Academic Counselor (SAL 7)

Summary:

Advises and counsels students to achieve academic, personal, financial, and career goals. Also teaches GST 101: Strategies for Academic Success, a .25 credit course designed to prepare students for success in college and beyond.

Minimum Qualifications Required:

Education required to ensure success in this position:

Masters required

Experience required to ensure success in this position:

One to three years of work experience in TRIO programs or similar educational programs and environments.

Teaching, counseling, and/or direct student experience in higher education (preferred).

Special skills, knowledge and abilities:

Knowledge of:

• The barriers faced by low-income and first generation students
• Academic and career advising principles, techniques, and procedures
• Academic policies and procedures
• The developmental processes and challenges faced by college students and related student development theories
• Current best practices and literature in student services
• Federal legislation and regulations regarding TRIO programs and, in particular, the Student Support Services program.
  
  

Skills and Abilities to:

• Coordinate and/or deliver academic activities, programs and instruction to project participants
• Develop partnerships with college faculty, staff, and departments to ensure delivery of services, coordinated program efforts,
  
  

reduced duplication of services, and academic success of project participants

• Maintain confidential information
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with a wide range of individuals and constituencies
• Design, document, and implement participant recruitment, identification, and selection plans
• Manage project timelines, priorities, and meet deadlines
• Perform program assessments using both qualitative and quantitative data and draw conclusions based on outcomes
• Assist in the development, implementation, and evaluation of project policies, services, and programs
• Assist with the preparation of the budget, grant proposal and federal reporting
• Conduct research on current academic retention issues using multiple resources
• Identify issues (both stated and unstated) that are affecting a student’s academic success
• Work as a team member and foster a cooperative work environment
• Provide individual project services to a partial case load
• Supervise student labor workers, as assigned
• Serve on campus and departmental committees as related to the SSS project
  
  

License, certification, or registration necessary:

N/A

Physical requirements:

Light lifting, occasionally up to 20 lbs.

Environmental conditions:

Standard office environment, properly cooled, heated and ventilated;

Occasional evenings and weekends;

Some overnight travel;

Some outside programming

Ability to operate the following vehicles or equipment:

Standard office equipment

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Regular and predictable attendance is essential. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Assist the Project Director in monitoring project services and participation of students to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.

Continually monitor student progress toward meeting submitted grant and prior experience objectives to ensure that objectives are met on an annual basis.

Maintain accurate and thorough student records to effectively track student progress and participation.

Provide advising and counseling services to ensure participants are meeting academic and other goals as outlined.

Teach a .25 credit course, GST 101: Strategies for Academic Success

Provide individual project services to assigned participants.

Regularly assess the project and make changes as appropriate.

In support of Berea College’s great commitments, this position requires student supervision. The fourth great commitment is to promote learning and serving in community through the student labor program, honoring the dignity and utility of all work, mental and manual, and taking pride in work well done. The Supervision would include scheduling, assigning and approving work performed. Developing students about common workplace acumen and giving them tangible work experience is an expected outcome. To learn more about the student labor program and requirements on this position see: Labor Program Goals

Other roles/duties will be assigned as necessary to assist the College in the attainment of the goals set forth and the enhancement of a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty and students.



Founded in 1855, Berea College achieved national distinction as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls 1,600 students from 43 states and U.S. territories and more than 70 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides all of them a no-tuition promise, valued at more than $178,000. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and many are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only nine federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students are expected to work in various positions across campus. Berea College was again named one of the nation’s “Best Institutions for Undergraduates to Earn their College Degree” in the 2022 edition of The Princeton Review’s book, The Best 387 Colleges. Berea also appeared on four other lists within the publication: Best Colleges in the Southeast; Best Value Colleges; Best Green Colleges; and Tuition Free Schools. Berea College is ranked #148 by The Princeton Review – the highest-ranked Kentucky college, and the #3 “Best Value College” in the nation. Berea is one of only two private institutions ranked in the Top 10 for Value in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (THE) 2022 College Rankings. The Washington Monthly ranks Berea College #13 among the nation’s liberal arts colleges, recognizing Berea for maintaining “consistently high rankings thanks to their economic diversity, relatively strong graduation rates, and commitment to meeting students’ financial need.” U.S. News and World Report Rankings lists Berea as #30 among National Liberal Arts Colleges, including ranking Berea #1 in Service Learning, #2 for Most Innovative Schools, #3 in Co-ops/Internships, #4 in First-year Experiences, and tied for #13 in Best Undergraduate Teaching.

Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 16,000) lies forty miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.

Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.

Berea College is always looking for talented, self-motivated individuals to join our team. If you think you are ready to be a part of an exciting team, then we encourage you to continue with this applicant friendly, online job application!

Berea College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

Note to Prospective Employees:

Each year, Berea College Public Safety publishes an annual report to the campus to make public crime statistics, policies, and procedures for Berea College. This Annual Security Report, required by the Jeane Clery Act, Minger Act, and the Student Right To Know Act is now available for review. For a full, printable version of the ASR, you can click here: https://www.berea.edu/public-safety/annual-security-report-2019/

For a policy-by-policy version that is easier to read and browse, please visit Public Safety’s website here: https://www.berea.edu/public-safety/annual-security-report-2019/