Position Overview
Student Wellness Services within Student and Enrolment Services is currently seeking a Full-time Limited Term Indigenous Student Support Advisor for approximately 9 months.
This position reports to the Manager, Student Wellness Support and works with other members of the Student Support and Case Management team to sustain a student outreach and case management portfolio. Specifically, the successful candidate will support Indigenous populations with specialized supports. In addition, the student support advisor will attend to all potentially vulnerable populations within the university that may require specialized support. This includes international students transitioning to the University of Calgary, first year students, students in residence and isolated student communities. This role resides within Writing Symbols Lodge to establish a presence within the Lodge and with Indigenous students, becoming part of the coordinated support offered.
This role provides mental health support and outreach to students and assesses students presenting with mental health issues to health and counselling services within Student Wellness Services and makes referrals to relevant internal and external resources. The position supports enriched quality and breadth of learning in the university community by coordinating proactive and consistent response to specialized student populations. The Student Support Advisor provides leadership by intervening and consulting when students are at risk, and engaging with student communities on an outreach basis thereby promoting student retention and success.
This role supports the continued indigenization of the University of Calgary. Click here to see more job opportunities with an Indigenous scope.
Position Description
Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):
- Demonstrate a high standard of performance in provision of a welcoming first point of contact for students in the pursuit of counseling services for individual wellbeing.
- Share a responsibility in student engagement and service with the aim of providing support to all students who contact Student Wellness Services.
- Contribute to a warm, supportive, and non-judgmental atmosphere for, students, graduate practicum students, interns, and staff.
- Work to increase the positive reputation of Student Wellness Services with potentially at-risk students and Indigenous students, through developing trusting relationships.
- Meet with students referred by the campus community for being potentially at-risk.
- Provide mental health triage and assessment function to assess the needs and level of risk of students with the intent of providing appropriate service/referral and reducing barriers to counseling.
- Assess emergent nature of intakes and prioritize appointments accordingly.
- Ensure appropriate application of relevant policies (eg. Students-At-Risk)
- Connect students to internal and external resources.
- Assess the needs of vulnerable student communities, particularly Indigenous students and other at-risk communities.
- Organize, host and facilitate weekly mental health literacy programming within Writing Symbols Lodge that are aligned with Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being
- Engage with students to gain insight into effective means of communicating, educating, and promoting wellness within the campus Indigenous community
- Ensure broad consultation with students and communities regarding programs and delivery.
- Ensure currency in intercultural and diversity issues in all programming considerations.
- Establish collaborative relationships with Residence, Student and Enrolment Services units, faculties and external referral sources to support students.
- Coordinates the application of programs specific to these vulnerable populations.
- Offer workshops to promote positive teaching and learning environment.
Qualifications / Requirements:
- Bachelor degree in social work or related field;
- 3 years experience working in mental health;
- 2 years experience with crisis intervention, suicide intervention training and at risk student behaviors;
- Maintenance of professional registration is required (RSW);
- Demonstrated ability to build positive relationships with Indigenous Peoples and alongside Indigenous communities including Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers
- Significant knowledge of Indigenous trauma and associated healing processes
- Demonstrated understanding of the cultural knowledge and communication skills required to connect with Indigenous students, schools and communities
- Knowledge of an Indigenous language an asset
- Experience with program delivery and implementation;
- Experience with outreach and collaborative programs;
- Strong leadership and organizational skills;
- Demonstrated strong regard for issues of confidentiality and dealing with highly sensitive material;
- Proven ability to work effectively with multiple departments, organizations and people in sensitive and complex situations;
- Effective communication skills and the ability to model these skills to students and staff;
- Strong presentation and group facilitation skills;
Application Deadline: July 21, 2022
We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.
Additional Information
This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Specialist/Advisor Job Family, Phase 2.
To find out more about management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Management and Staff Careers website.
The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
About the University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is Canada’s leading next-generation university – a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude. Located in the nation’s most enterprising city, the university is making tremendous progress on its Eyes High journey to be recognized as one of Canada’s top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. The University of Calgary inspires and supports discovery, creativity and innovation across all disciplines. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.
The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy in line with the foundational goals of Eyes High, committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.
As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (equity@ucalgary.ca) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (hrhire@ucalgary.ca).
We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.