Alumni Success Coach - Uncommon Schools

Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 53 schools serving more than 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Uncommon Schools are committed to ensuring that our graduates both enter into and graduate from a four-year college or university. This fulfills our mission of seeing students to and through college, thus closing the achievement gap between low-income students and their wealthier peers. Under the supervision of the Manager of College Access & Success, the Alumni Success Coach (ASC) will support our high school graduates in achieving their post-secondary goals. In this unique role, you are part of two teams. Each ASC is assigned and reports to their respective high school and regional office during the non-travel season. During the travel season, ASC’s will spend most of their time traveling to colleges for students in their assigned caseload up to a 9-week duration each semester.  As an ASC, you will focus on providing counseling and programming, identifying the changing needs of alumni and the potential risk factors to their persistence, connecting alumni to campus or local resources, and increasing student independence in managing their post-secondary plans.

Role and Responsibilities

Building & Maintaining Relationships 

The relationships established and nurtured by Alumni Success Coaches drives our work. The ASC will foster meaningful relationships by: 

• Serving as the primary liaison between Uncommon, its alumni, and college administrators
• Developing a personal, professional relationship with each alumnus within their caseload consisting of 300+ alumni throughout the school year
• Formally Liaising between the high school Director of College Completion (DoCC), principal, special education (SPED) coordinators to ensure students succeed
• Collaborating with college counseling team to ensure successful handoff of current high school students to alumni community
• Leveraging other Alumni Support Team members throughout the school year
• Researching and meeting key administrators (e.g. deans, admissions counselors, financial aid officers, special program directors, EOP officials, R.A.s, professors, etc.) on assigned campuses who will remove barriers to persistence for Uncommon alumni
• Being available to students during the evening and weekends to support with any issues that may arise
• Planning winter and spring alumni events to foster continued community; send care packages

Counseling & Programming (30%)

The Alumni Support Coach will work relentlessly to aid and support Uncommon alumni to achieve a 4-year college degree by:

• Advising students on academic issues including choosing a major, building relationships with professors, study habits, time management, etc.
• Making individualized academic plans with each student reflecting on strengths and weaknesses and setting appropriate goals to push student’s growth
• Helping students take full advantage of their post-collegiate experience; meeting each student where they are and then pushing them to work towards next steps in his/her personal progress
• Helping connect students to resources on campus including study abroad opportunities, academic help centers, writing centers, advisement offices, mental health offices, etc.
• Assisting with re-enrollment and transfer processes
• Pushing into College Seminar; leading high school-based family workshop introducing the Alumni Support Program

Communication & Outreach (20%)

The Alumni Support Coach will use all available resources to contact and engage alumni within their caseload by: 

• Leveraging all forms of communication to connect with 100% of their caseload including in-person meetings, Zoom meetings, e-mail, phone calls, text messages, social media, etc. 
• Collaborating with parents/families of alumni to support alumni with enrollment, financial or other concerns, when necessary
• Providing alumni updates to school leaders and appropriate staff when requests are made

Caseload Management (15%)

The Alumni Support Coach will optimize and streamline the constant flow of alumni updates they receive by: 

• Maintaining an up-to-date record of each interaction, obstacles, and academic progress in the alumni database
• Managing and reporting accurate post-secondary data of caseload to direct manager and assigned school team
• Continually assessing the potential that alumni will complete college based on their academic, financial, socio-emotional and personal well-being; prioritize support for students at the greatest risk of stopping out of college
• Using data to inform and manage their caseload priorities
• Ensuring accurate contact information is maintained in database
• Sending routine emails/text messages to all alumni with study tips, words of encouragement, opportunities and other relevant messages
• Contributing to network-wide alumni communication (e.g., alumni website and newsletter)

Administrative Duties (5%)

The Alumni Support Coach will also perform administrative tasks and duties that include, but are not limited to: 

• Making travel arrangements and submitting all receipts for eligible travel reimbursements/reconciliations
• Social media maintenance 
• Check-ins with their manager, high school principal, and Director of College Counseling (DoCC)

• Passion for and alignment to the mission of Uncommon Schools
• Demonstrated college knowledge (e.g., college application process, financial aid process, general college knowledge and policies, etc.)
• Effective public relations and networking abilities
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Self-starter with strong prioritization skills
• Excellent organization, time management, and tenacious follow-up skills; ability to prioritize and demonstrate an appropriate sense of urgency

Educational Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Master's Degree preferred

Experience Requirements

• 4+ years of professional work experience required
• 2+ years of experience in working with students in a college advisement, college counseling or college enrollment capacity 
• Demonstrated knowledge of the college application process, the Free Application for  Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the CSS Profile, and other pertinent college application and enrollment tasks
• Demonstrated knowledge of key academic and financial aid policies at the collegiate level
• Preferred: 2+ years of experience working with students who are first generation and/or from an urban school district

Travel Requirements

• Must be willing to travel via car, bus, train, and/or plane for up to 8 weeks a semester to visit alumni on their college campuses in the assigned caseload region.

 Other Requirements

• Valid driver’s license
• Personal vehicle for travel (mileage for campus visit travel is reimbursed according to published IRS mileage rates)

Our people are what make us uncommon. It’s important to us that our compensation practices align with our values and enhance our ability to attract and retain talent.  Our compensation philosophy is focused on equity and fairness, retaining our talented staff and valuing their expertise, and transparency and clarity.

Compensation for this position: The starting compensation for this role based in Rochester, NY is between $64,300 to $75,700 and generally, we expect that qualified candidates in this location will be made an offer between $64,300 and $68,100. The starting pay will depend on a variety of factors that may include but are not limited to experience, education, training, certification, and location. Because we value staff staying in their roles over time, we do not currently cap salary ranges.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students.  As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.