The mission of Pierce College is to create quality educational opportunities for a diverse community of learners to thrive in an evolving world.

Recognized by the Aspen Institute as one of the Top 10 community colleges in the nation (2021), Pierce College is an innovative, mission-driven, data-informed and equity-minded community college dedicated to helping all students achieve their academic and professional goals with a focus on racial and social justice and equity. 

A little about us. Pierce College at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has been serving the military community since 1967 and is fully committed to providing direct educational services that meet the needs of our military-connected community. We are a small team making big impacts. We operate with 20 full-time staff, 4 full-time faculty, and a cadre of part-time faculty who have a passion for serving with equity-minded excellence. With offices located at Lewis Main in the Stone Education Center, and at McChord Field in the McChord Education Center, our team is embedded in the JBLM community and ready to provide quality services and instruction to our service members and their families.

We are honored to serve those who serve and have served. Through direct student care, support and innovative programs, Pierce College at JBLM delivers full academic career pathways online and in-person that meet the needs of today’s military-connected students. We L.O.V.E. (Listen, Observe, Value/Validate, Embrace/Empower) our students to success.

Serving Military-Connected Students: The Student Success Coach (SSC) serves in a key role for the success of students pursuing their education at Pierce College at JBLM and other locations within Pierce College District. The SSC works under the general direction of the Director of Student Success & Outreach. The SSC provides advising and student support to a caseload of students with a primary focus on military-connected students (servicemembers, spouses, dependents, and veterans). This position also serves as a liaison with multiple military education partners on the installation, as well as those located in other geographic areas around the world.

Advancing Pierce College Mission: The Student Success Coach (SSC) works to advance the equity-centered mission of Pierce College through a purposeful focus on serving systemically nondominant (1) students, particularly African American/Black male identified students. This includes relational engagement to close college access gaps and areas of inequity in order to increase retention, degree completion, and university transfer and/or workforce readiness. The SSC will work in close collaboration with Pierce College’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion – College Access, Retention, and Engagement Services (EDI CARES) team to support student engagement and belonging.

Advancing Guided Pathways: Within the context of a Guided Pathways framework, the student success coach will engage in culturally sustaining practices that center racial equity in order to remove barriers and support students in successfully navigating the Pierce College experience. The student success coach provides expertise and builds relationships with students to identify interests and needs, develops a Graduation Plan, and advance the strategies, skills, and self-efficacy that lead to individual and community growth and success.

About the District
The college enjoys a strong presence in the community and participates in numerous partnerships with business, community, government, and educational organizations.

Pierce College at Fort Steilacoom
Located on a beautiful 140-acre site adjacent to a 340-acre community, recreational park, and Waughop Lake. Want a feel for our District, take a peek with aerial campus views! 

Pierce College at Puyallup
Located on a luscious site with 125-acres of wooded land including modern facilities and beautiful hideaways.

Pierce College at JBLM
Located at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord military sites, serving many of our military and active duty families serving our country.  

The Student Success Coach (Program Specialist 3) will be responsible for the following, but not limited to: 

Advising caseload management

• Provide culturally appreciative advising case management services to advance the engagement and success of marginalized and minoritized students.
• Create an atmosphere for students to feel affirmed, empowered, and valued.
• In a culturally responsive and sustaining manner, support and guide students through their educational journey, exploring past educational experiences and trauma, identifying cultural/racialized barriers to success, and support dismantling and/or navigating barriers to program completion, including appropriate referrals to internal and external partners.
• Engage in race-conscious and sustaining practices to achieve equitable outcomes for students from admissions throughout the journey in higher education.
• Collaborate with military education liaisons, Financial Aid, and other funding source teams to assist students on caseload through the funding options and processes.
• Collaborate with the appropriate faculty and staff in support of student development of their career goals, career pathway, class requirements and opportunities.
• Work to ensure students have the opportunity to connect to culturally sustaining engagement opportunities.
• Work to build sustainable relationships with students to better understand and support educational success in the context of their unique lived experience.
• Partner with students to develop rapport, respect, and trust relationships via meetings, participation in events, communication, etc.

