Chicago/Lake County Candidate Coordinator

Organization Overview

Grow Your Own Illinois (GYO-IL) recruits, supports, and prepares individuals from underrepresented communities to become and thrive as licensed teachers. We envision an Illinois teacher workforce that reflects the rich racial and cultural diversity of its students and is rooted in their communities. To achieve this, we provide candidates with financial and academic assistance, social-emotional support, and culturally sustaining professional development. Our teachers—and the students, schools, and neighborhoods they serve—are all strengthened by this process. To learn more visit: growyourownteachers.org

Position Summary

The Chicago/Lake County Candidate Coordinator position provides direct support to up to 30 teacher candidates as they progress through their teacher preparation or pre-college education programs. The coordinator plays an essential role in identifying and recruiting prospective candidates, reviewing application materials, and supporting newly admitted candidates. The coordinator meets monthly with assigned individual candidates to track academic progress, identify roadblocks, and ensure candidates’ success in completing a teacher licensure program. GYO Candidate Coordinators are pivotal to linking candidates to critical support, building candidate capacity for self-advocacy, and fostering a professional community of racially diverse and community-connected educators. The coordinator maintains data to track the progress candidates and relay learning from ongoing engagement to strengthen program effectiveness.

Compensation

This is a full-time position in a hybrid work environment (up to 3 days a week and as needed in the office) with an annual salary range of $55,000.00 - $70,000.00 based on experience and credentials. GYO-IL’s office is location in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. See the Benefits section for information on our comprehensive benefits package.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

Candidate Academic Advising, Wrap Around Support, and Professional Development

• Support candidates to manage their progression through their respective licensure program requirements and to meet benchmarks (e.g. application to College of Education, clinical observations and student teaching, content exams, and more).
• Inform candidates about alternatives, limitations, and possible consequences of academic decisions (e.g. adding, dropping and withdrawing from courses; changing programs; etc.)
• Link candidates to critical GYO supports (examples: Success Coach and tutoring, Case Manager, Laptop Loan program).
• Communicate with community college and university advisors as needed to support candidates, including attending meetings between candidates and their advisors to provide translation, clarification and ensure continuity of supports.
• Contribute to building a professional community through coordination support and facilitation assistance of monthly in person and virtual “cohort” meetings.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Candidate Data Aggregation, Synthesis, and Reporting

• Maintain individual candidate information in GYO’s database and provide timely data updates to GYO-IL's Database Administrator.
• Contribute to weekly GYO Chicago/Lake Candidate Coordinator meetings to discuss candidate successes and challenges, identify advising strategies and best practices, etc.
• Collect information for tuition payments and other reimbursements related to college enrollment and coursework, as needed.
• Produce monthly reports demonstrating synthesis and learning from individual and group meetings with candidates and escalating issues of concern/praise to GYO Chicago/Lake County Program Director.
• Produce summaries on Chicago/Lake County candidate activity/progress for required quarterly and annual state reports, highlighting successes and challenges.
• Collaborate with GYO Chicago/Lake’s team in documenting and expanding data on community-connected teaching, for example, reflecting with preservice teachers about what they’re learning in monthly meetings and assisting them in making connections with each other and to their local communities.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Outreach, Recruitment, and Application Review

• Serve as GYO-Chicago/Lake application outreach lead at assigned institution and partnership events to promote the GYO program and connect prospective applicants.
• Participate in the review and selection of prospective GYO candidates.
• Stay up to date on college/university program requirements, articulation agreements and transfer guides to assist prospective students in determining which programs will best help them meet their teacher education goals.
• Support newly admitted candidates with university and program selection and next steps toward enrollment.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in education or a related field
• Three years of experience in academic advising or related careers in post-secondary education
• Passion for supporting non-traditional teacher candidates from diverse communities.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Strong relationship building and communication skills.
• Ability to build partnerships with educational and community organizations.
• Experience facilitating adult training and presentations.
• Availability for occasional evenings, weekends, and travel.

Required Skill Set and Knowledge Base:

• Collaborative, growth-oriented mindset.
• Strong writing and documentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

The following pieces of experience are a plus but not required:

• Master’s degree in education or higher education
• Five years of experience in academic advising, teacher preparation, and/or service as a licensed classroom teacher
• Evidence of a commitment to racial and economic diversity and equity in teacher education
• Direct experience working with colleges, universities, community colleges, school districts, and community groups
• Familiarity with professional educator licensing and state content area examinations
• Strong interest in utilizing data instruments (surveys, interviews) and collecting and summarizing data
• Bilingual/Biliterate in Spanish and English

Benefits (which are subject to change)

• 15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 12 days of Paid Sick/Wellness
• 10 holidays
• Office closed between Christmas Eve Day and New Year’s Day (12/24-1/1)
• Comprehensive health insurance, including medical, dental, and vision coverage (50% coverage for spouse and first two dependents)
• Basic life insurance
• 403(b) with 3% match
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Professional development

Type of work environment associated with the job

• indoor, office setting
• some travel required

Equal Opportunity

GYO-Il is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Flexible work from home options available.

Compensation: $55,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Grow Your Own Illinois (GYO-IL) recruits, supports, and prepares individuals from underrepresented communities to become and thrive as licensed teachers. We envision an Illinois teacher workforce that reflects the rich racial and cultural diversity of its students and is rooted in their communities. To achieve this, we provide candidates with financial and academic assistance, social-emotional supports, and culturally sustaining professional development. Our teachers—and the students, schools, and neighborhoods they serve—are all strengthened by this process.

• 15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 12 days of Paid Sick/Wellness
• 10 holidays
• Office closed between Christmas Eve Day and New Year’s Day (12/24-1/1)
• Comprehensive health insurance, including medical, dental, and vision coverage (50% coverage for spouse and first two dependents)
• Basic life insurance
• 403(b) with 3% match
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Professional development