Citizenship Coordinator

Description

Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle (LVCA) is looking for a Citizenship Coordinator.  This person will be responsible for teaching citizenship classes to English language learners and mentoring students and their tutors as they move through the citizenship process.  Other responsibilities include interviewing and testing students, training new tutors, and leading workshops. This is a part-time position, approximately 8-10 hours per week, beginning in January 2020.

Job Duties

The Citizenship Coordinator will teach small groups/classes in English Language acquisition and all aspects of the U.S. citizenship process to adult students of Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle. The Coordinator will also support citizenship students and their volunteer teachers by offering workshops, attending naturalization ceremonies, and connecting them to the resources they need to be successful.

Responsibilities:

• Teach a minimum of 3 citizenship classes per year. Each session is 24 hours of instruction plus prep time.
• Monitor proposed and final changes made by United States Citizenship and Information Services to the naturalization process and incorporate any revisions into the LVCA citizenship curriculum.
• Mentor a minimum of 2 volunteer citizenship teachers.
• Provide support to citizenship tutors, including familiarizing new citizenship tutors with the naturalization process and acclimating them with materials.
• Conduct intake interviews and Best Plus testing of new citizenship students enrolling in classes.
• Conduct 6 Intakes and Best Plus Assessments for 6 new LVCA students each month.
• Conduct mock citizenship interviews, if requested, with students who are nearing their interview date.
• Interview and re-test current students.
• Attend naturalization ceremonies at the Federal courthouse and the Monticello ceremony on July 4 to represent LVCA and to gather lists of new citizens for LVCA recordkeeping purposes.
• Provide quarterly citizenship checkups, which are drop-in sessions for tutors and students who have questions about citizenship.
• Maintain class attendance records and update the Central Virginia Citizenship Services database.
• Participate in the new tutor trainings, (approximately 10 times per year).
• Attend weekly staff/program meetings. While this is a part-time position, connecting with other staff is essential.
• Report work hours and program information to Executive Director monthly.
• Serve as a resource person when needed.
• Communicate any recommendations or problems to other staff.
• Be present at all major LVCA events (volunteer appreciation event, etc.)

Skills Required

Skills/ experience desired:

• Minimum one year teaching adults English as a Second Language, civics, or related course work
• Lesson planning and teacher instruction experience required
• Cultural sensitivity and good cross-cultural communication skills required.
• Best Plus testing certification
• Undergraduate degree in a related field such as English, Education, or Teaching; Master’s degree preferred.
• General understanding of the USCIS naturalization process
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Understanding of the culture of small, nonprofit organizations

Work Schedule

Work hours are primarily in the daytime, but some organizational activities, including some sessions of citizenship classes, will require evenings or Saturday participation.

Additional Info

The LVCA staff is a team of individuals who love coming to work every day and share a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to help people improve their life situations through education, so the successful applicant will have a positive attitude and sense of humor. The successful applicant will be friendly and outgoing and be invested in building relationships with staff, tutors, and students.

If you are interested in this job, please email a cover letter and your resume to ellen@literacyforall.org as one pdf file. Please put “job application” in the subject of the email.