College Counselor

THE SEED SCHOOL OF MARYLAND INC•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

The SEED School of Maryland is a statewide, public, college-preparatory boarding school that educates and boards 400 students in grades six through twelve. The SEED School is an extraordinary educational opportunity for students across the state to receive a tuition-free, college-preparatory, boarding education. The SEED School of Maryland combines a rigorous and engaging academic curriculum with life skills and enrichment activities to provide students with a thoughtfully balanced learning and living experience. Students and their families commit to a seven-year educational program that offers small class sizes, high quality teaching and learning experiences, mentoring, community service, and extracurricular activities such as sports and arts. The SEED School is centered around its character values: compassion, growth, gratitude, perseverance, integrity, respect for oneself and others, and responsibility. The SEED School staff are in partnership with parents, families, and communities to guide and support student success. The school follows a typical academic school year calendar. SEED is the pioneering national network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools, offering a unique 24-hour, 5-day per week learning environment. Our tuition-free schools, the first of their kind in the U.S., are intentionally designed to serve traditionally underserved students. Supported by The SEED Foundation, we operate in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Miami, and Los Angeles. The Foundation's College Transition & Success (CTS) team provides comprehensive support to SEED graduates from junior year through college graduation. SEED's success has gained recognition from media outlets like 60 Minutes and The New York Times, and former President Obama has lauded it as "a true success story." Learn more at www.seedfoundation.com. College access and completion is core to our work at SEED. Thus, the College Counselor plays a critical role in supporting students and families throughout all stages of the college process. SEED Maryland’s College Counselor must be highly skilled and able to administer the college exposure, search, fit, application and selection process with students, while educating and informing families. SEED takes a unique and impactful approach to college matching. Our deliberate and intentional work with college match and fit is extremely important to SEED’s college completion goals. Thus, the College Counselor is expected to have extensive knowledge of a range of colleges/universities across the country - especially those that proactively support college completion for underserved students through evidenced-based success measures that include; high quality student supports, graduation rates and affordability. The College Counselor will establish effective relationships with all members of the SEED Maryland community and the College Transition and Success (CTS) Foundation team. The College Counselor will report to the Senior Coordinator of College Counseling, who oversees the college knowledge and advising initiatives at the SEED School of Maryland.

Requirements

Strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills
Ability to respond effectively to the needs of a diverse student/family population
Ability to consistently meet deadlines
Experience in college admissions or high school college counseling
A deep understanding of how to collect, organize, analyze and use data to improve practice
Very comfortable with SEED’s approach to college fit and match
Commitment to the mission of SEED and our core values of: COMPASSION, GRATITUDE, GROWTH, INTEGRITY, PERSEVERANCE, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY
Bachelor’s degree
3-5 years’ experience providing college access and success support in a school, community, or university setting
Extensive knowledge of the college matching process
Familiarity with college matching frameworks and approaches to “right fit” college advising
Understanding of the financial aid process, including the FAFSA and Maryland grant-based funding opportunities
Experience with both individual and group based college counseling sessions
Strong administrative, database management, and records maintenance skills to handle confidential material
Ability to work independently and collaboratively with a team while managing multiple tasks
Ability to learn and use systems for managing student information including Naviance, PowerSchool, Common Application, etc.
Demonstrated success working with students and families from historically underrepresented backgrounds
Ability to work flexible hours

Responsibilities

Participates in, coordinates and conducts activities that contribute to the effective operation, visibility and mission of the College Readiness department
Provide intrusive college counseling to a caseload of 80-100 students in 11th and 12th grade
Support students in developing balanced, high-quality, right fit college lists aligned with their interests, strengths and long-term goals
Serve as a co-teacher and facilitator for Junior/Senior Seminar
Create early college programming and college exposure opportunities for lower school students in collaboration with School Counselor
Serve as the liaison with college admissions representatives, coordinating college rep visits to SEED MD
Monitor the SEED Maryland College Success Tracker for weekly, monthly and quarterly reporting
Compile, prepare and present college related data (10+ right fit applications, FAFSA completion, acceptances, scholarship awards)
Manga and maintain aesthetically pleasing College Center and bulletin board that reflects SEED’s college success culture and approach to college matching
Collaborate with various departments including but not limited to Academics, Admissions and Family Engagement to ensure information about the college process is visible and reaching all stakeholders
Attend and participate in grade-level meetings as well as Network Success Measure (NSM) committee meeting for College Knowledge and Advising
Support financial education and have working knowledge of federal and state funding sources (FAFSA, MD Caps, scholarships, etc)