Working Hours: 

Working hours for this position consist of a 7.5 hour period (between the hours of 7:30 am and 8:00 pm) Monday through Friday exclusive of a 1/2 or 1 hour lunch and will require working one evening per week. These hours to be agreed upon between the supervisor and employee at the start of employment.

Note: The position may require additional evening and weekend work on occasion with the Employee having the option of working this time in addition to or in lieu of regular hours.

Summary:

The Student Support Specialist has primary responsibility of working with students and teachers to assist with registration, testing, and appropriate placement of students; to maintain student records with confidentiality; and to support the Adult Education Literacy Program by implementing best practices set forth in the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) guidelines.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Advise students about appropriate class placements, goal identification, and assessments.
2. Accommodate individual student “barriers to learning” through support services.
3. Maintain class and student records for the College and PDE with confidentiality.
4. Assist with student registration, orientation, and career readiness activities.
5. Ensure that all guidelines are met for students with special needs.
6. Maintain correspondence with various human service agencies and refer students to appropriate community resources.
7. Create documents in accordance with RACC’s policies regarding medical assistance and disciplinary situations.
8. Conduct new teacher orientation to provide a review of program support services.
9. Present Career Awareness and College Readiness Resources and workshops for instructional staff to integrate into curriculum.
10. Review and analyze eData reports to meet NRS Performance Standards.
11. Attend annual PAACE statewide conference to keep abreast of policy changes and their impact on local programs.
12. Attend training for TABE, CASAS, eData, and or any other Adult Education training as indicated by PDE guidelines.
13. Provide students access to resources that assist with transition to workforce or postsecondary education/training, and maintain all student transition records for PDE and college reporting.
14. Document case notes for students requiring planned case conferencing and management activities.
15. Participate in the implementation of retention strategies and reporting.
16. Perform other related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications:

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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience 

Required:

1. Bachelor's degree in Counseling, Education or Human Service-related field.
2. Minimum of three (3) years’ experience working with adult students.
3. Experience working with individuals with diverse literacy needs.
4. Bilingual Spanish/English.

Preferred:

1. Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
2. Demonstrated ability to research data and develop reports.
3. Demonstrated strong written and verbal communication skills.
4. Demonstrated strong organizational skills.
5. Minimum of two (2) years case management experience.

Other Skills and Abilities:

Demonstrated effective record keeping skills. Excellent communication and public speaking skills.  Excellent interpersonal skills.  Ability to work well with people.  Excellent one-on-one and group presentation skills. Outstanding organizational skills. Excellent written communication skills especially in the areas of report writing and business correspondence.  Knowledge of the Community College and Higher Education system preferred.

Communication Skills:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of students, faculty, staff, outside groups and the general public.

Mathematical Skills:

Ability to interpret basic statistical information.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms.  The employee is occasionally required to walk, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.   The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.