Ritu Khanna
A result-oriented professional and effective communicator with over 25+ years of qualitative experience!
Counseling & University Guidance
Operations
Accreditation process
Liaison Work
Policies & Process Defining
Surat (395009) India
Professional Status
Employed
Available
About Me
A post-graduate in Psychology (Clinical Psychology) and having a diploma in Textile Designing. An effective communicator with excellent interpersonal skills at multiple levels. The other qualities include sheer enthusiasm and willingness to accept challenges and a striving desire to learn from experience. My adeptness at interacting with coworkers is an additional asset.
Head - Career & University Guidance Counseling
FOUNTAINHEAD SCHOOL
Since January 2014
Full-time
Surat
India
- University Admission Guidance
• Guide a cohort of students, starting in Grade 10, as they navigate through all phases of the identification and application process. Coordinate with teachers to help students in making the subject selection and career choices (based on their subject selection.)
• Managing university admission process for India and abroad with guidance on portfolio building for international universities starting in Grade 9
• Assist students in the university shortlisting process
• Help students in preparing a resume, statement of purpose, and essay.
• Assist with standardised testing
• Assist with scholarships & financial aids
• Manage and assist in the electronic communications of all applications
• Undertake all requirements needed to have the highest quality application for every student, including the responsibility that any required documents are provided and completed promptly through the college guidance platform (Cialfo) and other electronic means.
• Provide support to new students by ensuring that all relevant information from previous schools is collated
• Participate in university counseling programs throughout the year, liaison with university representatives and other counselors to get updates on current trends, and pass regular updates to students and parents - Career Guidance
• Develop, update and implement a career counseling program that will help students in exploring and planning career pathways.
• Ensure every student in Grade 7- 12 has appropriate access and exposure to the Careers and University Program
• Work with the individual student and their parents based on their needs for career progression.
• Conduct career awareness events such as:
University visits
Expert panel discussions
Guest lectures (specific to subjects)
• Planning and ensuring implementation of career-oriented workshops - Other Administrative Responsibilities
• Maintaining the database of students’ subject selection, psychometric testing, transcript requests, university selection and offers, acceptance, alumni, etc.
• Coordinator for external exams—SAT, PSAT, Cambridge Assessment Testing, CMEC, AMC, ASSET Talent Search, and prestigious national Olympiads
• Quality Nominee and Deputy Head of Center for BTEC International Programs offered by Pearson Education—a single point of contact for quality assurance, responsible for ensuring effective management of BTEC programs and actively promoting good practice within the center
• Coordinator, High School Diploma—Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools—managing High School Diploma self-study and evaluation process, helping students earn credits through Exploration and Specialization pathways
• Secretary, Internal Committee (IC)—organizing awareness sessions, taking quarterly updates on complaints (if any) from staff members, and updating the committee members. yearly report to the local body
Admin Process Coordinator
FOUNTAINHEAD SCHOOL
October 2011
to December 2013
Full-time
Surat
India
- Teacher Training Coordinator - Training Program development, review and update
- Policy development - for admin and academics
- SOP development - for admin and academics
- Auditing - for policies and SOP's admin and academics
- Invigilator - for IGCSE exams
- Website update - for academics and administrative content
- Developing arts and sports brochure content, managing distribution
- Inchage for external and internal communication (all stakeholders)
- Committee Member - PYP Authorization Visit (involved in self study process)
Manager – Admissions (Operations / Business Development)
IILM INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION (Now IILM University)
June 2006
to May 2011
Full-time
Gurgaon & Greater Noida
India
- Responsible for marketing and promoting the different Post Graduate programs under the IILM umbrella i.e. Management, Retail, Real Estate, Insurance, and Executive Programme for both campuses (Gurgaon, Lodhi Road & G Noida)
- Initiate and develop various new policies to increase the inflow of the no. of application forms and hence contribute to the quality.
- Coordinating with all our business partners (HDFC / ICICI / MAX Hospital / DLF/) and different campuses across India.
Preparation of Communication plan & budget, Coordinate Product Launches & Media Releases, Brand Building - Coordinating with all our business partners and different campuses across India.
