Organization Vision
uAspire imagines a day when all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential by graduating from college, regardless of their families’ financial resources or college experiences.
Organization Summary
uAspire is committed to ensuring that all young people have the financial information and resources necessary to achieve their dreams of higher education. uAspire helps students and families overcome the financial barriers to a college education through free financial aid advice and advocacy. Through strategic partnerships with high schools, community organizations, and local universities, uAspire helps students find an affordable path to – and through – a postsecondary education. Founded in Boston in 1985, uAspire has provided expert financial aid advising to almost 60,000 students across four cities in Massachusetts; Miami, Florida; and the San Francisco Bay Area, California. uAspire is in the process of implementing a multi-faceted strategic plan for National Growth with Quality that will enable the organization to positively impact the lives of 1,000,000 students by 2017.
Position Summary
The challenges of college affordability have never been more pronounced, and uAspire’s expertise – built over nearly three decades of practice – has never been more needed across our sites and communities nationwide. In response to this growing need, uAspire will be partnering with the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a national educational service partner to launch an ambitious and innovative new initiative aimed to take our virtual support advising to scale across the nation. The project will use customized, text-message-based outreach to serve 50,000 students through the college application and financial aid process. The Director of Virtual Student Support will play a critical role in launching and overseeing the large-scale initiative, thereby enabling the postsecondary dreams of thousands of students to be realized. S/He will work in uAspire’s Central Office reporting to the Vice President of Research and Evaluation, and will provide detailed management of the multi-faceted project and partners. The Director of Virtual Student Support will lead the development of a Virtual Support Center, coordinating the project from the initial planning phase through implementation and evaluation. The planning phase will focus on working with researchers and project staff to create a detailed blueprint for the structure, content, and timing of text message outreach, as well as investigating methods for supplemental modes of virtual student support (i.e., phone-, web-, and/or app-based). During the implementation and evaluation phases, the Director of Virtual Student Support will train and manage a growing team of full-time frontline advisors, ensuring high-quality student advising, robust data collection, on-going performance management, and thoughtful collaboration with researchers.
This position requires a highly organized, proactive, innovative, and systems-focused individual who is an effective leader of processes, projects, and frontline staff. S/He will possess the strong interpersonal, analytic, and communication skills required to develop, launch, and manage a complex initiative with success and foresight. S/He will have a proven ability to deliver high quality work under pressure and ensure the timely completion of tasks and deliverables in a collaborative, fast-paced environment. This is a demanding and exciting position, and the successful applicant will understand and receive great satisfaction from the opportunity to grow a new initiative to scale to serve thousands of students across the nation. This is an especially exciting opportunity for an individual interested in the intersection between educational policy, research, and practice, and who has an affinity for applying innovative techniques to improve students’ educational outcomes.
Principal Responsibilities
Project Development
- Coordinate uAspire’s involvement in the virtual support initiative, including close collaboration with researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Institute for Education Sciences.
- Create and manage a detailed project plan, demonstrating effective calendar, task, and time management.
- Research and document geography-specific college application and financial aid content across multiple states and communities for students in grades 11-16.
- Work closely with uAspire’s Research & Evaluation team to understand past and current virtual advising programming and apply best practices to the development of effective student-facing content.
- Investigate and vet non-texting modes of virtual support, including phone-, web-, and app-based resources, and oversee their incorporation into the project.
- Collaborate with uAspire’s text-messaging technology partner to develop a student- and advisor-centered interface to support the goals and scope of the initiative.
- Serve on and/or facilitate multiple internal teams of relevance to your work and organizational goals.
- Support coordination of, prepare for, and attend all staff meetings and retreats.
Project Implementation & Management
- Manage the recruitment, hiring, and training of a team of virtual support advisors, including the development of in-depth, user-friendly training materials and tools.
- Oversee the implementation of activities associated with the virtual support initiative, ensuring adherence to both uAspire’s mission and values and the research design.
- Provide daily management to a team of virtual support advisors, ensuring quality student advising and adherence to performance management standards.
- Develop clear systems to enable excellence in project implementation and evaluation, including standardized data collection, case management, and student advising procedures.
- Provide on-going thought partnership and refinement of advising content and activities with internal staff and external research partners.
- Work closely with the Vice President of Research and Evaluation and Leadership Team to thoughtfully and creatively use data and evidence to support strategic decision-making regarding the future of virtual support at uAspire.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree preferred.
- Belief in and adherence to uAspire’s Organizational Values – Student-Centered, Excellent, Dedicated, Collaborative, and Systems-Focused – required.
- Direct experience in college access advising and youth development required.
- High level of flexibility and adaptability required.
- Proven ability to serve as an effective manager, coach, and leader to full- and/or part-time professionals preferred.
- Experience designing and implementing research projects preferred.
- High degree of professionalism, tact, initiative, and diplomacy.
- Able to manage confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
- High proficiency in Google Mail/Docs, and Microsoft Office Suite – Word, Excel, PowerPoint – required.
- Positive experience working in an entrepreneurial, nonprofit setting highly desired.
- Advanced organizational skills with a proven ability to multi-task in an efficient and effective manner.
- Strong oral and written communications skills.
- Energetic, enthusiastic, and interested in learning within a growing, entrepreneurial organization.
- Ability to work flexible hours that will include some early mornings, evenings, and some weekends.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary commensurate with individual’s experience and education. All full-time employees receive a competitive benefits package.
How to Apply
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to jobs@uaspire.org, Subject Line: Director of Virtual Student Support, Attention: Alexandra Chewning.
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