Main Responsibilities of a CAMP Retention Specialist at Sacramento State
As a Serna Center Coordinator and retention specialist, main responsibility involves ensuring the success of first-year students from migrant and seasonal farm working backgrounds through frequent "one-on-one check-ins" and facilitating a first-year course that equips students with the resources they need, leveraging experience as a former student of the program to build trust and provide relatable support. Saray also collaborates with the outreach team to ensure successful events for incoming cohorts, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to student retention and support.
Student Retention, Mentoring, Resource Coordination, Academic Support, Team Collaboration
Advizer Information
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Saray Aguirre
Serna Center Coordinator
California State University, Sacramento
CSU, Sacramento
CSU, Sacramento - MA in Education (Higher Educational Leadership & Policy Studies)
Anthropology, Sociology
Education
Education
HSI Grad, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Retention specialist focusing on retaining students, primarily through one-on-one check-ins to ensure their success, especially for students from migrant and seasonal farm working backgrounds.
2. Facilitates a first-year course, involving planning the syllabus, preparing class sessions, grading assignments, and taking attendance, aimed at providing students with necessary resources.
3. Collaborates closely with the outreach team to ensure successful events for incoming cohorts and overall mutual support.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your role?
As a retention specialist for the camp program at Sacramento State, one of my biggest responsibilities is to retain our students. I do that primarily through one-on-one check-ins.
A lot of my time is spent meeting with students and making sure they have what they need to be successful in their first year. This position helps students from migrant and seasonal farmworking backgrounds, which is very similar to myself.
I was actually a student in the program once. Being able to give back, having a unique understanding of where they're coming from helps me tremendously. It not only builds trust, but it lets them know that I've been there before, so they can do it too.
One of my biggest responsibilities is those check-ins. Usually, the cohort is between 60 and 85 students. So, as you can imagine, having a check-in with every single one of them is very time-consuming.
All students are required to meet with me three times a semester, in addition to their meetings with their peer mentors. For any students who need additional support, I also do weekly check-ins with them.
I also helped facilitate their first-year course. This is a course where we brought together the resources they need to be successful. This involves planning for the course, creating the syllabus, making sure each class session is ready, and grading assignments.
On top of that, I work with the rest of the team. Retention works very closely with outreach, ensuring that events for incoming cohorts are successful and that we all help each other out. But mainly, it's that one-on-one with students, making sure they have what they need to be successful in their first year.