College Access Specialist

Red Hook Initiative • Brooklyn, NY

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The College Access Specialist works across the Middle and High School programs to build and sustain a college-going culture and promotes awareness of the link between higher education and professional careers. There is a focus on supporting high school juniors and seniors who are participants in RHI's Youth Leader program. The College Access Specialist works with juniors and seniors to co-create a "right-fit" college roadmap in support of participants' post-secondary goals. This person provides comprehensive college-readiness support: informing and facilitating college-readiness programming and financial aid workshops; assisting with researching and applying for scholarships; engaging and coaching parents about the college application process; and cultivating and maintaining relationships with college admissions counselors. College Access Specialists will develop and lead an early college awareness program for 6th-8th graders. They will also be responsible for leading summer College Access programming for our Freedom School program.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Knowledge of the college application process and financial aid is required
• Experience teaching or facilitating groups
• Computer skills; experience working with Google Suite and Salesforce

Nice To Haves

• Work experience in college access, readiness, or exposure (at least 2 yr) is strongly preferred
• First-hand experience with youth programming and/or working with first-generation college students is preferred.
• Knowledge of the Red Hook community.
• A resident of Red Hook preferred

Responsibilities

• Develop and facilitate programming to expose and prepare participants for college, including early awareness programming for 6-10th graders.
• Coach an estimated caseload of 40-50 juniors and seniors on college preparedness.
• Lead the college application process for college-bound participants and advise on a variety of post-secondary options.
• Develop workshops, events, and trips that will support, inspire, and inform participants about the skills needed to pursue higher education and other post-secondary opportunities (trips, panels, and college tours/fairs).
• Mobilize resources to connect participants with relevant resources important for post-secondary success (SAT courses, college prep mentors, additional tutoring, school/placement visits, etc.).
• Coordinate financial aid and FAFSA workshops; assist students and parents with navigating the financial aid/FAFSA process.
• Coordinate scholarship application process, including Jordan WINGS, SUNY Geneseo, and other notable programs and partnerships.
• Coordinate with program leadership in youth development to provide differentiated college prep support to participants according to their individual plans, in small group and one-on-one settings.
• Support with College/University partnerships
• Analyze report cards to co-develop improvement plans with participants.
• Work closely with students' guidance counselors or college advisors for additional assistance.
• Develop and lead parent workshop series on post-secondary options and processes
• Connect with parents/guardians regarding the financial aspect of the college application process [i.e., FAFSA/TAP, income documents].
• Track youth progress and provide consistent documentation/ progress notes about observed needs in the Salesforce Database and other tracking systems.
• Attend staff and planning meetings.
• May be assigned other duties and responsibilities as determined by the Executive Director or an assigned member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).

Benefits

• employee assistance program (EAP), which includes 12 counseling sessions per year
• 403b retirement plan
• flexible spending accounts for out-of-pocket health, dependent and commuter expenses
• life insurance
• a flexible hybrid work schedule
• PTO days (prorated based on work schedule)
• "Summer Fridays,"

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level