Vice President of College and Career Readiness

Vice President of College and Career Readiness

About:

Located in North Omaha, Jesuit Academy offers 75 young men in grades 4-8 a transformative educational opportunity that encourages them to claim ownership of their lives and develop themselves as responsible leaders. Our school is guided by Catholic principles and these basics of Jesuit education: Gospel values, Academic Excellence, Self-Disciple, Religious Diversity, and being Men-for-Others.

Jesuit Academy is one of 18 Jesuit Nativity Middle Schools in the United States. One of the guiding principles of these schools is to provide a faith-based education that breaks the cycle of poverty in underserved communities across America. The model includes an extended school day, an extended school year, and a tailored school/class enrollment size.

Founded in 1996, Jesuit offers its students a transformative education that integrates a rigorous academic curriculum with co-curricular programs in athletics, the arts, community service, cultural enrichment, social skills, and spirituality. Jesuit Academy is committed to walking with our students throughout their educational journey. Our graduates attend various secondary schools – more than two-thirds of each graduating class have earned full scholarships to college preparatory schools— and we boast a 99% percent overall high-school graduation rate. More than 91% of graduates have enrolled in college, enlisted in the military, or entered the workforce immediately following high school graduation.

Position Description: 

The Vice President of College & Career Development plays a pivotal role in advancing the mission of the Graduate Support Program by overseeing the academic and personal growth, skill-building, and agency of all students and alumni. Reporting directly to the President, the VP is tasked with developing programs and administering the Graduate Support Program, providing guidance and support for post grad students, ensuring efficient run function for the school. The position is also responsible for recruiting new students into Jesuit Academy at the 4^th grade level.  The VP of College & Career Development maintains robust relationships with students, alumni, families, and community partners while monitoring and ensuring progress through high school, post-secondary education, and career pathways.

Graduate Support Leadership & Program Development

●      Models deep connection and belief in Jesuit Academy’s vision, mission and core values.

●      Builds, leads and empowers a high-performing team of high school, post-secondary and career advisors equipped to best serve Jesuit Alumni and families on their journey to college and the workforce.

●      Demonstrates exceptional team and people management skills; deep commitment to and belief in developing others; ability to influence, inspire trust and motivate others to achieve objectives.

●      Leads the design of a comprehensive college/career awareness program, organizing key events, coordinating opportunities, and developing college and career awareness activities for teachers, students and families, as appropriate, at all levels of the school.

●      Builds a network of community, board, post-secondary, business and educational non-profit organizations that know our graduates’ abilities and values.

●      Identifies resources for college financing including scholarships (academic, talent, and community service).

●      Annually sets goals/metrics and readiness indicators with updated benchmark targets, dates, strategies/tactics and persons responsible.

●      Works in tandem with the leadership team to ensure that the Graduate Support Program is aligned to and integrated within the school’s larger strategic plan.

●      Creates progress reports for administration, the board, faculty as well as for parents on college going programs, activities, deliverables, events and expectations.

Advising & Family Engagement

●      Oversees post-secondary plans that specifically addresses best-fit options, scholarship/financial aid plans, academic and extra-curricular goals/activities, and career goals.

●      Acts as a support for families in the decision-making process for post-secondary education, college application/matriculation processes, admission standards including entrance exams, possible majors of study and course selection.

●      Facilitates parent and student college knowledge group sessions, workshops, and college visits.

●      Plans, organizes, and facilitates college fairs, tours and summer ‘college going’ activities.

Management

●      Manage a team of 3 to 5 recruiters/staff.

●      Conduct performance reviews annually and set goals for each direct report.

●      Meet weekly with staff in one on one discussions and hold weekly team meetings to discuss progress and programs.

●      Identify challenges and develop solutions as needed for the function.

●      Keep the management and leadership team apprised of progress and work together to strengthen the department/function.

●      The Academy may double in size over the next 5 years so the size of the team may expand and additional programs may need to be added based on need.

Data Management

●      Manages the Student Access Data system to track and maintain individual student academic, college going, application, scholarship, financial, matriculation, possible majors of study and college freshmen course information.

●      Provides progress monitoring of each student’s advancement towards graduation and post-secondary education goals to update the Student Access database.

●      Regularly reports on high school and college going goals/work, readiness indicators and college acceptance.

●      Analyzes student and cohort data to provide information on general trends, areas of focus and program wins and obstacles to inform students, faculty, the leadership team, board and other stakeholders of program’s progress.

Student Recruiting & Admissions

●      Oversees recruitment and admissions strategies to ensure the recruitment of prospective students and communicate the benefits of attending Jesuit Academy.

●      Supervises, trains and mentors Director of Student Recruiting.

●      Forms lasting and meaningful relationships with community and faith-based organizations to build awareness of Jesuit Academy as a great educational option.

●      Represents Jesuit Academy when appropriate to cement a presence in the community.

College and Career Development

●      Provides targeted and individualized academic, social/emotional and career counseling to a caseload of post-secondary and career alumni.

●      Oversees process of career advising, summer internship matching, skill-building activities, resume review and interview preparation on a rolling basis.

●      Establishes regular exploratory opportunities for 4^th-8^th grade students to address their career interests and aspirations.

●      Oversees outreach to unenrolled alumni and connects them to education and job training programs, when applicable.

●      Executes strategies to provide career exposure and networking opportunities for alumni.

External Partnerships & Communication

●      Builds and maintains relationships with high schools, colleges, community partners and other post-secondary programs and their staff regarding the graduates we serve.

●      Communicates information on graduates to the school community, especially to the faculty and staff, Board of Trustees and the Development Office.

●      Represents the school in all appropriate matters with local high schools, community, etc..

●      Communicates information on college-age and post-secondary alumni to the school community, especially to the faculty and staff, and the Development Office for use in reports, grants, and newsletters.

●      Coordinates with the Development Office to share graduate updates with donors and scholarship benefactors.

Committee Leadership – (Grad Support Committee)

●      Organizes meetings, develops agendas, and guides the committee in proposing new activities and initiatives that will further the mission and goals of the Graduate Support Program.

●      Convenes committee conference calls and meetings.

●      Proposes prospective candidates for committee consideration.

Strategic Planning for the Grad Support Function

●      Develop key goals and metrics to track success and cultivate the vision of the program.

●      Identify key initiatives that support the function’s strategic goals.

Qualification: 5 years experience in a mentoring program supervisory role. Bachelor’s degree in a related field. Experience in creative strategic planning, innovative visioning, consistent execution, and comprehensive evaluation of programmatic continuums. Demonstrated dedication to and/or willingness to uphold the Jesuit Universal Apostoic Principles.

Preferred Qualifications: Extended professional networks. Master’s degree in a related field of study.

Notice of Non-Discrimination

Jesuit Academy is committed to providing equal access to employment, programs, service, activities and benefits to qualified individuals with disabilities. Jesuit Academy complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability in admission to its programs, services or activities; in access to them; in treatment of individuals with disabilities; in provision of benefits, in its hiring or employment practices; or in any aspect of their operations.