College Access Specialist (through Americorps)

AmeriCorps College Access Specialist

The Americorps College Access Assistant is a position responsible for supporting students in the identification of successful pathways to college.

The incumbent is responsible for the strong leadership to ensure quality service provision and coordination of services to clients including students, families, staff, volunteers and the community at large.

Job responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Support students with the college process

• During junior year, create personalized college lists for each student
• Assist with financial aid nights going over FAFSA/CSS Profile
• Assist students with college applications
• Work with students to create a list of colleges where they would like to apply. 
• Track progress of applications and effectiveness of application
• Direct and detailed contact with seniors every week
• Explore relevant scholarship opportunities for students

Lead students on a pathway to academic students 

• Direct/detailed contact with junior students that need extra support 
• Collect and log grades for each student
• Create course pathways for each student 
• Including full academic plan of courses, number of APs and honors classes
• Collaborate with counselors, teachers, and stakeholders to advocate for students 
• Encourage tutoring for students
• Log and analyze student progress
• Grades, attendance, applications 

Assist students in the social and personal growth

• Direct/detailed contact with students every 2 weeks
• Co-create events for LYTE students to engage in 
• College and career oriented
• Fun and social oriented
• 2-3 events per year

Engage with families

• Ensure parents are aware of the progress of the students
• Make families aware of any scholarships available, events, opportunities, etc.
• Conversations with a parent every month (juniors-seniors) no matter the progress

Form Relationships with Partners

• Form relationships with colleges and universities
• Form relationships with high school counselors
• Co-host college related events
• College fairs, College Readiness Boot Camp, etc.

Tracking Data

• Collect data on each student and log specific information
• This includes but is not limited to
• Grades, standardized test scores, progress of applications, contact logs 

Function as Part of a Team

• Work alongside College Access Advocates
• Collaborate on updating and building programming and curriculum
• Frequently check in with teammates to discuss student progress

Requirements for successful candidates:

• Bachelor Degree
• Basic knowledge of the college admission program process and requirements 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to effectively build relationships with and motivate individuals 
• Ability to work effectively with diverse groups and communities
• Proficient in the Google Suite (Drive, Sheets, Docs, etc.) and willingness to learn other software programs

Preferred

• Involved in student advocacy or other empowerment-based clubs or organization  
• Experience with working with high school students
• Bilingual (Spanish and English) is highly preferred