Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600 schools and employing nearly 40,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Postsecondary Strategist works within the Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising (OSCPA) in collaboration with other Chicago Public Schools offices and departments, administrators, school-based staff, and external partners to carry out the mission of OSCPA: To ensure that Pre-K-12 postsecondary teams (School Counselors, Coaches, others engaged in advising) implement comprehensive, student-centered, data-informed practices to positively impact academic, social-emotional, and postsecondary outcomes of all students in the district.

Job Summary:

The Postsecondary Strategist position is to aid the Director of Postsecondary Pathways and other key employees in actions to achieve postsecondary goals, mobilize available resources to create efficiencies and contribute to operational functioning and activities of OSCPA’s postsecondary initiatives. Chief among the responsibilities are day-to-day internal actions as they relate to SchooLinks - the official college and career readiness platform for students at Chicago Public Schools. The employee works with a level of independence and professional discretion under leadership in OSCPA. The Postsecondary Strategist’s work is governed and evaluated by acceptable professional practice, school, and district policies and regulations, and provision of the Illinois State Board of Education.

This part-time/temporary position will be compensated for time worked on an hourly basis. The work schedule for this role will consist of an estimated 1,200 hours for an estimated anticipated period of 12 months beginning March 2024 and ending June 2025. Due to the part-time/temporary nature of this work, this is not a benefit-eligible position. This role will report to the Director of Postsecondary Pathways.
The part-time/temporary Postsecondary Strategist will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

Postsecondary Initiatives

• Support efforts related to the operational functioning and activities of OSCPA’s postsecondary initiatives, inclusive of SchooLinks, Individual Learning Plans, and other projects.
• Respond to and help operationalize the question and answer communication flow for OSCPA’s CPS SchooLinks Helpdesk.
• On ServiceNow, the CPS Ticketing System, prioritize OSCPA related inquiries according to urgency or impact for the purpose of boosting communication between OSCPA, CPS department, and end-users.
• Support the processing of waiver requests for postsecondary graduation requirements for which OSCPA serves as owner, including but not limited to Learn.Plan.Succeed. and Financial Aid Application (HB 2719).

Data-Centered Support

• Enhance the tracking tool and reporting abilities for managing OSCPA training and professional development attendance and participation.
• Other data-centered and administrative support duties as required.

New Opportunities

• Consider the goals OSCPA wishes to achieve and specify or contribute to operationalizing the tasks necessary to reach those goals.
• Provide recommendations based on assessment to help maximize the support and resources to achieve OSCPA’s goals.
• Work in teams or individually to arrive at student-centered solutions and create efficiencies.
• Develop or enhance products and services to meet the target audience’s unmet needs.
• With a mindset that is solution driven, provide ideas, advice on projects and guide development.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the part-time/temporary Postsecondary Strategist must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in School Counseling, Data Analysis, Curriculum, or related education, or leadership field is preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in postsecondary advising or professional experience in a role requiring data analysis, relationship management, and consultative skills
• Experience in developing and implementing strategies aligned with business objectives, effective data management, and collaborating with various stakeholders to support a data-driven culture
• Counseling and/or teaching experience in CPS is strongly preferred
• Intermediate experience with Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace applications (Google Drive, Word/Docs, Excel/Sheets, PowerPoint/Slides); exposure to or ability to learn VBA/Google scripts
• Experience with or proven ability to quickly learn technical applications, such as: ServiceNow, SchooLinks, and Aspen.
• Strong attention to detail; proven ability to quickly learn and understand complex subject matter
• Ability to work in a cross-functional team with technical and non-technical personnel from a variety of departments

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Unyielding commitment to continuous improvement and an unwavering belief that all students can achieve at high levels
• Enthusiastic ability to promote college and career instruction as an essential tier 1 support
• Experience with the needs of CPS students and their families from diverse communities and a strong comprehension of the CPS Equity Framework
• Thorough knowledge of the ASCA National Model, Multi-Tiered-Multi-Domain System of Supports, and principles and practices of social-emotional, academic, and college/career development
• Skills and ability to serve as an educational leader and advocate, including the ability to plan, organize, and facilitate school-level services, planning processes, and community events
• Able to organize and sequence activities and manage large, complex projects
• Attention to detail through demonstrated ability to achieve thoroughness and accuracy when tackling tasks.
• A mindset that is solution-oriented
• Collaborative working style, strong written and verbal communication skills, and persistent work ethic
• Working knowledge of G Suite (Google docs, sheets, forms, slides, etc.), Dashboard, and Naviance.
• Innovative, enthusiastic, energetic, adaptive, and positive

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. “Up-to-date” on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.