4 Academic programme coordinator volunteer roles

About Roots Academy

At Roots Academy, we’ve built a learning experience that’s changing the lives of the ummah’s future leaders, change-makers and visionaries. 

Our vision is enabling university students to live God-centred lives, so we teach structured, engaging and transformative face-to-face foundational Islamic education to over 2000 students across the UK, Canada, USA and Ireland. 

We are currently recruiting 4 campus coordinators across the GTA and Ottawa to serve the following universities: 

1. York University
2. McMaster University
3. Algonquin College

Role Summary 

Campus coordinators are responsible for establishing partnerships with University Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) and Islamic Societies (ISocs), and maintaining positive relationships with these sites. 

Key tasks 

• Actively establish and maintain positive relationships with the MSA committees and Student Ambassadors to ensure an exceptional onsite experience for students and promote retention of sites 

• Be responsible for overseeing all onsite logistics through liaison with the Student Ambassador to ensure that onsite logistics including advertising of the class and other required tasks are taken care of by the MSA/ISoc 

• Be the point of contact for MSAs: answer questions from the MSA leadership and Student Ambassadors to the best of your ability and engage them on a 1-1 basis, listen to their needs and concerns and addressing these accordingly 

• Collect ideas and best-practices from how different MSAs are delivering their workshop 

• Participate in onboarding current and new sites prior to the start of the academic year 

• Be the point of contact internally for any queries or updates related to assigned MSAs 

What we’re looking for 

• An understanding of the Muslim university scene and how university MSAs operate. 

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

• Ability and keenness to make and maintain genuine connections with people. 

• Ability to travel regionally for face-to-face meetings with MSA/ISoc committees, at least thrice per semester.

What we have to offer 

• Be part of a team of 100+ dedicated volunteers from across the country. 

• Receive continuous rewards for students that gain knowledge and closeness to Allah and their faith as a result of attending the Onsites Essentials program.

• Be a part of a growing organisation that aims to revive and educate Muslims from a grassroots perspective. 

• Receive in-house tarbiyah sessions.

Please note this is an unpaid volunteer position.

Volunteers are entitled to claim expenses incurred for food, travel and equipment, in line with our Expenses policy. 

Purpose of the Role:

To provide one-to-one academic and personal development support to girls aged 10–18 at the Baytree Centre. This includes helping them with subjects such as Maths, English, and Science, while also offering guidance, encouragement, and positive role modelling. The role is designed to support young people in building confidence, reaching academic milestones, and developing essential life skills, guided by Baytree’s Character Development Framework.

Main responsibilities:

- Provide individual academic support to girls aged 10–18, focusing on areas where they may be struggling, including Maths, English, and Science.

- Act as a positive role model, inspiring mentees to pursue their educational goals with determination and enthusiasm.

- Assist mentees in setting and achieving academic and personal milestones, celebrating progress and fostering motivation.

- Support mentees’ personal growth through guidance on goal setting, time management, study skills, and confidence-building techniques.

- Maintain regular communication with mentees and programme coordinators to ensure consistency and progress.

- Adhere to Baytree Centre policies and safeguarding procedures. 

Skills and qualities required:

- Strong academic background, ideally with GCSE or degree-level education in Maths, English, or Science.

- Excellent interpersonal skills to build rapport and trust with mentees.

- Patience, empathy, and the ability to understand the challenges faced by young people.

- Commitment to creating a supportive and encouraging environment for learning.

- Organisational skills to plan and structure sessions effectively.

Commitment:

- One one hour session per week, with a commitment of at least one academic year.

- Weekday sessions run between 4:00 pm and 6:15 pm (Monday to Thursday).

Benefits:

 - Gain experience in mentoring and academic support for young people.

- Develop skills in youth engagement, coaching, and personal development.

- Contribute to reducing attainment gaps and supporting educational success.

- Be part of a welcoming and supportive volunteer community. 

This role is open to female applicants only (Equality Act 2010: Schedule 9: Occupational Requirements). Applicants must be 18 years or older.

Do you have professional experience in coding and computing? Could you support young people in learning how to code? 

Are you passionate about equipping the next generation with the skills and strategies needed to succeed?

About us: GT Scholars is a social enterprise that tackles educational inequality by giving ambitious young people the support, skills and strategies they need to achieve their aspirations. 

We believe that all young people are gifted and talented, regardless of their background. We run a wide range of programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations, particularly those from less-privileged backgrounds.

What makes us different? There are many organisations that offer programmes to improve the life chances of young people. However, our programmes use a unique 3:1 model which means that we’re able to sustainably use our profits to provide additional places on our programmes, to young people from low-income homes. 

Our mission is to empower and develop the next generation of leaders and change-makers and we’re looking for workshop facilitators that are passionate about making a difference in young people’s lives!

Responsibilities: Facilitators are responsible for designing creative and interactive workshops for our young people, and delivering these workshops with our young people. We run some of our workshops online and other workshops are held in London. All workshops are held during the school holidays, in the evening and on weekends.

The workshop facilitator role is flexible and as part of your role, you may be involved in:

• Delivering and leading short workshops or courses, on behalf of GT Scholars (Online or offline)

• Designing engaging, interactive and educational workshops and short courses for young people and ensuring that the content is targeted to suit different abilities and capabilities

• Running your own bespoke workshops, eg. workshops in coding and technology

• Managing short activities and Q&A sessions during our workshops

• Working collaboratively with other event coordinators, volunteers, ambassadors, workshop facilitators and speakers at our events

• Following the agreed timings and content for workshops and courses

Person specification: 

As workshop facilitator, you will need to:

• Have passion, knowledge and experience in coding, computing and technology

• Have strong presentation skills

• Have strong communication skills

• Be personable and able to confidently communicate with people from a range of backgrounds and professions.

• Be passionate and committed to tackling educational inequality

• Be punctual and organised

Availability: Workshops will run during the day on school holiday dates, on Saturdays or in the evening (5pm-8pm).

Additional information: We will need to conduct reference checks and you will need an Enhanced DBS for this role as you will be working directly with children. We can process this for you or you may submit one if this is less than 2 years old.

Rate of pay: This is a self-employed role. You must be aged 18 or above. Facilitator sessions range from 2 to 6 hours. The rate of pay will vary based on the budget of the funder.