• Partners with students to identify initial strengths and challenges in academic, career, and personal pathway by identifying factors impacting academic progress.
• Examines alternatives based on changing goals, academic progress, or personal/systemic situation, and interpret analytics to guide and empower students to establish academic and career goals.
• Provides expertise within assigned career pathways as appropriate.
• Partners with students in identifying a career pathway and planning a program of study that achieves their education and career goals.
• Communicates with student caseload in a culturally sustaining manner frequently and intentionally through multiple methods, including but not limited to face-to-face meetings, college-supported technology solutions, e-mail, telephone, text messages, and social media. 
• Provides unofficial evaluation of transfer credits to assist with program planning, graduation planning; military-connected funding request approvals, and graduation reporting in military portals.
• Partners with evaluations and job and career connections team to support students through graduation process including an official evaluation and requesting transcripts, and preparation for transfer, and career entry.
• Promotes removal of barriers to degree/program completion by assisting students in requesting Academic Credit for Prior Learning (ACPL) Assessments and connecting them with appropriate faculty for interview and evaluation.

• Monitor academic progress of caseload by analyzing progress reports, satisfactory progress toward degree.
• Identifies current and potential needs and opportunities for resource referrals, and partnering with students in gaining early access to key college resources (e.g. library, writing center, tutoring, basic needs resources, student life opportunities, and more.); Knowledgeable of military-connected resources and promotes timely connection for military-connected students who would benefit.
• Independently utilizes technology for advising and comprehensive retention management of caseload.
• Supports students in making decisions about their career pathway (registration including adds, drops, withdrawals, incompletes, funding, delayed completion, transfer planning, career entry, special admission program admission criteria, etc.) to support student retention and completion.
• Support students in understanding their pathway and graduation plan through official evaluation of previous college, military, AP, and other alternative credit; through continuous, on- time enrollment for each term; and through timely application for graduation and preparation for next steps post-graduation.

• Actively supports, engages in, and works to advance Pierce College's goals for equity and commitment to antiracism in order to provide access and support for our diverse community of learners.
• Assists in the development, preparation, and updating of advising and coaching materials, specifically to advance the experience and success of marginalized and minoritized students. 
• Participates in career and college fairs.
• Actively works to implement recommendations related to improvement of advising and coaching services to better serve those who have been excluded from systems, policies, and practices.
• Regularly integrates learning from professional development and provides share-outs to team to advance team learning and development.
• Participates in shared governance and committee work. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Education

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university.

• One (1) year of experience working in an educational environment providing direct student support (such as academic advising, financial aid, TRIO, AANAPSI, multicultural services, or Workforce Education), OR one (1) year of experience in an agency or school setting managing a client caseload.
• Experience providing culturally responsive services and assistance to students/clients with intersecting identities and multicultural backgrounds.
• Experience working with electronic information management systems/database software.
• Experience working with privacy laws and confidentiality requirements.
• Experience in providing effective referrals for students or clients.

• The successful candidate must consent to and pass a criminal background check after a conditional offer of employment.
• Ability to meet and maintain documentation and security clearance requirements to obtain JBLM installation access. (Joint Base Lewis-McChord)
  • For military base access, JBLM applicants must submit to an additional background screening for criminal offenses and must comply with REAL ID requirement. 
    Examples of a REAL ID are as follows: 
    Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
    U.S. Military ID
    U.S. Passport
    U.S. Passport Card
    Foreign Passport
    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
    Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
    Enhanced Driver License (EDL)
    Enhanced Identification Card (EID)

• Works to achieve positive outcomes to/with/through change, embrace and using new practices or values to accomplish goals and solve problems that advance institutional mission.

• Demonstrated ability to assist individuals in problem identification and solution, identifying needs, and exploring options. 
• Thinks in terms of desired outcomes, not just reactive, quick solutions.
• Finds ways to translate theory into sustainable action.
• Ability to discuss and project the aspects and impacts of issues and decisions.

