Academic Coach, Student Support Services
Santa Fe College

The mission of the Student Support Services (SSS) is to equip students with tools to achieve persistence, graduation, and life-long learning while cultivating scholars holistically and fostering community.

The Academic Coach is responsible for increasing the retention, graduation and transfer rates of Santa Fe students who are from low-income families, from families where neither parent has a bachelor's degree, and/or who are students with disabilities. The Academic Coach encourages students throughout their college experience and helps them successfully graduate from college by providing personalized coaching, mentoring, academic advisement, assistance with filling out financial aid forms and school applications, providing guidance for efficient study skills, and recommending appropriate referrals as needed. The Academic Coach monitors and records student progress, schedules tutoring appointments, and plans, drives, and chaperones for related trips.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Recruits eligible students for the Student Support Services program and coordinates with Student Life and faculty members to create recruiting opportunities.
• Establishes student eligibility and provides individual orientations of program services, including initial academic coaching sessions.
• Provides ongoing academic and career advisement, coaching, and mentoring, which includes assisting students in choosing career paths, programs of study, classes, and colleges.
• Assists students with completing transfer applications and financial aid forms and refers them to appropriate Santa Fe resources when necessary.
• Reviews initial Financial Aid Literacy Assessment with students and advises them on how to locate and apply to alternate tuition funding sources, such as scholarships and grants.
• Monitors, tracks, and reviews student progress with periodic checks of transcripts and reviews of the early alert reporting system and runs reports to read and collect Academic Advisor and Instructor comments, contacting students to provide support as needed.
• Plans university campus tours and cultural events for participants through coordinating dates and student meetings, and creating sign-up sheets, itineraries, and hotel plans.
• Monitors the tutoring lab by maintaining tutoring schedules, reviewing student sign-in to ensure only SSS students are using the lab, and assisting staff when needed.
• Adheres to grant requirements when collecting student data for the evaluation of quantitative program success and other grant items, distributing surveys to students to ensure accurate evaluation.
• Provides assistance in completing annual performance reviews and attends consultant meetings as needed.
• Attends SF trainings and participates in collegewide committees, especially Trio related trainings and Academic Advising Council meetings.
• Complies with all published College Rules, procedures, guidelines, and laws/regulations governing public employees, including but not limited to those related to document retention and destruction, FERPA, and confidentiality.
• Provides service excellence through courteous, informed, accessible, and professional engagement.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Reports to: Coordinator, Student Support Services

Qualifications

Required: A Bachelor's degree with two (2) years of related work experience in similar programs serving students who are low-income, first-generation, and/or who have disabilities, or a combination of education and experience equal to six (6) years.
Additional Requirements: A criminal background check will be conducted. Applicants must have a valid Florida Class E Operator (driver's) license and be authorized to drive for the college.
Preferred: A master's degree in education, counseling, guidance, psychology, management, or a similar discipline. Demonstrated success in overcoming barriers like those of the project's target population or prior experience in working with this target population.

General Knowledge, Skills and Abilities