The Director of Rural Student Success provides leadership for Highland Community College's Rural Student Success Center and coordinates comprehensive strategies designed to improve student persistence, retention, completion, and re-engagement. The Director serves as a central point of coordination for students who may face academic, financial, transportation, technology, or other barriers to completing their educational goals.
Working collaboratively with Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Financial Aid, faculty, advisors, and other College departments, the Director develops and implements proactive student-success strategies with particular attention to rural, first-generation, adult, returning, and other students who may benefit from additional support. The position plays a key role in Highland Community College's Title III Strengthening Institutions Program and the College's broader commitment to improving educational access and student success throughout its rural service area.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Provide leadership and day-to-day oversight of the Rural Student Success Center and its programs, services, and initiatives.
- Develop and coordinate proactive strategies to improve student persistence, retention, credential completion, and overall student success.
- Coordinate individualized student-success planning and ensure students are connected with appropriate academic, financial, personal, and institutional resources.
- Lead efforts to identify and engage students who may be at risk of stopping out or who have previously stopped out before completing a credential.
- Coordinate outreach and support for students eligible to participate in the College's Scottie Gold initiative and other completion-focused programs.
- Collaborate with faculty, advisors, and student services personnel to strengthen early-alert, referral, case-management, and intervention processes.
- Develop strategies addressing barriers commonly experienced by rural students, including transportation, food insecurity, broadband and technology access, financial literacy, and access to mental-health and other support services.
- Coordinate workshops, outreach activities, and educational programming related to student success, financial literacy, digital literacy, college navigation, and available support resources.
- Work collaboratively with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to strengthen advising, degree planning, and pathways to credential completion.
- Utilize institutional data and student-success technology to identify trends, prioritize interventions, monitor student progress, and evaluate program effectiveness.
- Maintain accurate records and prepare reports documenting student participation, services provided, outcomes, and progress toward Title III performance objectives.
- Assist with the implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of Title III activities related to rural student success and perform other duties consistent with the goals of the grant and College.