Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Pathways Guidance Coordinator

Class: Academic Professional | Exempt status: Exempt | Grade: 5

Under the direction of Academic & Career Pathways Guidance (ACPG) management, the Pathways Guidance Coordinator coordinates College-wide efforts related to student academic planning and progress towards goal completion. Develops, implements, and monitors academic and career advising services, practices, procedures, and systems. Identifies, supports, and delivers training for staff. Drives continuous improvement efforts for the ACPG division that support equitable student success outcomes. Leads the work of academic professional, classified, and/or casual staff and student workers.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

1. Develops and implements systemic College-wide services and programming for student academic planning, pathway/program selection, academic progress monitoring and retention interventions and strategies; centers equity and racial/social justice outcomes within program development and implementation.
2. Coordinates the development/delivery of information, materials, tools and assistance to advisors, success coaches, faculty, and others that provide pathway guidance support to students.
3. Develops and executes division and College-wide communication and content dissemination strategies to ensure accurate, timely, and useful information and direction is provided to students, advisors, faculty, and other stakeholders.
4. Creates and coordinates implementation plans for new or revised policy, procedure and practice within ACPG division; works closely with management and staff to identify and support practitioner training needs.
5. Coordinates with various district offices to provide student success and pathways guidance seminars and programming which includes educational and career planning, skills assessment, and exploration/identification of courses and programs that are connected to student academic and career pathway goals.
6. Works collaboratively with other coordinators, advisors, faculty, and administration to enhance, develop, and implement effective student-centered support strategies at scale. Coordinates and facilitates large-scale events for students and/or practitioners focused on academic and career guidance services and programming.
7. Accesses, analyzes, and utilizes multiple and ethically disaggregated sources of quantitative and qualitative data to inform and continuously improve ACPG services, practices, procedures and tools. Remains current on related technology, systems, and platforms, and makes recommendations for improvement.
8. Serves as a liaison to other College divisions, departments, councils, committees, and/or work groups to ensure integrated services and support for students’ academic progression and success within pathways.
9. Facilitates and participates on College-wide committees and other related groups and teams for the purpose of supporting and improving the student experience (such as the College’s early alert system).
10. Partners closely with Student Affairs and other staff to develop and provide community- and culturally-responsive retention services and programming that improves equitable student outcomes.
11. Researches, develops, and implements knowledge and expertise of advising and guidance practices and tools that support equitable student success.
12. Leads, monitors, assigns, and coordinates the work of academic professional, classified, and/or casual staff and student workers. Participates in performance evaluations and provides input related to corrective action for staff as appropriate. Develops and implements training and onboarding for staff.
13. Assists with identifying professional development and ongoing training needs of practitioners that deliver academic and career advising and support services.
14. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Position-Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Operations and Support

Positions with an operations and support focus may also be responsible for:

• Developing and executing a division-wide staff scheduling system (including full-time advisors, casual advisors, front desk staff, and student/peer staff) across all service modalities.
• Creating, coordinating, and delivering orientation and onboarding programs for new advisors and ensuring sufficient coaching/mentoring support is provided.
• Expanding and maintaining student and College-facing Pathways Guidance/Advising Services outreach and services promotion, such as PCC webpages, social media, Navigate messaging, email campaigns, and other communication channels.
• Partnering closely with ACPG staff to lead Pathway Advisor assignment process and caseload monitoring.
• In conjunction with leadership, coordinating supports and systems of assessment and quality assurance through the ongoing collection and utilization of student feedback.

Student Momentum

Positions with a student momentum focus may also be responsible for:

• Developing and implementing systemic College-wide programming, practices, interventions and strategies to strengthen and expand student persistence and completion within a given academic and career pathway.
• Coordinating and partnering with ACPG staff, faculty, and administration to identify and establish key momentum points and milestones within students’ pathway journey.
• Developing practices, interventions, and tools to monitor and support student achievements of pivotal milestones and progression through key momentum points (such as on-ramps from non-credit, pathway/program selection, credit completion targets, 1st term completion, 1st year completion, development of academic plan).
• Working collaboratively with instructional leaders to proactively coordinate the early alert system. Ensuring advisors and faculty have appropriate and updated information on referrals to services and service areas such as Tutoring, Counseling, Career Services, Accessibility Services, basic needs support, and Student Life opportunities.
• Routinely monitoring caseloads of all advisors to identify trends and patterns related to enrollment, persistence, or attrition.

