Executive Director (ED) Strategic Retention Initiatives

CCCs Office of Student Experience (OSX) partners with college leadership, district academic affairs institutional excellence/advancement leadership to deliver strong student enrollment and retention, completion, transfer, and employment outcomes across CCC, and to drive equity of access and success for students of all backgrounds. Moreover, OSX seeks to ensure an exceptional experience for every student at every stage of their CCC career from enrollment to post-CCC success.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

CCCs Office of Student Experience (OSX) partners with college leadership, district academic affairs institutional excellence/advancement leadership to deliver strong student enrollment and retention, completion, transfer, and employment outcomes across CCC, and to drive equity of access and success for students of all backgrounds. Moreover, OSX seeks to ensure an exceptional experience for every student at every stage of their CCC career from enrollment to post-CCC success.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Student Experience Officer, the Executive Director (ED) Strategic Retention Initiatives is responsible for providing district-wide leadership and oversight over key areas related to student retention, working collaboratively with college and district stakeholders to advance retention and completion outcomes, as well as ensure a seamless and student-centered experience for students from onboarding through completion.

The ED - Strategic Retention Initiatives is charged with overseeing and driving key initiatives aimed at accelerating student retention outcomes including, but not limited to ensuring a strong First Year Experience, providing a strategic direction and recommendations for New Student Orientation across campuses, and collaborating with Decision Support to support colleges in reflecting and acting upon their student retention and completion outcomes. Performs related duties as required.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Collaborates with college and district leadership to develop and implement a comprehensive strategic framework and priorities for the First Year Experience (FYE) at City Colleges of Chicago, designed to close equity gaps, improve first-year student outcomes, and increase retention and success rates for first year students
• Facilitates FYE Lab and New Student Orientation (NSO) community spaces for college leads to conduct data review as well as participate in best practice and information sharing, professional development, and forward planning.
• Fosters a district-wide culture of collaboration and communication. Supports the college FYE leads in the implementation and assessment of their plan, using tiering data and early indicators to drive student outcomes.
• Collaborates with college based NSO leads to ensure that orientation programming is consistent with college and district goals and reflective of diverse student needs.
• Provides onboarding and professional development opportunities for staff to remain abreast of best practices, policies, procedures, and maintain professional expertise
• Develops, coordinates, and leads comprehensive professional development opportunities for the Office of Student Experience.
• Works in collaboration with key stakeholders to execute the vision for optimal Navigate usage by Student Services departments and aligned with strategic priorities; supports college and department usage to achieve vision
• Leads the development of the criteria, budget, and anticipated student impact for student persistence awards; evaluate and analyze the findings to ensure optimal results for future iterations
• Communicates and presents pertinent programmatic goals, recommendations, expectations, and timelines with college and district leadership, as well as other relevant stakeholders, in a clear and timely manner
• Maintains accurate records, prepares reports, and tracks key performance indicators, including student participation and engagement in support services and other student-level data; advises leadership on outcomes, student success metrics, and other relevant data as well as actionable recommendations
• Analyzes data through CS9, OpenBook, Brightspace, Navigate and more to ensure real-time understanding of student development, retention, and success; incorporates student feedback to guide continuous improvement
• Prepares and presents strategic recommendations to leadership.
• Provides support during policy review cycles, and develops and recommends relevant policies for consideration
• Remains informed about national and regional best practices to ensure that CCC programs and services continue to be responsive to evolving student needs.
• Works with college teams to ensure retention-related websites remain up-to-date and allow for clear student navigation.
• Serves on and leads relevant committees
• Performs related duties as required

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reports ToDeputy Chief Student Experience Officer

Direct SupervisionTo Be Determined

QUALIFICATIONS

• A Master's degree from an accredited college or university
• Five years of work experience in higher education, preferably in the area of student services or student affairs
• Progressive leadership and management experience in an institution of higher education
• Knowledge and experience related to student retention, student success, retention, and completion programs
• Experience working directly with students in a post-secondary context
• Knowledge of student development theory and best practices
• Knowledge of academic support structure relating to student retention and success
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining a high level of attention to detail
• Exceptional project management skills with a track record of managing complex projects, preferably

in an educational setting

• Demonstrated ability in program design, implementation, and scaling strategies
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills
• Strong collaboration skills with a team-oriented and student-centric approach
• Demonstrated capacity for data analysis to support and inform planning, decision-making, and continuous improvement
• Ability to build relationships with employees at all levels of the organization
• Ability to work within a culturally diverse environment
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)

WE OFFER:Excellent health and welfare benefit package and long-term savings and investment programs including 403(b) & 457(b) Investment Plans and a pension plan with the State University Retirement System (SURS) Plan. Generous vacation, holiday, personal and sick days, and tuition reimbursement. For a more detailed overview of benefits, please visit the benefits page of our website.

We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

Chicago residency is required for all full-time employees within 6 months of hire.

Thank you for your interest in CCC!

The intent of this job description is to provide a general description of the duties and responsibilities of this position.It is not intended to be an exhaustive set of the duties and responsibilities, nor all of the necessary qualifications to perform the work.

TBD