About us
Rockford Promise is a non-profit 501(c)(3) location-based scholarship program that offers full-tuition scholarships to qualifying graduates of Rockford Public School District 205. Modeled after Promise programs around the nation, our goal is to increase educational attainment in our community while providing a powerful economic incentive for residents and businesses to locate in the Rockford region.
We believe that financial barriers are just part of the equation for many students. In addition to full-tuition college scholarships, Rockford Promise also supports our Scholars with robust community mentorships, strong academic advising and meaningful social connections to ensure they earn their degrees and jumpstart successful careers.
Our work environment includes:
- Work-from-home days
- Growth opportunities
Job Summary: This individual will further develop the Rockford Promise Scholar Support Program as it scales to meet the needs of over 800 Scholars in the next 2-3 years. Duties will include managing the administrative procedures of the Rockford Promise Mentoring program, supporting Mentor volunteers and Mentoring program participants, coordinating, planning, and delivering activities for training, and supervision of Academic Mentor Coordinators and volunteers.
The Scholar Support Manager assists with development, implementation and evaluation of activities designed to increase student retention, persistence, and completion of a college degree or certification program by Rockford Promise Scholars. Provides guidance and support for Mentors and students, enhances Mentor/student success by assisting with programs and services including personal coaching, on-going support, and follow-up; workshops, degree progress consultations and referrals to other on and off-campus resources.
Desired Qualifications:
- A combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree and 2-3 years of experience with mentoring
- Strong project management skills and ability to meet deadlines
- Experience with supervising staff and volunteers
- Successful experience of increasing responsibility in education, social services, human resources, or a related area
- Demonstrated cultural competence, sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of post-secondary students, faculty, and staff
- Experience working with students from diverse backgrounds
- Experience with program development, planning, implementation, and evaluation
- Experience with training and leading the work of others
- Experience with researching, formatting, assessing, and preparing data for reports and other materials
- Experience with the use of a variety of computer software to track and monitor data
- Demonstrated skills in oral and written communication, including public speaking and presentations
- Demonstrated skill in multitasking, prioritizing workloads, and working independently
- Demonstrated skill in working as part of a team
Essential Duties:
- Manage staff of 3-4 Academic Mentor Coordinators.
- Schedule and lead regular Scholar Support Staff Meetings, including group and 1-to-1 meetings.
- Coordinate the seamless operation of program services to ensure the timely completion of assigned objectives, adhering to specifications, budgets, and timelines.
- Proactively take measures to minimize any potential delays in the timely delivery of programs.
- Maintain regular communication with students, mentors, and staff to arrange meetings, confirm program schedules, and address any program-related concerns.
- Regularly communicate with the Executive Director, providing updates on the program's status and promptly addressing any issues or concerns that may arise.
- Anticipate possible schedule delays and strategize alternate plans accordingly.
- Serve as primary point of contact for all Mentors and the Rockford Promise Mentoring program, and serve on/lead the Rockford Promise Mentoring Committee.
- Provide specialized individual mentoring pairings and maintain complete case management for cohorts of one-to-one mentoring activities, administer assessment and screening of individual mentor activities, and draft reports as needed on a timely basis.
- Scale and develop the scholar support program to handle mentoring support to increasing numbers of students, and add additional programmatic mentoring supports for students’ changing needs at various points along their collegiate journey, ranging from first-generation college attendance to outgoing graduates’ job readiness.
- Develop and provide early and appropriate interventions, solutions, guidance, and follow-up to improve Mentor/Scholar pairings, communication, training and guidance in order to support student retention, persistence, and completion of college degree.
- Provide individual coaching as necessary to help foster Mentor success and skill development.
- Schedule, document and assist with activities including, but not limited to, out-reach functions, seminars, workshops and field trips.
- Provide referrals to resources, workshops and conduct workshops or presentations, when appropriate.
- Utilize all available resources, community agencies, special programs and interest groups affecting services offered to students for purposes of student retention and degree completion, and regularly communicate such resources to staff, students, and Mentoring volunteers.
- Make presentations to small and large groups as a Rockford Promise representative.
- Participate in the development, planning and implementation of meetings with college(s) and outside groups and representatives.
- Serve as liaison between Mentor volunteers, Promise scholars and various instructional and student services departments, including Rockford Promise on-campus student clubs, as needed.
- Enter, modify and retrieve online data and provide aggregate data on mentoring program success for grant compliance and programmatic assessment on a regular basis.
- Achieve successful implementation of organizational priorities and initiatives by fostering coordination and collaboration across departments.
- Other duties as assigned.
Reporting Responsibility
This is a grant-funded position which will report to the Executive Director of Rockford Promise.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Travel reimbursement
Experience level:
Schedule:
Education:
Experience:
- presentation and public speaking: 1 year (Preferred)
Language:
Ability to Commute:
- Rockford, IL 61107 (Required)
Ability to Relocate:
- Rockford, IL 61107: Relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Rockford, IL 61107