College Access Initiative Academic Outreach Specialist

University of Arkansas • Fayetteville, NC

16d • Onsite

About The Position

Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas is a land grant institution, classified by the Carnegie Foundation among the nation’s top 2 percent of universities with the highest level of research activity. The University of Arkansas works to advance the state and build a better world through education, research, and outreach by providing transformational opportunities and skills, fostering a welcoming climate, and nurturing creativity, discovery, and the spread of new ideas and innovations. The University of Arkansas campus is located in Fayetteville, a welcoming community ranked as one of the best places to live in the U.S. The growing region surrounding Fayetteville is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies and one of the nation’s strongest economies. Northwest Arkansas is also quickly gaining a national reputation for its focus on the arts and overall quality of life. As an employer, the University of Arkansas offers a vibrant work environment and a workplace culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance. The benefits package includes university contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance, tuition waivers for employees and their families, 12 official holidays, immediate leave accrual, and a choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary. The College Access Initiative Academic Outreach Specialist supports the college readiness, recruitment, and retention efforts of the College Access Initiative (CAI) and the Division of Student Affairs. Reporting to the Director of the CAI, the Academic Outreach Specialist will contribute to the design and facilitation of workshops for high school students, supporters, and educators with respect to college planning, admissions, financial aid literacy, ACT, and opportunities at the University of Arkansas. This position will also contribute to program planning and facilitation for academic summer programs for high school students and incoming freshmen. This position also involves professional mentoring and academic coaching of current UA students regarding their academic progress and success, as well as supporting student success and cultural programming on campus. This position is housed on campus in the Multicultural Center (MC), but will require frequent overnight travel to communities across the state/region, and some on-campus night and weekend events. Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education
• At least two or more years of relevant experience, as a student leader or professional, in areas such as college access outreach, advocacy, student mentoring, or academic retention programming
• Experience as a student or professional with facilitating co-curricular programming and educational experiences for audiences of 7th-12th grade students and/or supporters and educators
• An expressed and clearly stated or demonstrated understanding of challenges faced by individuals and groups within the context of secondary and higher education
• Knowledge of educational issues and challenges for first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students relating to high school completion, and college access and completion
• Knowledge of college planning and admissions processes, and ability to help students and families navigate them
• Knowledge of the ACT and ability to help students prepare for it and other college entrance exams and processes
• Strong presentation skills—the ability to give presentations comfortably and confidently to students, parents, educators and higher education colleagues
• Strong analytical, organizational, and time management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to develop college readiness curricula and workshops and to teach college readiness skills and facilitate related activities, in-person, and virtually as needed
• Ability to build rapport with high school and college students, school and community partners, and campus colleagues
• Ability to create environments that foster equitable participation of all groups while seeking to address and acknowledge issues of educational access
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with and gain support from a broad and diverse array of constituents, including students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents, community members and visitors
• Ability to travel to various events and activities, as well as work some evenings and weekends, based on programming needs

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual or Multilingual (Spanish or Marshallese preferred)
• Master’s degree in Education, Higher Education, Counseling, Communications, Community development, or a related field from an accredited institution of higher education
• Academic outreach experience and a demonstrated drive to improve the college access and completion of underrepresented students
• At least one or more years of professional experience in facilitating college access outreach and academic retention programming, and/or responsive programming, providing advocacy for communities
• Experience with college recruiting and/or outreach in school and community settings
• Extensive academic presentation and program facilitation experience

Responsibilities

• The Academic Outreach Specialist will contribute to the design and facilitation of workshops for high school students, supporters, and educators with respect to college planning, admissions, financial aid literacy, ACT, and opportunities at the University of Arkansas.
• This position will also contribute to program planning and facilitation for academic summer programs for high school students and incoming freshmen.
• This position also involves professional mentoring and academic coaching of current UA students regarding their academic progress and success, as well as supporting student success and cultural programming on campus.
• This position is housed on campus in the Multicultural Center (MC), but will require frequent overnight travel to communities across the state/region, and some on-campus night and weekend events.
• Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others.

Benefits

• university contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance
• tuition waivers for employees and their families
• 12 official holidays
• immediate leave accrual
• a choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees