Academic Success Specialist at Harrisburg University – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

General Role Description: The Academic Success Specialist supports student retention and achievement by providing targeted interventions, skill development, and individualized support to promote academic engagement and progression. This role serves as an interventionalist for initiatives such as Academic Recovery, identifying at-risk students through data and referrals and delivering proactive outreach. The Specialist oversees academic accommodations in compliance with ADA guidelines, collaborates with faculty and staff, and ensures equitable access to academic resources. Additionally, the role designs and facilitates academic skill-building workshops, major exploration sessions, and coaching on use of the degree planning software. The Specialist also contributes to onboarding, re-entry, and broader Academic Success Center initiatives to foster student persistence and success.

Key Role Accountabilities

• Serve as an interventionalist for proactive needs-based interventions such as the Academic Recovery initiative by identifying at-risk students through predictive analytics, progress reports, or referrals, and conduct outreach and individualized support to promote academic re-engagement and retention.
• Coordinate and oversee academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities, ensuring compliance with ADA guidelines, collaborating with faculty and staff to implement accommodations, and supporting students in accessing the resources necessary for equitable academic participation and success.
• Design and deliver academic skill-building workshops focused on areas such as time management, study strategies, note-taking, and reading comprehension, to enhance student learning, promote academic confidence, and support overall academic success.
• Facilitate workshops and coaching sessions on major exploration and degree planning software to promote student engagement with degree planning software, while assisting students in understanding academic programs, curriculum requirements, and institutional policies to support academic progression and informed decision-making.
• Contribute to the Academic Success Center’s initiatives to promote student engagement, persistence, and retention.
• Contribute to academic success initiatives and support onboarding initiatives for incoming students and re-entry processes for re-admitted students.

Requirements of All Associates

• Applies best efforts and full capability each day to the work assigned by own manager.
• Advises manager when:
  1. An assignment is not understood.
  2. An assignment conflicts with knowledge of the circumstances, current skills or available time/resources.
  3. Obstacles to completing the assignment exist or are likely to occur.
  4. Opportunities to better complete or improve the assignment exist or may occur.
• Understands and demonstrates our cultural expectations.

Minimum Role Requirements

• Master's degree in higher education/college student development, counseling or related field preferred.
• Two years of experience in a higher education institution providing direct service to students and knowledge of the entire student lifecycle; experience in academic advising and case management preferred.
• This student-centered role requires strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage students, faculty, and staff in a collaborative effort to promote academic excellence and equity in access to learning support services.