Outreach Coordinator - Center for Learning, Advising, and Student Success

The Center for Learning, Advising, and Student Sucess at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for an Outreach Coordinator.

About the Opportunity

The REACH Student Success Outreach Coordinator is responsible for outreaching and connecting underserved students with appropriate resources across campus. Primary populations served will be students in the Center for Learning, Advising, and Student Success, BIPOC, FirstGen, and students receiving the Pell Grant. This position is critical in providing outreach and support to students with considerable need. The goal is to improve student success outcomes in retention, persistence, and completion for underserved students. The position is housed in the REACH Student Success Office.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays ()
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year or more based on years of service ()
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for ? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

• Develop and implement a strategic outreach plan during critical points of the semester such as the start of the semester, early alert, registered not paid process, midterm grades, course registration, twelve-week alerts, and other important deadlines.
• Coordinates with University Relations to create engaging materials including website, newsletter, and email and text campaigns. Utilize social medial platforms to disseminate information and engage with target audiences.
• Hires, trains, and supervises student employees who will provide peer support through extensive outreach during critical times of the semester. Student employees will conduct outreach through email, phone calls, text messages, and live chat.
• Manages day to day operations of the REACH Center including checking students in, assisting students with printing, restocking supplies, and serving as a resource.
• Provides holistic case management services for students who represent historically underserved populations to assist students with concerns related to academics, financial, and personal well-being needs. Builds rapport with students of concern.
• Continuously advocate for the best interests of student to provide information, referrals, connections and assist students in finding their community/fit.
• Establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with academic units, University Relations and Enrollment Management (UREM), Student Financial Services, and student life units. Initiates contact with students early in the enrollment funnel (pre matriculation) and continues to serve as an advocate until the student completes a post-secondary credential.
• Works closely with staff in CLASS units such as TRIO Student Support Services (SSS), Upward Bound, First-Year Seminar and advising.
• Serve as an ad-hoc member of the CARE team when students are referred to CARE and are a member of an underserved population.
• Participate in recruitment events, including WVU open houses (Discover WVU and Decide WVU); junior open houses, virtual events/webinars (in partnership with the WVU Parents Club and WVU Office of Admissions) and New Student Orientation (NSO).
• Maintains continuous interaction with advising and retention staff in the academic colleges and schools to identify students who are veering off track and at risk of being placed on academic probation or academic suspension. Compliments outreach and nudging performed by the academic college or school.
• Tracks and monitors participation, using current student information systems, in academic support services and engagement in extracurricular activities and reaches out to students not engaging or not meeting satisfactory academic and financial aid progress standards.
• Maintains working knowledge of university policies, procedures and resources to best assist and refer students who have unmet financial need.
• Interacts regularly with the WVU HSTA Program Coordinator to ensure that students supported by the Health Sciences Technology Academy are fully supported academically, financially and socially.
• Prepares semi-annual and annual progress reports summarizing numbers of students served and makes recommendation to senior leadership whether services and programming are meeting expectations. Collects qualitative and quantitative data to support findings and leverage recommendations for adding, discontinuing or altering programming and services.
• Identifies gaps in services and recommends to senior administration revisions to policies/procedures to alleviate obstacles.
• Collaborates with the Chambers Center for Financial Literacy and Education and the Office of Student Financial Services to ensure that students are exposed to topics such as budgeting, student loan debt and personal finance.
• Research best practices in supporting marginalized students, especially students who are under-resourced.
• Serves on departmental and university committees aimed at improving student success outcomes for marginalized students.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Master's degree in counseling, education, social work, college student personnel or related discipline or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of one (1) year of experience involving:
  
  
  
  • Working with college students from diverse backgrounds.
  • Communications or marketing experience.
  • Supervisory experience.
  
  
  
  
• A minimum of six (6) months of experience involving:
  
  
  
  • Managing and synthesizing complex situations involving students, parents, staff, and faculty.
  • Understanding types of financial aid and renewal requirements for each.
  
  
  
  
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate and inform multiple audiences including students, parents, university community, upper-level administrators, and other constituencies. Respectfully communicate within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, orientations, identities and cultural contexts
• Ability to manage conflict and deescalate tense situations among students, parents, faculty and staff.
• Ability to quickly build rapport with students as well as the University Community
• Understand academic and financial aid policies in post-secondary education.
• Market services/programming to students and families who may be unsure of the value of higher education
• Ability to collaborate with multiple campus services and offices.
• Prioritize, plan and executive multiple events and tasks simultaneously.
• Proficiency with student information systems and customer relationship management systems (i.e., Banner, Navigate, Salesforce)
• Proficiency in Microsoft products such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Presentational speaking to small groups and audiences in an auditorium setting.

At West Virginia University, we leverage our talents and resources to create a better future for our state and the world. As West Virginia's land-grant university, WVU has three campuses that touch each corner of the state. The WVU System includes 518 buildings on 15,880 acres, Extension Service offices in all 55 counties, ten experimental farms and four forests.

From the groundbreaking R1 research of our flagship campus in Morgantown to the career-oriented programs of WVU Potomac State in Keyser to the technology-intensive programs at WVU Tech in Beckley - the contributions of WVU employees directly impact the 1.8 million people of West Virginia every day, no matter their role or position.

Service, curiosity, respect, accountability, and appreciation are the core values that unite Mountaineers, inspiring one another to work tirelessly and support others as they seek to reach new heights. After all, when you're a Mountaineer, impossible is just another mountain to climb.

Creating an inclusive, engaged, and dynamic learning environment is core to WVU's academic mission. We welcome candidates who can contribute a range of ideas, approaches and experiences.

West Virginia University is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer and is the recipient of an NSF ADVANCE award for gender equity. The University values diversity among its faculty, staff, and students, and invites applications from all qualified applicants regardless of race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, nationality, genetics, disability, or Veteran status.