Student Success Advisor First Year Experience

Job Summary:

The Student Success Advisor (SSA) First Year Experience is critical to Post University's academic success and retention efforts for online and regional site students. The SSA provides a consistent point of contact to a student from when the student begins classes at the University to graduation. This person proactively builds a trusting and supportive relationship with new students at the beginning of a student's studies and carries that relationship through to graduation. Through counseling and positive coaching, the SSA works with a student to overcome barriers impeding adult students from reaching their academic and career goals. The SSA is a champion for student success and the University brand.

• This position offers the option to work remotely. Candidates must connect equipment directly to their home router (Post provides a 50-foot ethernet cable; no wireless connections). Minimum internet requirements include 25 Mb download speed, 15 Mb upload speed, and latency below 40 for reliable audio quality. Test your speed at www.speedtest.net (select Boston, MA–Comcast).
• Candidates are responsible for ensuring their internet meets these standards before the start date. A dedicated, quiet home workspace free from distractions is also required.

Essential Accountabilities

• Requires an insightful and innovative approach to achieving exceptional student engagement, commitment, and readiness results.
• Requires an insightful and innovative approach to achieving exceptional student engagement, commitment, and readiness results.
• Requires an insightful and innovative approach to achieving exceptional student engagement, commitment, and readiness results.

(NOT A MISTAKE – are you insightful enough to interpret the priority at Post University?)

• Proactively develop and maintain a positive and supportive relationship with students that welcomes them to our learning community, creates bonds with the university, and ensures that students have a consistent student service resource.
• Communicate directly, effectively, and often with all assigned students to keep them connected with us, informed, and engaged in an open conversation through their first term.
• Leverage University technology systems to enhance relationships with students;
• Communicate positively and effectively with students by phone.
• Respond promptly to student questions and requests (typically on the same day) by telephone and email.
• Advocate student needs across all departments of the University; Actively and independently own and manage your student caseload.
• Use University systems to track and assess how your assigned students progress towards graduation/completing their program and regularly report these metrics to management.
• Analyze student data from internal systems and external sources to create information that your team and management can use to improve the student experience and the services we provide
• Proactively and creatively work independently and as a Student Success Advisor team member to identify barriers to students' Academic success and develop solutions that improve retention.
• Introduce and train students on university systems (e.g., Web Registration and Blackboard)
• Accurately communicate and support university academic and university policies;
• Provide students with guidance on academic progress, course selection, degree selection, and work/life/study issues.
• Coaches and offers counsel to students on strategies for success, overcoming hurdles/objections, and productive interactions with the university.
• Other duties as assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

To perform this job successfully, an individual must perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below represent the knowledge, skill, and performance required. Reasonable accommodation may enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Genuinely student-centric…institutional traditionalists need not apply! Our students are the reason we exist!
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Engaging and dynamic phone presence.
• Excellent email communication skills: clear and concise writing ability required
• Self-starter - shows initiative and demonstrates the ability to work both independently and as a team member to achieve organizational goals,
• Energetic and goal-oriented.
• Strong interest in working in a fast-paced environment that requires multi-tasking.
• Dedicated to student success.
• Urgent driven; responsive to students and colleagues.
• Ability to use and quickly learn existing and new technologies, including but not limited to, Blackboard, social media, CRM/CNS, Microsoft Office Products, etc.
• Excellent organization skills and ability to keep consistent contact with student caseload.
• Ability to connect and develop relationships with adult students.
• Holds themselves and colleagues to high ethical standards
• Creates a positive culture and environment through attitude and behavior
• Ability to work evenings/weekends preferred.