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About us

Caltech Student Wellness Services (SWS) advances the holistic well-being of students by integrating physical, mental, and social health within a culture of scientific rigor, curiosity, and collaboration. SWS provides accessible, high-quality clinical care, care coordination, and wellness education and partners across the Institute to support student health, resilience, and success at Caltech and beyond.

Job Summary

The Clinical Coordinator is a registered nurse who serves as a central clinical coordination and care navigation resource within Student Wellness Services. The position helps students successfully navigate care across services including Health, Counseling, Occupational Therapy, Psychiatry, and the broader community health care system, with particular attention to students whose needs are complex, cross multiple services, or require care beyond what is available on campus.

A core function of the role is helping students move successfully from an SWS referral or clinical recommendation to established care with an appropriate external provider. The Clinical Coordinator helps students understand their options, identify appropriate resources, navigate insurance and other access barriers, connect with community medical and behavioral health providers, and remain engaged while students are accessing care in the community.

Working collaboratively with SWS clinicians and operational staff, the Clinical Coordinator helps ensure that referrals and transitions represent meaningful connections to care. The position provides clinical follow-up, care navigation, referral coordination, and communication across services while helping identify and close gaps in care.

This is an Organizational Critical position. In the event of an emergency on campus, an employee designated as organizational critical is expected to report to Campus as soon as possible to assist in division/department response and recovery efforts.

Essential Job Duties

Care Navigation and External Referral Coordination

• Serve as a primary SWS resource for students navigating medical, behavioral health, psychiatric, and specialty care outside of Caltech, supporting students from referral through successful connection with an appropriate external provider while demonstrating strong communication, discretion and empathy.
• Partner with students and SWS clinical staff to identify appropriate community resources based on clinical recommendations, insurance coverage, availability, location, student preferences, and other relevant needs.
• Help students understand referral recommendations and navigate practical barriers to care, including insurance, scheduling, transportation, and unfamiliarity with the health care system, using patient-centered communication and evidence-informed nursing approaches to support engagement and increasing independence.
• Partner with SWS staff to coordinate follow-up and short-term support for students with complex or higher-priority referrals, helping tailor the approach to clinical need and barriers to care and identifying when additional clinical assessment or support is warranted.
• Coordinate communication and transfer of relevant information between SWS and external providers, with appropriate authorization, to promote continuity between campus and community-based care.
• Develop and maintain effective community referral pathways and track referral outcomes, access barriers, and gaps in available resources to inform SWS quality improvement and resource development.
• Partner with Medical Assistants on routine referral coordination and prior authorization workflows, providing clinical input and support as needed to facilitate timely access to care.

Integrated Clinical Care Coordination, Transitions of Care and Higher-Acuity Follow-Up

• Coordinate care for students with complex, overlapping, or evolving medical and behavioral health needs, serving as a clinical bridge across Health Services, Counseling Services, psychiatry, Occupational Therapy, and other SWS programs.
• Partner with SWS clinicians through interdisciplinary consultation and collaborative care planning to promote coordinated follow-up, clear handoffs, and continuity across services.
• Support transitions of care for students returning from emergency departments, hospitals, inpatient psychiatric care, residential treatment, intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization programs, and other higher levels of care. In collaboration with the clinical team, help students navigate discharge recommendations and follow-up care, address barriers to successful transitions, and coordinate with external providers as appropriate.
• Use nursing assessment and clinical judgment to identify students who need additional evaluation or a higher level of support and facilitate timely connection to the appropriate SWS clinician, community provider, crisis resource, or emergency service.
• Collaborate with SWS clinicians and appropriate campus partners when health needs intersect with other aspects of a student's experience.
• Develop collaborative relationships with community providers and organizations that improve access and continuity for Caltech students.

Quality Improvement and Clinical Operations

• Utilize the electronic medical records and other resources for tracking referrals, care transitions, follow-up needs, and successful connections to care.
• Contribute to development and implementation of standardized referral, care navigation, and transition-of-care workflows across SWS.
• Support appropriate use of clinical screening and assessment tools and standardized follow-up processes.
• Contribute to SWS quality-improvement initiatives and evaluation of integrated care and navigation services. 

Other duties as assigned

Basic Qualifications

• Current, unrestricted California Registered Nurse (RN) license.
• Bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Two years of nursing experience in ambulatory care, primary care, behavioral health, care management, case management, utilization management, or another setting involving coordination of complex patient needs.
• Demonstrated ability to assess clinical needs, prioritize concerns, and appropriately escalate medical or behavioral health issues.
• Experience coordinating referrals, transitions of care, or services across clinicians and health care organizations.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to build rapport with patients and collaborate effectively within interdisciplinary teams.
• Proficiency in documentation with electronic health records (EHR)Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple students, referrals, and follow-up needs simultaneously.
• Understanding of patient confidentiality, professional boundaries, and appropriate information sharing in health care settings.
• Experience working with culturally and internationally diverse populations including transitional-age youth/young adult populations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in college health, adolescent/young adult health, integrated primary and behavioral health care, psychiatry, or community mental health.
• Experience supporting patients navigating specialty medical, psychiatric, behavioral health, or higher levels of care.
• Experience with care navigation, complex referral management, discharge follow up, or transitions of care.Familiarity with integrated or multidisciplinary care models, behavioral health systems and community resources.
• Experience with motivational interviewing, health coaching, or other patient engagement approaches.
• Familiarity with health insurance navigation and community medical and behavioral health referral networks.
• Experience developing clinical workflows, referral tracking systems, or quality improvement initiatives.
• Experience in student health, college health, or adolescent/young adult populations.
• Background in case management, care coordination, or referral management.
• Familiarity with integrated or multidisciplinary care models, behavioral health systems and community resources.
• Certification in Case Management (CCM), Population Health Management, Quality Initiatives or similar.

Required Documents

• Resume.
• CL.