Director of College Persistence (24-25)

Description

DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE PERSISTENCE

NATIONAL COLLEGE TEAM

Role Mission:

IDEA Public Schools is seeking a Director of College Persistence to join our growing Alumni Affairs team. The work of College Persistence at IDEA Public Schools delivers on the organization’s mission of becoming the number one producer of low-income college graduates by supporting our IDEA graduates to ensure students’ success to and through college. The Director of Alumni Affairs – College Persistence coaches and develops (2-4) Managers of Alumni Affairs, College Persistence, who build relationships with alumni and colleges across the Nation, supporting our alumni through continuous enrollment, semester after semester.

In this role, they focus on the onboarding, development, retention, and career progression of Managers of Alumni Affairs as we believe that excellent coaching, supports, behavioral nudging, and tailored specialty campaigns in higher education will help IDEA to achieve our mission of College for All. Thus, the Director of College Persistence seeks to fully understand our alumni trajectory, along with building expertise around higher education and coaching, building finite specialty in the high school senior year to freshmen fall transition & year one and two of undergraduate studies. They will partner and report to IDEA’s Managing Director of Alumni Affairs and serve on the Alumni Affairs Leadership Team. Lastly, the Director of College Persistence will share out key learning and data from our work in matriculation, retention, persistence, and re-enrollment to improve our system’s understanding of higher education and our graduates, directly informing the key work of K-12.

Location:

This is a full-time remote position based in Texas with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.

Travel Expectations:

This position is expected to travel up to 30% of the time during the busiest parts of the year to include, but not limited to, travel to campuses and regions.

What you’ll do- Accountabilities

Essential Duties:

• Manage and coach a team of at least (2) and no more than (4) Managers of Alumni Affairs, persistence coaches who support alumni to semester after semester continuous undergraduate enrollment through (a) executive coaching, (b) behavioral science nudging, (c) specialized campaigns, and (d) tailored direct outreach
• Professionally develop team members through creating leadership development opportunities and supporting Inside Track coaching development
• Utilize data to identify and analyze completion trends, especially students who are on track to persist, and highlight bright spots along with areas to grow
• Partner with key stakeholders across various offices and departments across institutes of higher education in the partner portfolio
• Create and maintain systems, processes, and efficiencies to support the persistence goals of team; ensuring 30% of GREATER of each cohort is on-track to graduate in 4-years
• Create data-driven strategies for managers to implement with their alumni, supporting continuous undergraduate enrollment
• Plan re-enrollment strategies and campaigns to support students to return back to college
• Support managers through data systems such as Salesforce/Copilot and systems of communication such as Mogli, Navigate, Teams, and Calendly
• Utilize data at the university to help students navigate around hurdles (i.e., registration, FAFSA, etc)
• Create innovative and strategic pathways to re-enroll alumni to build motivation and self-efficacy through the process

• Set strategy and direction specifically for alumni who are attending colleges and universities across the Nation for students who are currently enrolled and interested in enrolling in college
• Communicate clear expectations and benchmarks based on set strategy to empower team members to achieve ambitious results
• Hire and onboard new managers of alumni affairs to ensure alignment among operating mechanisms and team culture is fostered
• Empower managers of alumni affairs to foster a culture of leadership development, strategic strength, and evidence-informed accountability
• Execute data driven decisions to adjust strategies based on target student populations that meets the needs of the students and stakeholders
• Manage the re-enrollment process for the Managers of Alumni Affairs to advocate for and remove barriers to access for their cohorts.
• Analyze and interpret data to measure progress toward goals to identify trends and areas of cohort development
• Identify and streamline data collection to best meet the needs of the department through Salesforce by ensuring data integrity, building dashboards, and managing task completion
• Promote a culture of using data and information to inform and increase maximum output while ensuring quality control, evaluation, and accountability
• Maintain a deep understanding of higher education research, emerging developments, and evidence-based practices to implement effective strategies

Mobilize momentum through quarterly in person team meetings to align on priorities and goal projections

• Conduct annual 2x2 feedback and performance reviews of direct reports to evaluate, identify opportunities of strength and growth, and set goals for future performance.
• Engage in weekly check-ins with managers of alumni affairs to discuss priorities and gauge the progress made toward their goals and relationships with their students

What you bring- Competencies

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience preferred with Salesforce Administration and Higher Education Landscape
• Experienced people manager, culture builder, and talent developer

Required Experience:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree
• Experience: 5 years exemplary professional experience or coaching/advising students, preferably at IDEA Public Schools partner higher education institutions; prior experience managing teams of coaches or teachers preferred
• Experience: 2-3 years of work experience in higher education, preferably in enrollment services, student success, financial aid, registration, admissions.

Preferred experience:

• Education: Master’s degree
• Experience preferred with Salesforce Administration and Higher Education Landscape
• Experienced people manager, culture builder, and talent developer

What We Offer:

Compensation & Benefits:

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $81,800 and $95,800, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.

Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.

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  IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

Application process:

Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Learn more about IDEA

At IDEA the Staff Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values