Coordinating and Monitoring the different examination centers as well as Group Discussion and Personal Interview centers. - Conducting sessions and meetings to brief the team for smooth and successful conduction of the examination.
- In charge of making advertisement plans for the different sessions.
- Coordinator of all advertisements (Newspaper / Magazines / MAT Booklet) like planning, designing, budgeting, and release of all ads.
- Coordinator for Hostel services.
- Closely monitoring all correspondences and activities with the schools, colleges, and corporate.
- Conduction of Training sessions for AMs (New Joinees).
- Liaison with govt. organizations for approvals and Banks for Loans etc.
- In charge of IILM Institutional Loan Services.
- Coordinator for institute’s activities like ISO Certification, TQM, ZOHO CRM, Six Sigma training, Online documentation of student’s data in Admission software, etc., and provided inputs for user-friendly software.
Center Head
IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd.
May 2005
to January 2006
Full-time
Kanpur
India
- Responsibilities include handling admissions at Kanpur center i.e. Counsel Students for different courses offered by the institution for CAT and other entrance exams.
Planning and managing different promotional activities like quizzes, seminars, and job fairs.
Maintain Inventory and stocks. - Handle account-related activities.
- Prepare MIS and other internal, external reports and data.
- In charge of the entire admissions for its smooth functioning.
- Planning the marketing and other activities for the same.
- In charge of all correspondences with and queries from the Regional Office and Head Office (Delhi & Mumbai).
- In charge of all correspondences and activities with different colleges and organizations.
Back Office In-charge – Operations Retail Asset
ICICI Bank Ltd.
September 2002
to August 2004
Full-time
Kanpur
India
TMU Training in Resilience program for High School Counselors
Toronto Metropolitan University
November 2024
The THE Counsellor Accreditation Programme (THE CAP) has been developed to provide school counsellors with world-class professional development.
University Guidance Counsellors Coference
South Asian IB Schools Association (SAIBSA) & Univariety
May 2014
SAIBSA Job Alike Session
South Asian IB Schools Association (SAIBSA) & Mainadevi Bajaj International School
February 2014
Skills
Counseling & University Guidance
-
University Research & Application Process
Expert
-
Psychometric Testing
Expert
-
Profile Building
Expert
-
Goal Setting
Expert
-
Entrance Exam Support
Expert
-
Internships / Summer Program / Online Courses
Expert
Leadership Skills
- Team Building & Management
- Professional Developement
- Guidance & Mentorship
- Building Positive Relationships - being known and being approachable
- Decision Making - Considering Big Picture, Sustainability, Priorities and Constraints
Conceptualization and implementation of new initiatives
-
Implementation of policies and processes
Defining policies and processes, information dissemination, implementation and audit
-
Handling accreditation of new programs
Leading MSA and Pearson programs accreditation process, completing self study and accreditation visit.
-
Teacher Training Program
Researching and developing a training program for new teachers and periodic review
- Developing internship program for students
Adeptness of technology
- Very well versed with various web 2.0 tools
- Personal Learning network - Part of various counselors support groups
- Using online counseling platform .e.g. Naviance, CIalfo, Wordpress, Google SItes etc.
Communication
- Transparent communication with all stakeholders
- Learning from others experiences
- Seeking first to understand then to be understood
- Win-win approach
- Liasioning - effective communication with university representatives and external counselors, agents
Office Software
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Naviance, Cialfo, Common App, UCAS, Coalition etc.
Google Apps
- Proficient in using all google apps- Drive, Calendar, Sites,Groups, Draw
- Completed - Power Searching with Google
Database Management
-
Completed - "Making sense of data" online course by
Google - Data - Using Google Drive, Google sites for easy data access
Operations Management
- Center Coordinator for College Board and Cambridge Admission Testing, Managing SAT, PSAT, CMEC, AMC, Oxbridge exams and also
- Managing Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) for College Board
- Planning and organizing in-school university fairs
- Singing
- Researching
- Gardening
- Listening to Music
- Internet surfing
- Writing a diary
