Scholar Support Counselor

About the Role

Under general supervision of the Associate Director of Toro Guardian Scholars, the Scholar Support Counselor will be responsible for providing highly complex case management services to freshman, sophomores, and providing lead work direction to graduate school intern(s). The position involves case management to connect Toro Guardian Scholar students to on- and off- campus resources, provide referrals, service coordination and collaboration, and advocacy across various settings, with the goal of increasing student retention, comfort with navigating campus and community resources, and student success. The Scholar Support Counselor will also support recruitment and outreach efforts, to engage prospective students and inform campus and community partners of how to support Toro Guardian Scholar populations with trauma-informed care.

Target Population

Students supported by Toro Guardian Scholars are current and former foster youth, McKinney-Vento students (experiencing homelessness in K-12), and unaccompanied minors. Current and former foster youth and McKinney-Vento students experience low retention and graduation rates and have complex needs due to their lived experience, systemic barriers, and low socioemotional and familial supports. Thus, the Toro Guardian Scholar student population often requires support with accessing jobs, housing, food and hygiene resources, mental health resources, navigating higher education settings, building community, and with navigating federal, state, county, and local resources throughout their time enrolled at CSUDH. Navigating such resources can sometimes prevent students from engaging in the academic work successfully, engaging with the campus community, and from remaining enrolled at the university. As such, the Scholar Support Counselor is responsible for supporting Toro Guardian Scholar students with remaining enrolled, accessing necessary resources, and developing a transition plan to ensure their needs are met following graduation.

Key Responsibilities

• Provides highly confidential, person-centered, and complex case management services for the TGS student population.
• Independently conduct assessments, check-ins, and crisis support.
• Facilitates goal setting, and transition plan meetings to support students in identifying individualized goals and barriers to success.
• Develops and implements personalized student support plans that both academic and personal challenges, including referrals, advocacy, and consistent follow-up with on-and-off campus agencies.
• Exercises judgement in navigating complex student circumstances involving multiple service providers and agencies.
• Collaborate with TGS team to ensure coordinated care, coverage and support for students.
• Monitors and evaluates student progress, identifying at-risk students and designing proactive outreach and retention strategies to address disengagement, life challenges, and barriers to academic success.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience: Possession of these knowledge and abilities is typically demonstrated through the equivalent to four years of progressively responsible professional student services work experience which includes experience in advising students individually and in groups, and in analysis and resolution of complex student services problems. A master's degree in Counseling, Clinical Psychology, Social Work or a job‑related field may be substituted for one year of professional experience. A doctorate degree and the appropriate internship or clinical training in counseling, guidance or a job‑related field may be substituted for two years of the required professional experience for positions with a major responsibility for professional, personal or career counseling.

Education: Equivalent to graduation from a four-year college or university in a related field plus upper division or graduate course work in counseling techniques, interviewing and conflict resolution where such are job related.

License: CA Driver license required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Thorough knowledge of the policies, procedures and practices of the program area to which assigned or the ability to quickly acquire such knowledge.
• General knowledge of the policies, practices and activities of Student Services programs outside the program to which immediately assigned.
• General knowledge of advanced statistical and research methods.
• Ability to carry out very complex assignments without detailed instructions.
• Ability to advise students individually or in groups on varied and complex matters.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in outreach, planning, developing, and implementing university recruitment events specifically geared towards current and former foster youth for an education related setting.
• Extensive experience in working with current and former foster youth/systems.
• A master's degree in social work with the ability to supervise MSW interns (2 years of post-graduate work experience).

Schedule

This position may require weekend and evening work, dependent on need and programming.

Pay

The anticipated hiring salary for this position is $6,320 per month. The final salary is dependent upon qualifications and experience.

Benefits

The CSU system offers a competitive total compensation benefits package for employees and qualifying dependents, including medical, dental, vision, retirement, and tuition assistance.