire college admissions and financial aid process
- Oversee standardized test preparation activities (ACT, Accuplacer) for a subgroup of students
- Manage data collection (Salesforce database) to track program activities and student outcomes
- Deliver regular programmatic reports entailing program narrative and statistical data
- Collaborate successfully with school administrators, counselors, and staff to enhance the existing program and maintain strong and productive intra-agency relationships
- Work closely with community organizations and other outside stakeholders to further improve the student experience
- Build effective teams to work in a fast and complex nonprofit environment
- Ensure accurate documentation of all program activities, processes, and resources
- Maintain knowledge of current trends and execute best practices in college access, college success, and student development
Program Sustainability
- Serve as a CollegeTracks program champion with the public school system, target colleges and broader community
- Identify potential opportunities for collaboration with CollegeTracks staff, university administrators, campus departments, and other groups
- Provide information and reports as needed, for grant applications, other funding/collaboration opportunities, and special projects
Qualifications
- Significant human services leadership experience (i.e. 8+ years in a related managerial position) and a relevant advanced degree (e.g. MA, MS).
- Must have exceptionally strong management and leadership skills.
- Excel at communications – verbal and written.
- Proven interpersonal and intercultural relationship building skills.
- Experience working with students in high schools, college access, college admissions, higher education (certificate, 2-year, and 4-year programs), or college retention programs.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment in complex situations with competing interests.
- Flexibility to transition between “big picture” and day to day operations thinking for effective decision making.
- Demonstrated adaptability to constantly changing situations with flexible and creative approaches.
- Familiarity and comfort with databases, including analyzing data to make and support strategic and operational business decisions.
- Access to own, reliable transportation and smart phone required.
- Fluency in Spanish highly desirable.
To apply for this position, please submit a complete application package including:
- a resume;
- a cover letter outlining how your skills and qualifications meet the position requirements;
- your salary requirements; and
- a list of three professional references (including two recent supervisors) to wheatondirector@collegetracksusa.org.
Resumes submitted without a cover letter and salary requirements will not be reviewed.
College Success Coach
Position Summary
CollegeTracks seeks an energetic, self-motivated, passionate and highly skilled individual to serve as a College Success Coach. A major component of this position is to support the academic and personal development of students as they transition from high school to college, with an emphasis on skills training and experiences that will foster success in a university setting. The College Success Coach serves as a primary program facilitator, counseling, teaching, and mentoring students throughout their college careers. The individual who fills the position will be a key member of the CollegeTracks team, supporting and working within all of its programs.
The College Success Coach will work closely with the CollegeTracks team to:
Program Management
- Provide one-on-one college and career coaching to students and families about the entire college transition, matriculation, retention, and financial aid processes
- Work individually with students to develop and maintain comprehensive 4-year plans
- Meet with college students on campus each semester to assess and support academic performance
- Facilitate workshops to provide college skills training to students and families
- Serve as an advocate for students
- Work closely with students to identify and deal with potential barriers to academic and personal success
- Develop program events to foster a strong student cohort community and program cohesiveness
- Create and manage incentive programs and tools to ensure student engagement and program participation
- Launch new initiatives to meet evolving student and program needs
- Collect student data using internal database system to track student performance, program activity, and student outcomes
- Maintain collaborative relationships with college administrators, counselors, professors, staff, community groups, and volunteers to support student development
Program Sustainability
- Serve as a CollegeTracks program champion with target colleges and broader community
- Identify potential opportunities for collaboration with CollegeTracks staff, university administrators, campus departments, and other groups
- Provide information and reports as needed, for grant applications, other funding/collaboration opportunities, and special projects
Qualifications
- Bachelors degree with coursework in social work, counseling, education or related fields
- Prior experience in college success, higher education, college access, youth development, teaching and/or counseling
- Working knowledge of college admissions, higher education (certificate, 2-year, and 4-year programs), college retention, and public school systems
- Work experience in multicultural and multilingual student and family environments
- Background in nonprofits, business, communications
- Strong computer skills required in Microsoft applications including Excel and Publisher
- Demonstrated proficiency with database programs and data analysis; preferred knowledge of Salesforce
- Superior interpersonal and relationship building skills; incumbents’ effectiveness in the role depends on ability to build strong relationships across all levels of the work environment including with students, CollegeTracks colleagues, campus staff, volunteers, and community members
- Proven problem-solving and independent decision making skills
- Experience with program/event design and management
- Must be extremely organized
- Excel at working autonomously, remotely, and in inter-department work groups
- Excellent writing and research skills
- Access to own, reliable transportation, computer laptop, and smart phone required
- Comfortable multi-tasking in fast paced work environments
- Fluency in Spanish is desired
To apply for this position, please submit a complete application package including:
- a resume;
- a cover letter outlining how your skills and qualifications meet the position requirements;
- your salary requirements; and
- a list of three professional references (including two recent supervisors) to successcoach@collegetracksusa.org.
Resumes submitted without a cover letter and salary requirements will not be reviewed.
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