Technology Innovation

Positions with a technology innovation focus may also be responsible for:

• Developing and implementing usage procedures, business processes, seminars, workshops, staff training, curriculum, and guides for ACPG student success management systems and technology.
• Coordinating with leadership, Academic Affairs/Student Affairs Application Systems & Support, and other teams to ensure current division technology systems and platforms are available and accessible, including providing direct technical support and troubleshooting to staff.
• Facilitating and coordinating meetings with teams that provide shared governance of the division’s  student success management systems and technology.
• Driving work through cross-functional teams, including Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, management, IT, Procurement & Contract Services, and others to improve integration of disparate systems and data sources to support division goals.
• Liaising with vendors and IT staff to research issues, test and share feedback regarding the functionality of systems, and implement ongoing system improvements and enhancements.

Transfer Services

Positions with a transfer services focus may also be responsible for:

• Developing and implementing systemic College-wide transfer programming, practices, interventions and tools to strengthen and expand academic advising/guidance for students interested in transferring to another institution.
• Coordinating and partnering closely with ACPG staff, faculty, and administration to identify and expand transfer opportunities and transfer advising/guidance for students.
• Establishing and maintaining relationships and partnerships with major transfer institutions with the goal of improving student transfer experience and outcomes.
• Developing and maintaining knowledge and expertise of transfer advising and guidance practices and tools for both self- and practitioner-facilitated student support.
• Overseeing transfer program budget and resources in accordance with division and College priorities related to transfer.

Work Environment

Work is generally performed in an office environment with frequent interruptions and irregularities in the work schedule, including evening and weekend work. No special coordination beyond that used for normal mobility and handling of everyday objects and materials is needed to perform the job satisfactorily.  Frequent travel to other locations is required.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Education, Student Development, Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, Human Services, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Project Management, Research, Policy Analysis, or related field. Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience facilitating academic advising, career services, retention/coaching, or related student success services, systems, or operations, including identifying opportunities to improve programs and/or processes.

OR Bachelor’s degree in any field AND five (5) years of progressively responsible experience facilitating academic advising, career services, retention/coaching, or related student success services, systems, or operations, including identifying opportunities to improve programs and/or processes.

OR seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience facilitating academic advising, career services, retention/coaching, or related student success services, systems, or operations, including identifying opportunities to improve programs and/or processes.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Academic & Career Pathways Guidance services and practices;
• Equitable education practices and student retention strategies;
• Relevant state and federal education policies;
• Academic departments, degree requirements, student service policies and procedures, and campus resources;
• Research design and methods;
• Presentation and training methods and techniques;
• Higher education policy, issues, trends, and best practices;
• Program evaluation and assessment of educational outcomes;
• Student success technology and platforms.

Skills in:

• Coordinating events or programming;
• Designing, writing, and editing complex documents;
• Developing and facilitating training;
• Communicating, collaborating, and coordinating with other internal departments and/or external agencies;
• Collecting, researching, evaluating, manipulating, and analyzing data;
• Analyzing processes, practices, and problems and making appropriate decisions and recommendations for improvement;
• Monitoring legal and regulatory changes;
• Project management and independent problem solving.

Ability to:

• Maintain productive and professional relationships with diverse academic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of students and staff;
• Understand, acknowledge, and reduce the  impact of biases including the intersection of privilege, economic, racial, cultural, and gender-based biases;
• Maintain confidentiality;
• Work independently and be self-directed;
• Communicate technical and other information effectively verbally and in writing to broad audiences;
• Prioritize multiple tasks and adapt to needed changes;
• Operate a variety of office equipment.

New: 10/2022

Portland Community College is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other protected class.