What is a college success coach?
A college success coach is a professional adviser and mentor who works one-on-one with your student to help them transition smoothly to college and succeed throughout their college years.
Get StartedI will always be indebted to you for your endless knowledge, wisdom, kindness, and advice. Most of all, your warmth and guidance as a mentor helped shape me into the person I am today.
How Will a College Success Coach Help Your Student?
College Success Coaching is based on a holistic model of support, which addresses:
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Academic challenges
Study skills, executive function skills, and critical thinking skills.
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Personal challenges
Motivation, anxiety, resilience, and self-esteem.
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Administrative and logistical challenges
Course and program selection, decisions about grading options, leaves and navigating institutional policies.
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Knowing where to call
Referrals to specialized resources (on or off campus), and integrated support for complex situations.
What Makes College Success Coaching Unique?
- Experience
- As your College Success Coach, I have more than forty years of experience in higher education and have worked with thousands of college students. I know how universities actually work — which office handles what, whom to talk to, what is negotiable and what isn't, and how to get a student help within that system.
- Continuity
- Unlike staff members at most universities, where turnover is frequent and training is uneven, I will stay with your student throughout the coaching relationship. They don't need to reintroduce themselves to new people or get bounced around from one office to another. There is no substitute for an ongoing, trusting relationship between your student and the person they rely on for guidance and support.
- Availability
- Most advisers in universities work with far too many students to be able to give them individual attention, or even to be available promptly when there's a crisis or a decision to be made. I am available to your student as needed, with the time to work through complex issues or just to listen attentively.
- Integration
- In most universities, support is siloed—mental health counseling, academic advising, academic skills support, career counseling are in different offices that don't communicate with one another. As a College Success Coach, I can see the whole student, determine what kind of support they need, and ensure that they get it—whether from me or other professionals—in a coordinated fashion.
- Independence
- When your student has a conflict with a faculty member, or runs afoul of some academic policy, your College Success Coach becomes your advocate. Because he has years of administrative experience navigating those policies, he can help cut through red tape and resolve issues quickly. Best of all, he works just for you, not the institution, so you get unbiased information and unqualified support when you need it most.
My Philosophy of Coaching
Successful college coaching is about getting to know students as unique individuals, and then working closely with them to help them reach their full potential. Students are, first and foremost, people. College students, especially those beginning college immediately after high school, are in the midst of growing intellectually and emotionally. They are developing a sense of themselves separate from their parents, especially if they are living away from home. And they are exploring new relationships, alongside new intellectual ideas, all while navigating a diverse and often unfamiliar social environment.
The only way to help students meet all these challenges—and take advantage of these opportunities—is through ongoing engagement with someone who has taken the time to know them and develop a supportive relationship with them. I know from experience that in most cases a student's academic life affects their personal life, and personal issues often manifest as academic ones. Your student deserves to have someone who understands both their personal and academic strengths and needs, who knows their 'story,' and who will give them sound advice. Most of all, they deserve to have someone who consistently has time to talk with them.
Coaching and academic advising are all about relationship. For that relationship to be successful, there needs to be trust and caring. Students need to know that they can trust their coach and that he genuinely cares about their success and well-being. It has been said that a student won't care what I say to them unless they know that I care about them. My first goal in every coaching relationship is to establish that trust and caring.
Everything else follows.
As a College Success Coach, I have the privilege of helping students overcome challenges, course correct, develop new goals, explore new ideas and relationships, and assume adult responsibilities. I advise, support and witness the unique journey of each student's college education.