Student Welcome Center Counselor II - Student Assignment Office

Student Welcome Center Counselor II

Under the leadership of assigned supervisor, the Student Welcome Center Counselor II will provide exceptional customer service to parents and guardians in Oakland who are seeking to enroll their student(s) in an OUSD school, will effectively manage multiple systems to support families in a seamless enrollment process, will support school site staff with building and maintaining a healthy enrollment, and will lead initiatives that drive towards an enrollment system that prioritizes equitable access to high-quality schools for all families.

Essential Functions:

• Serve as a primary customer service point-of-contact for parents/guardians who are selecting and/or enrolling in an OUSD-managed public school. Depending on the situation, this support may be conducted in-person, over the phone, or via email.
• Inform families of school options, help families select a school in an unbiased way, assist families with navigating multiple enrollment timelines and/or processes, and following-up with parents to ensure their child has the best chance of being assigned to the school of their choice.
• Efficiently and effectively toggle between multiple software systems to enroll students, including the student information system (Aeries), online application portal (currently SchoolMint), State database (CALPADS), customer service ticketing platform, customer scheduling platform, and Google Suite.
• Collect required student documentation from parents, reviewing for completeness and accuracy.
• Serve as the subject-matter-expert for all things related to choosing a public school in Oakland: including in-depth knowledge of OUSD's application and enrollment processes.
• Generate written content for OUSD's knowledge management database that is clear, timely, and accurate for families and other staff members.
• Design and implement special initiatives related to equitable enrollment access, such as developing outreach campaigns or building data tracking systems.
• Provide Quality Assurance support for our online software systems by rigorously developing and testing use cases.
• Follow up directly with families, school sites, and/or other OUSD offices (such as early childhood, newcomers, alternative education) to ensure that families successfully complete the enrollment process in a timely manner.
• Conduct address investigations as necessary.
• Serve as the enrollment point person for a subset of school sites: lead trainings for staff at these sites, answer all enrollment-related questions from their staff, and monitor their enrollment throughout the year.
• Provide exceptional and personal customer service in a courteous and professional manner at all times.
• Communicate effectively with other team members and school personnel about the availability of seats and other relevant topics.
• Conduct English assessments of students in listening, speaking, reading and writing to identify English Language Learners.
• Surface potential process improvements to continuously move towards a more equitable enrollment system that is transparent and accessible to all families.
• Lead meetings with school communities, partner community organizations, and other groups to help individuals understand and navigate the enrollment process.
• Maintain both the integrity and confidentiality of all data.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Qualifications:

The District determines whether a candidate is qualified based on fulfillment of prerequisites, relevant work experience, ability to perform the essential functions, reference checks, effective interpersonal and communication skills demonstrated by interview performance and/or writing samples, and achievement on performance-based assessments (if applicable) that demonstrate the candidate possesses the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities. Meeting prerequisites only satisfies the initial screening process and does not indicate the candidate is qualified to perform the essential functions of the position.

Knowledge Of:

• District enrollment policies (preferred)
• Aeries student information system (preferred)
• Diversity, sensitivity, and competence with regard to issues of race, learning or other ability, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, socio-economic group, sexuality or other orientations or cultural markers
• Presentation, communication, and public speaking techniques
• Google suite
• Ability To:
• Perform a variety of complex, technical duties involving specialized knowledge and independent judgment
• Understand and interpret District and other rules, policies and procedures
• Quickly learn and become proficient with new software systems
• Adapt to changes in policies and practices
• Demonstrate customer-centric mindset
• Show proven skills in exceeding customer expectations
• Demonstrate cultural competence and sensitivity with diverse groups across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, socio-economic group, sexual orientation, and other identifiers
• Establish and maintain effective communications and working relationships among diverse groups of students, parents, District staff, and the community
• Complete work accurately and as directed with many interruptions
• Organize and manage multiple streams of work
• Pay close attention to details
• Manage time effectively
• Demonstrate a continuous improvement mindset
• Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills, including content communication, conciseness, grammar and usage
• Work effectively under pressure

Prerequisites:

• Bachelor Degree or its equivalency required (2 years of similar and relevant work level experience = 1 year of college) plus courses in operations management, communication, or related courses. A combination of experience and education may be used to meet the Bachelor Degree requirement; however, the work experience years used to qualify for the Bachelor Degree requirement cannot be used to meet the work requirement.
• Bilingual in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, or Mam preferred, but not required
• Three (3) or more years experience in fast-paced customer service setting
• Knowledge of public education operational philosophies
• Valid California Driver's License, if applicable

Pre-Employment Process:

Employment eligibility will include fingerprints, tuberculosis and/or other employment clearance

Working Conditions:

Environment: Office and diverse school site environments; driving a vehicle to conduct work; fast-paced work; constant interruptions

Physical Requirements:

Consistent mental alertness; sitting or standing for extended periods of time; lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling objects up to 30 pounds, occasionally 30+ pounds; bending and twisting at the waist, reaching overhead, above the shoulders and horizontally; dexterity of both hands and fingers while performing duties; seeing to read, write and use the computer; hearing and speaking to exchange information, in person or on the telephone, and make presentations.

Non-Discrimination Policy:

The Oakland Unified School District does not discriminate in any program, activity, or in employment on the basis of actual or perceived race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, veteran status, gender, sex, or sexual orientation.