Indigenous Student Success Advisor

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Job Description

About Bow Valley College

For 60 years, Calgary’s college has grown to prepare 14,000 students annually for meaningful careers in health care, social services, business, technology, and creative industries. Every program has a Work Integrated Learning requirement, ensuring students contribute to the workplace before they graduate. With a strong focus on advanced simulation training and Alberta’s evolving needs, Bow Valley College’s new Health Care Centre of Excellence is working to expand space and programs, aimed at graduating four-times as many health professionals annually by 2036.

Proudly recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges, we combine innovative learning with hands-on experience. Home to Alberta’s only major e-sports arena and a state-of-the-art digital production hub. Learn more about the opportunities Bow Valley College creates for students, Calgary, and Alberta at bowvalleycollege.ca.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Manager, Student Success & Engagement, the Indigenous Student Success Advisor plays a key role in supporting the success, retention, and engagement of Indigenous students at Bow Valley College. As a first point of contact, you will build meaningful relationships with students, understand their individual strengths and needs, and help them navigate barriers throughout their student journey.

Using a holistic, strengths-based, trauma-informed, and culturally respectful approach, you will provide proactive outreach, individualized support, referrals, and advocacy to Indigenous students experiencing challenges related to access, engagement, retention, and graduation. You will work closely with Student Services, academic areas, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community members, Indigenous-serving organizations, and other internal and external partners to connect students with the resources and supports they need to succeed.

This role also contributes to the development of culturally appropriate programs, events, communications, and services that strengthen Indigenous student engagement and create a supportive sense of community across the College.

What You'll Be Doing

Student Success & Engagement

Build and maintain meaningful relationships with Indigenous students through proactive outreach, culturally appropriate intake, individual meetings, group engagement, and ongoing support throughout the student life cycle.

You will identify students who may be at risk of disengagement and work collaboratively with them to understand barriers, develop appropriate Student Success Plans, and connect them with resources.

Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting needs assessments and providing strengths-based advocacy and support to Indigenous students.
• Maintaining comprehensive documentation of student meetings, actions, outcomes, referrals, and reporting.
• Triaging safety and basic-needs concerns and connecting students with appropriate support.
• Coordinating appointments with counselling, assessment, orientation, and other College services as appropriate.
• Developing and evaluating proactive outreach, intervention, and engagement strategies to support student success and retention.
• Identifying student trends and using feedback and data to recommend improvements to programs, services, and supports.
• Supporting access to traditional teachings, medicines, traditional knowledge, and culturally appropriate opportunities.
• Supporting students through funding and sponsorship processes, including First Nations Band – Post-Secondary Student Support Program applications and funding, Aboriginal Futures, Rupertsland Institute – Métis Centre of Excellence, and Freehorse.

Indigenous Student Supports, Programming & Awareness

Serve as a key point of contact and resource for Indigenous students and College staff, increasing awareness and access to Indigenous student supports and programming.

You will develop and share timely information through a range of communication channels and help students build confidence in navigating College systems and services.

You will:

• Promote Indigenous student-focused programming through newsletters, emails, phone and face-to-face engagement, D2L, intranet communications, sharing circles, teachings, workshops, presentations, and other appropriate channels.
• Maintain current information and schedules for Indigenous student services and supports.
• Develop and coordinate, presentations, workshops, and Indigenous New Student Orientation activities.
• Represent Student Services at events such as Open House, New Student Orientation, and cross-Indigenous student support gatherings.
• Contribute to campus-wide activities, programming, and engagement opportunities that benefit Indigenous students.
• Plan and coordinate events using established project management and event planning processes, including RSVP management, documentation, basic budgeting, and reporting.
• Participate in cross-functional discussions and share knowledge and insights related to Indigenous student success and experiences.
• Use student feedback, lived experiences, data, and current practices to inform culturally appropriate approaches to Indigenous student support.

Collaboration & Community Connections

Develop strong working relationships across the College and with external Indigenous-serving organizations to create a holistic network of support for Indigenous students. You will actively connect students with appropriate resources and help strengthen collaboration across Student Services and academic areas.

This includes:

• Connecting students with Student Services such as Accessibility, Career Services, Counselling & Wellness, Financial Aid, Library & Learning Commons, Student Affairs, and Student Awards.
• Maintaining a current holistic resource guide for Indigenous students across Treaty 7 and Métis Nation Region 3 territory, including urban and rural resources.
• Building relationships with external Indigenous-serving organizations and community resources.
• Working with Success Advisors and other student-supporting roles to increase shared understanding of Indigenous student experiences and emerging trends.
• Identifying opportunities to improve referral processes and remove barriers to accessing services.
• Researching and monitoring trends and emerging practices in Indigenous student support and sharing relevant information with the Manager, Student Success & Engagement.

What Sets You Apart

You are a student-focused professional who understands the importance of providing holistic, culturally respectful, and strengths-based support to Indigenous students. You build trusting relationships through active listening, empathy, respect, and a genuine commitment to understanding students' lived experiences and individual goals.

You bring strong experience in student support, advising, engagement, case management, community services, or a related environment, along with the ability to assess needs, identify barriers, coordinate referrals, and advocate for students. You are comfortable working with sensitive information, documenting student interactions, managing competing priorities, and using data and feedback to inform programs and services.

You are a collaborative relationship builder who can work effectively across departments and with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community members, Indigenous-serving organizations, and other partners. You bring strong communication, organization, project coordination, and event planning skills, and are comfortable using a variety of communication methods and College systems to connect with students.

You bring a commitment to trauma-informed practice, cultural respect, student empowerment, and continuous learning. You are curious about emerging practices in Indigenous student support and able to translate student feedback, trends, and lived experiences into meaningful improvements to services, programming, and the overall student experience.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and three years of experience in related field
• Must have a demonstrated connection, active ties, and relationship to an Indigenous community and/or Indigenous network
• Experience in working with/alongside Indigenous populations
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Forms, OneDrive, etc.)
• Strong writing and communications skills
• An equivalent combination of directly related education and experience may be considered

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with assessment of barriers, student advising, coaching or motivational interviewing is an asset.
• Anti-racism training
• Suicide prevention training
• Event planning and project management experience preferred
• Background in social justice, social work, community services, administration considered an asset
• Knowledge of common barriers faced by Indigenous adult students, and community and college sources of support.
• Knowledge of trends in post-secondary student services and factors influencing student success.
• Ability to provide direct support to adult learners in overcoming basic barriers including – but not limited to mental health and financial concerns, time-management, organizational, and LMS utilization.
• Strong interpersonal skills appropriate for working with adult students.

Compensation: $60,096 - $76,632

This opening is a continuous (AUPE) position. Please note all successful candidates will be required to provide copies of government issued identification and proof of educational qualifications upon hire and may be required to provide an enhanced police information check. If your education was received internationally, we will require you to provide an international education assessment through IQAS, WES, or one of the other nationally designated organizations upon hire.

Union :

AUPE

Diversity and Inclusion Commitment
Bow Valley College is strongly committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within our community. We welcome applications from qualified candidates who would contribute to the further diversification of our employees including, but not limited to, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.