Navigate and Retention Specialist Graduate Assistantship

A Unique Graduate Assistantship

Advising and Student Transitions (A&ST) at St. Cloud State University provides a unique Graduate Assistant experience due to the large umbrella of services and programs we provide. While our GAs each have distinct roles, they also are cross trained and contribute to a variety of our programs. Taking a GA in A&ST means you will be adding a wide variety of skills and functional areas which allows our GAs to build their resumes with diverse experiences.

• What you can expect from us:
• Stipend and Tuition Assistance
• An assigned professional staff mentor
• The ability to gain experience in academic advising, orientation, placement testing and retention initiatives
• Time to research topics that interest you and share your findings with our team
• Support and assistance for professional development
• Flexibility so you can balance your life

The Navigate and Retention Specialist Graduate Assistantship in Advising & Student Transitions will support the vision, planning, implementation, day-to-day operations, and assessment of retention activities designed to help St. Cloud State undergraduate students persist through graduation. The GA will focus their efforts on EAB’s Navigate, a web-based retention, early alert, and advising tool in use since 2017.

 Responsibilities:

• Develop and facilitate trainings for faculty, staff, and student users
• Provide tech support for campus users on EAB’s Navigate via email, phone, Zoom, and in-person
• Support professional staff and super users in platform updates and edits
• Collect and analyze data; create regular reports and infographics from Navigate and Excel data
• Support at-risk students through intrusive/proactive advising and retention initiatives
• Collaborate with supervisor on other events and initiatives that promote student success and persistence
• Serve as a member of the department’s assessment team

Learning Outcomes

• GA will gain experience applying best practice to advising, orientation, student transition, and retention programming.
• GA will develop key collaboration strategies working with multiple university partners to achieve institutional retention and persistence goals
• GA will enhance problem solving and critical thinking skills through their role as a Navigate Super User, effectively delivering reports, training, and technical support
• GA will gain advanced knowledge and training in Microsoft Excel, data analysis, and report generation
• GA will cultivate communication skills in developing and facilitating training sessions for students, faculty, and staff 
• GA will interpret student data through an equitable lens in accordance with all university, state, and federal guidelines

Qualifications

• Effective verbal and written communication skills
•  elf-starter, takes initiative, high attention to detail 
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a diverse team
• Familiarity with Microsoft office suite

Additional preferred qualifications, but training will be provided:

• Intermediate skills in Microsoft Excel (filtering, charts, functions, pivot tables, VLOOKUP)
• Familiarity with basic statistics principles and tools (ex: SPSS)
• Understanding of data analysis and project management skills

Qualifications: 

• Regular admission to a St. Cloud State graduate program
• Effective verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work with faculty, staff, and students from diverse backgrounds, including historically underserved populations
• Ability to work as part of a team with professional staff and other graduate students
• Ability to be a self-starter and to work independently
• Registered for a minimum of 8 graduate credits for Fall 2025

Salary: Stipend & Tuition Remission

Apply via Handshake with a cover letter, resume, and 2-3 professional references.