As a STEM Navigator, you would be working with members of the HSI STEM Student Success Team, including Daniel Gonzalez-Albor, STEM Counselor and Paulina Salazar Perez, Student Success and Support Specialist. In collaboration with the STEM Student Success Team, your leadership would ensure your STEM peers succeed in all the ways you have. STEM Navigators are peer mentors that holistically support STEM students through timely referrals to campus and community-based programs, services, activities, and engage them in various STEM related academic and career events. STEM Navigators support their peers through an integrated approach to co-curricular development, promoting educational and career pathways in STEM, peer advising students of academic and social support services, and connecting students to deeper exploration of STEM majors, internships, and research activities. STEM Navigators can be found at the STEM Harbor, located in SCI 223. 

Ideal candidates:

  • Completed a minimum of one full academic year including one STEM course with a grade of C or higher at Ventura College.
  • Currently enrolled at Ventura College full-time (a minimum of 12 semester units). If the student is an eligible participant in the Federal Work Study or CalWORKs programs, the minimum enrollment may vary. Students eligible for services under the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) program are considered in full-time status if enrolled in the minimum number of units as determined appropriate by DSP&S.
  • Candidate meets Satisfactory Academic Progress, obtaining the highest GPA they can achieve given their life circumstances.
  • Have experience with, or interest in, mentoring students from minoritized communities including, but not limited to, Latine/a/o, African American/Black, Indigenous, Asian Pacific Islander, limited economic resources, disabled, and/or LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly in STEM.
  • Are enthusiastic, outgoing, responsible, and demonstrate leadership and teamwork.

Responsibilities:

  • Advance the goals of Project S:AIL in STEM including STEM Harbor.
  • Collaborate with multiple on-campus academic and student services programs to serve and support students utilizing STEM Harbor.
  • Inform and actionably engage students with academic, social, and emotional support resources as needed. Ensures students utilizing STEM Harbor have a strong understanding of available student support resources.
  • Refer STEM Harbor students to the STEM Student Success Team for targeted student support services as needed or requested by students when the scope is beyond the STEM Navigator’s responsibilities.
  • Encourage, engage, advise, and collaborate with all STEM students, especially those from minoritized backgrounds, by setting academic, personal, and professional goals, and holding encouraging beliefs in their abilities to achieve college success.
  • Facilitate 1-1 and small group discussions or study sessions with various groups of STEM students.
  • Encourage students to foster their existing intrinsic motivation, resilience, and leadership abilities.
  • Co-lead and assist with the planning and execution of Project S:AILin STEM events with the STEM Success Team.
  • Co-lead and support maintaining social media engagement.
  • Maintain the STEM Harbor space including restocking instructional supplies and opening/closing responsibilities.