Director, Workforce Student Success

Cuyahoga Community College•Cleveland, OH

21h•Onsite

About The Position

A strategic leader and primary resource dedicated to fostering success for students enrolled in workforce and career-focused programs. Interacts with students across the College to address complex student challenges related to institutional navigation, administrative processes, and removes barriers to retention, persistence, and completion, especially for students pursuing career credentials, technical training, and fast-track pathways to employment. Works within the Workforce Innovation division including the five Workforce Training Academies, the College wide Student Experience Division, and Academic Affairs, to ensure consistent, proactive, and care-centered student support. Serves across the Workforce Innovation Division as the lead project manager for the department’s student-success initiatives, collaborating closely with the Student Liaison and the Vice President & Chief Student Services Officer for Workforce Student Success. Works collaboratively across the College to strengthen retention among Workforce students and expand awareness of and access to existing college resources.

Requirements

Master’s degree in a related field. Significant related experience may substitute for education.
Minimum of five (5) years working in a higher education setting such as student services, academic support or workforce development support.
Demonstrated experience effectively making decisions that have major implications on the management and operations within a department.
Demonstrated experience in a role requiring diverse problem-solving methods in a variety of situations.
Demonstrated experience speaking to the public and presenting to groups of all sizes.
Possess comprehensive knowledge of credit/non-credit programs and career pathways concepts, practices and procedures with the ability to use in varied situations as it pertains to the departmental focus.
Demonstrated critical thinking skills with ability to strategize, prioritize and multi-task to meet goals and deadlines.
Ability to adjust to changing priorities and respond appropriately to deadlines.
Ability to be supportive, compassionate, and encouraging to students.
Possess excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to be creative and exercise initiative, excellent judgement and discretion.
Ability to determine needs and identify creative solutions to remove barriers.
Ability to develop and maintain relationships with key contacts to enhance workflow and quality.
Ability to collaborate, persuade, and gain cooperation and acceptance of ideas on significant projects.
Ability to collaborate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts within project teams.
Demonstrated intermediate project management skills, including the ability to lead multiple concurrent initiatives, timelines, and deliverables across modalities and teams.
Ability to independently set goals and determine best course of action to achieve desired results.
Intermediate-level proficiency with Microsoft: Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint equivalent software).
Ability to work effectively with and manage people and resources in an ever-changing environment.
Ability to effectively complete work assignments independently.
Ability to confidentially and discreetly manage subject matters requiring privacy and sensitivity.
Possess sensitivity to respond appropriately to the needs of students and the community.

Nice To Haves

Doctorate degree in related field.
Experience working in a student-facing department.
Experience assessing programmatic needs and successfully implementing new initiatives.
Experience working with student-focused online platforms.
Familiarity with regional population, labor market trends, and Tri-C’s academic/workforce programs and career pathways.
Experience in workforce development.
Prior teaching experience.

Responsibilities

Serves as lead project manager for departmental student-success initiatives, coordinating timelines and deliverables, cross functional teams, and reporting.
Interacts with students across the Workforce Innovation division, including the five Academies, Academic Affairs, and Student Experience divisions to improve Workforce Innovation student success and retention.
Supports Workforce Pell awareness, readiness, and implementation, including guiding students through non-credit-to-credit pathways, eligibility navigation in conjunction with Financial Aid, and term-based progression and monitoring.
Coordinates the student-success components of the OMD/CCA NEXT workforce scholar initiative (One Million Degrees/Complete College America), including scholar intake, recruitment, onboarding, and cohort engagement.
Advances the Divisions’ AI Literacy & Fluency initiatives as it relates to student-facing services and staff capacity.
Supports Perkins V performance goals, including retention and credential-attainment strategies tied to the local performance improvement plan.
Supports Achieving the Dream LIFT priorities related to K-12 to college transitions and students with diagnosed learning differences.
Serves as a visible advocate and liaison for students navigating institutional systems, with a focus on resolving roadblocks and enhancing clarity.
Collaborates with academic departments, student services, and external partners to align support services with workforce development goals.
Develops and implements strategies to identify, track, and eliminate internal and external barriers to completion for career-focused students.
Guides and supports frontline staff in delivering consistent and responsive student assistance across campuses.
Monitors institutional policies, procedures, and student feedback to recommend and execute improvements.
Analyzes data and outcomes to inform continuous enhancement of workforce student success strategies.
Develops, implements, and evaluates retention strategies and milestones for Workforce Innovation students.
Provides leadership and serves as a liaison to numerous academic and Workforce program areas, and other business units (i.e., Student Business Services, Enrollment Center, Counseling, Financial Aid, Corporate College, Legal Services) to investigate, refer and/or respond to student inquiries related to funding, tuition assistance/tuition reimbursement programs, short-term certificates, and other industry credentials.
Collaborates with Recruitment Specialists and other staff to facilitate the coordination of information and orientation sessions both on and off-site.
Serves as a champion and guide for prospective students interested in leveraging tuition assistance/tuition reimbursement funds, or other sources of funding.
Supports students interested in transitioning from non-credit to credit programs or credit to non-credit programs.
Collaborates with Faculty Counselors to proactively communicate, guide, and assist students regarding progression and persistence.
Collaborates college wide to create, track, present on, and evaluate enrollment, retention and completion campaigns to support enrollment and completion goals.
Recommends and implements strategies to improve consistency of service to prospective and matriculated students in the college.
Partners with the Recruitment Specialists to support Workforce recruitment efforts, leverages relationships with community partners, coordinates outcomes reporting, and provides resources and support to increase recruitment opportunities for Workforce training programs.
May teach Workforce Success Seminar.
Performs other duties as assigned.