University Admissions Fellow at Nova Pioneer

About The Role

As University Admissions Fellow you will work closely with the Director of Partnerships to rapidly begin designing and implementing our systems for university readiness, counseling, application support and placement. Our overriding goal will be to deliver great university admission outcomes for our first alumni cohort who will graduate from Nova Pioneer schools in Kenya and South Africa in late 2019. Working backward from that goal, you will build a roadmap for key activities that need to happen in each year prior to graduation and the required underlying systems we need to build. Together with colleagues you will engage directly with students and families (with a particular focus on students currently in Grade 10 / Form 2) to understand and help shape expectations and aspirations, help them take early action to get a step ahead with readiness, and make them feel supported.

The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Specific Responsibilities Will Include, But Are Not Limited To

General

• Map and segment the landscape of domestic and international universities that will be most relevant to Nova Pioneer students
• Develop thorough list of (and begin building relationships with) organizations providing support to African students applying to international universities
• Research and synthesize best practices in university counseling, admissions support, and alumni support
• Build data systems to track student progress/readiness and outcomes throughout the university admissions cycle
• Help develop Nova Pioneer ‘pitch’ to universities to support partnership building efforts

Pre-Application

• Develop systems that will guide approximately 85 seniors in 2019 through the University search, application, and matching/selection process
• Collaborate with Learning team to design a cutting-edge University Counseling model that sets students up for a successful transition to university--including systematic ways to identify students’ career interests and potential courses of university study and translate those into informed decision-making about academic areas of focus in high school
• Develop a system to help group students by aspirations, skills and academic performance to ensure the right university support (including clear eligibility criteria for providing extra support to students who aspire to study at international universities)
• Build dashboards and team habits to monitor and support students’ academic and non-academic goals from Form 2 (grade 10) through the first/sophomore year of college
• Design and begin implementing ways to engage parents in the college search and financial aid processes, and bolster their ‘college knowledge’

Application and Beyond

• Design information packets and college knowledge sessions to ensure that students and families are well appraised of the various application steps and make timely progress against each step
• Develop support systems to help students prepare strong University applications
• Develop brief training manuals (playbooks) for all systems to ensure continuity
• Develop a transition support protocol to ensure that selected students transition smoothly from the Nova Pioneer environment into their new university environment
• Develop the building blocks of an alumni engagement strategy that will ensure continued collaboration and support through university

About You

• You have flexibility in your plans for the next 6 months and are jazzed about an unusual opportunity to spend a stint living overseas and help change the world
• You have at least 2-3 years of work experience including significant independent project management experience
• Your past supervisors have consistently perceived you as a strong performer and have given you positive feedback on your analytical and communication skill set
• Experience working in college/university counseling or admissions preferred but not required
• You love building things, you sweat the small stuff, and you take pleasure in excellence more than credit or status
• Our culture resonates deeply with your values—and in particular, you are excited to challenge yourself by embracing mutual vulnerability and a firehose of feedback