TRIO-Student Support Services Counselor.

About the Role

As the TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Counselor, you will support the vision of Front Range Community College (FRCC) by creating a superior student experience. This will be done by removing barriers to success and promoting innovative retention strategies focusing on student success. You will also foster an environment of strong campus and community relationships and support the College's strategic priorities around Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. In this position, you will provide proactive wraparound support for students from first-generation, limited-income, and disability backgrounds to help them achieve their higher education goals. You will assess student needs and develop a customized plan to ensure the appropriate interventions are identified to meet the participant's needs. You will provide one-on-one academic success coaching and advising to assist students in developing an educational and career plan that includes selecting courses, connecting to campus and community resources, and staying on their path to completion. You will also perform other responsibilities that support the TRIO SSS program objectives and initiatives. This holistic approach will serve students throughout their FRCC journey to promote retention and completion. This position reports to the Director of TRIO Student Support Services.

Responsibilities

• Provide academic support services to and serve as a professional mentor to TRIO SSS participants.
• Meet with students regularly to provide personal, academic, career, transfer, and financial aid guidance that allows program participants to experience minimal disruption while pursuing their associate's degree.
• Assess the needs of students through intake interviews to develop, update, and complete individualized action plans for program participants.
• Provide proactive and strategic outreach to students to connect them to college and community resources for additional career and personal supports.
• Monitor student academic progress and provide proactive interventions as appropriate to support retention and completion.
• Collaborate with TRIO staff, as well as other FRCC staff & faculty and external partners, to develop Wolf Success Workshops focusing on academic success, financial aid, financial literacy, personal wellness, etc.
• Provide guidance for career planning and exploration through individual assessment and advising and through developing and offering group workshops.
• Provide guidance for financial literacy and financial aid/scholarship opportunities through individual advising and through developing and offering group workshops.
• Coordinate programming and activities to cultivate program participants' sense of belonging and to provide experiences that will connect them to campus and community opportunities.
• Cultivate strong and positive relationships with staff and faculty at FRCC, as well as with external community partners, to maintain an expanded network of resources to support students.
• Maintain accurate documentation of students' need for service, case notes, student performance outcomes, and data related to the Student Support Services program objectives.
• Ensure guidelines regarding Student Support Services student eligibility are met.
• Assist the Director with completing the Annual Performance Report.
• Assist the TRIO SSS Director in developing and implementing an effective process for the identification, recruitment, and retention of program participants.
• Provide presentations to prospective participants and their families and guests.
• Organize on-campus and virtual events for school and community partner groups to learn about the benefits of the SSS program.
• Provide ongoing training and information to FRCC faculty and staff regarding program services.
• Collaborate with WC internal and external partners to advance retention efforts, focusing on students from diverse communities.
• Stay informed about promising mentoring, retention, and persistence practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in education, social work, social sciences, or related field.
• Two years experience working with students in an educational setting, preferably in higher education and student affairs in areas such as admissions, advising, financial aid, career development.
• Experience working with students from underrepresented student populations (first-generation, limited-income, students with disabilities).
• Ability to support and advance FRCC's commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Demonstrated strong written and oral communication skills, including experience making public presentations to a variety of audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to relate effectively with a variety of constituents, including students, faculty, staff, and the larger community.

Competencies

• Embraces the mission, vision and values of FRCC. Understands the importance of the work that you do to support institutional goals.
• Places the student at the center of your work. Adopts a philosophy that makes the ability to serve the student the cornerstone of the work that you do.
• Looks at the data within the department, paying particular attention to what the data shows about the department's performance and student impact. Works with the next level supervisor to brainstorm changes that can be implemented to improve a program or service that the department provides.
• Willing to examine own beliefs and acknowledge own biases and how they have impacted or may impact the ability to serve students.
• Recognize the need to become knowledgeable about the ways to communicate and support students of other backgrounds. Change approach to reflect the new learning.
• Learn to view department operations through an equity lens. Be willing to call attention to processes that lead to inequity in serving students. Understand the College's equity goals and how your role supports FRCC's ability to achieve those goals.
• Have an understanding and knowledge of the college's various strategic plans and understand how your work supports each of them. Understand the department's expectations to find proactive ways to support the goals of the department.
• Lead from your position by not only closely examine your responsibilities for the department, but in bringing forward ideas to your supervisor the college should consider to be more student centered.
• Participate in team-building exercises and strive to build positive and collaborative relationships with colleagues both within the department and in other departments within the college.
• Willingness to work with colleagues across departments to further student engagement.
• Understand the structures in place to ensure compliance with the rules, regulations and policies of the college and federal government.
• Develop and execute workshops to support student needs in partnership with FRCC staff, faculty, and community partners, as well as virtual and in-person events for program recruitment & outreach.

Pay & Schedule

• Salary range: $55,872–$58,666 annually.
• This position does have the opportunity to work remotely occasionally but does require a strong campus presence and may occasionally travel to all three FRCC campuses. The TRIO team works on campus Monday – Thursday and remote on Fridays. There are some occasional Fridays when in-person presence is required.

Benefits

For information about benefits for Administrative, Professional and Technical Employees and Faculty, please see the Front Range Community College Benefits page.