• Excellent communication skills (including communication clarity and frequency, active listening, and providing feedback with respect for dignity, and assertive communication).

• Ability to access, evaluate and apply information from a variety of sources, tools and contexts and adapt to changing technologies.

• Values human diversity and complexities of human existence.
• Recognizes and values individual and collective capacity for learning.
• Engages in practices that create space for mutual engagement and learning for advisor and student.
• Accepts responsibility as a student advocate and agent of change.
• Treats others with respect, honor, and offers grace.
• Promotes interruption of dominant narratives that may intentionally and unintentionally exclude team and student voices.
• Effectively builds collaborative, transformative relationships.
• Understands the uniqueness of self and others and creates space for diverse points of view.

• Adheres to high standards of integrity and honesty.
• Demonstrates support for the organization's commitment to public service. 
• Efficiently/effectively/appropriately uses state resources.
• Complies with laws, rules, policies and procedures.
• Builds personal work habits that allow for retention of ethical standards in the face of deadlines, student/parent requests, and other professional/personal factors.  

• Embraces student/advisor partnership philosophy.
• Demonstrates appreciation of student needs, attitudes and concerns.
• Provides a positive student success environment and engages in trauma-informed advising practices.
• Actively engages in service quality assessments and follow-up.
• Demonstrates ability to interpret student needs and provide student-specific solutions.

• Ability to maintain an open, approachable manner, and treat others equitably.
• Builds constructive working relationships characterized by a high level of acceptance, cooperation and mutual engagement. 
• Accepts role as lifelong learner and expects to learn from student in student development process.

• Ability and desire to work cooperatively with others on a team.
• Recognizes and appreciates the contributions of team members.
• Provides constructive feedback to team and its members.
• Respects team and their individual perspectives.

• Demonstrates responsible personal and professional conduct which contributes to the overall mission and goals of the organization.
• Accepts personal responsibility for the quality and timeliness of work.
• Actively works to earn trust, respect, and confidence from the Pierce College community. 

• Demonstrates appropriate depth of knowledge in assigned areas.
• Initiates own learning about software and its efficiencies.
• MS Excel skills to create and manipulate large or complex spreadsheets using simple to complex formulas, and import data from other sources.
• MS Word skills using standard functions to create, format, edit, preview print and save documents; use mail merge.
• Database skills to create simple tables, queries, data entry forms and reports.
• Outlook skills to compose, send, and respond to electronic email; ability to upload documents; utilize calendar and meeting request functions.
• Internet skills to navigate the web, find and download information, and direct others to online resources.
• Ability to learn to effectively navigate complex operating systems.

• Meet the required qualifications as outlined in this announcement.
• Complete the online application profile and apply for the specific job opening at http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/dist/hr/.
• Upload (attach) a cover letter that addresses how you meet the required qualifications as outlined in this announcement. (Cover Letter)
• Upload (attach) detailed résumé of all educational and professional experience. (Résumé)
• Transcripts are not required in order to apply for this position; however, if you are selected for an interview, you will be asked to submit copies of unofficial transcripts showing completion of the required level of education. Please upload current copies of your transcripts, if available. Unofficial copies of all college and university transcripts must include degree received and conferral date. International transcripts must include a foreign transcript evaluation. For a list of approved credential evaluation services visit: www.naces.org/members.htm (Unofficial transcripts acceptable for application process; official transcripts required upon hire). (Transcripts)
• Upload (attach) a list of at least two professional references with names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted. (References)
• Provide a response to the following question. (Supplemental Question)

The starting salary for this position is $4,892.00 dependent upon qualifications, with periodic increments up to $5,960.00 monthly. However, your paycheck is just part of the total compensation package. There is an outstanding benefits package which is worth an additional value equivalent to about 30% of your salary. A comprehensive health care benefits package for you and your dependents includes medical, dental and vision insurance. Life and long-term disability insurance plans; vacation, sick and personal leave; reduced tuition; and retirement benefits are also provided. For more information, please visit our Benefits and Leave website at: https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/hr- benefits.