Academic Coaching
Introduction
This topic aims to suggest organizational forms of academic coaching (AC), explore topics that students want to learn and practice after school, so that leaders have an overview in the process of building student support program. It is not easy to define "Academic Coaching" meaning as its some roles overlap with other roles on campus such as tutor, mentor, academic counselors, etc. Therefore, the leader needs to differentiate AC, then define strategy to support students.
"Academic/Success Coach (or “Coach”): Terms are used interchangeably to encompass “academic coach,” “academic success coach” and “success coach”. Initially, this role may involve a representative of the university who meets one-onone with a student focusing on an academic and/or overall collegiate student experience. Coaching in this context does not refer to anything related to athletics. As explained in the purpose statement, one intention of current study is to help define and differentiate this role." Robinson, C. E. (2015)
Academic coaching is a contemporary approach to supporting students with diverse needs as they develop academic and communication skills and transition to postsecondary education. Mitchell, J. J., & Gansemer-Topf, A. M. (2016),p.253
"Coaches frequently meet with their students and focus on specific elements during these meetings, such as relationship building, student development, action planning, follow up, and reflection". Sepulveda, A. (2017)
Sepulveda, A. (2017), p.70 shared that The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) provided an overview of specific characteristics of academic coaches including:
developing a personal relationship with the student,
providing support to help students achieve their goals ,
developing self-awareness, teaching and decision-making skills,
connecting students to resources,
developing an action plan to hold students accountable
Alzen, J. L et al. (2021),p4 analyzed the overlap of academic coaching with academic support services for students through this Vene diagram below:
An example from Student Academic Center - Indiana University Bloomington
(from 1 minute 29 seconds onwards)
Thesedays, undegraduate students or the young frequently request topics such as
time management/ organization,
finding motivation,
how to stop procrastination, etc.
An example about Academic Success Coaching from University of North Georgia
Some examples from different universities running AC program
Most of academic coach programs are aimed at supplementing students' skills, helping them to be more successful in their studies and future careers.
Here are some examples about academic coaching programs in some universities, click the logos below:
Another example from American University - Washington D.C
Benefits of academic coaching
The main benefit of AC program is help the leader meet the various needs of students in order to ensure and enhance teaching and learning quality.
Academic coaching can improve and increase student's rate of retention (Bettinger & Baker, 2014). The college life coaching program at Florida State University also found “students who actively engage in this program average higher GPAs than their peers, stay at the university longer and express higher levels of satisfaction with their overall college experience” (Sepulveda, A. (2017), p.70)
Academic Coach program helps students to increase GPA (Alzen, J. L et al. (2021),p.21)
Academic Coach program increase graduate rates.
Academic coach significantly increase student's metacognitive awareness (Howlett, M. A et al. (2021), p.197)
Moreover, AC program is a good way to help students with disabilities to help them develop academic skill. Mitchell, J. J., & Gansemer-Topf, A. M. (2016),p.253
Questions to consider for senior leadership
Who is eligible to become an academic coach? (undergraduate/postgraduate or volunteer,...)
What are needed characteristics of an academic coach?
Which students will need this academic coach program?
Is this academic coaching program neccessary for your university? (Depends on your instituional resources such as: HR, time, data, capital)
What challenges can be confronted when operating the AC program?
Will the Academic Coaching program run during a specific time of the year or will it run all year long?
How should the program be conducted to suit your university? (workshop, talkshow, ...)
Who will be the stakeholders of this AC program to reduce the burden on leaders?
Who should the leader authorize to plan the AC program? (faculty, student union, univeristy organizations, etc)
Is this program a paid program, or is it free or for another purpose?
How do you evaluate the effectiveness of the AC program?
Assignments/Assessments
With the desire for leaders to have a realistic view of these training programs, the topic of the exercise will revolve around real problems that may arise in the process of developing academic training programs such as: who will be the coach, what are the topics that students really want to be cultivated, how often the programs are held.
Design the process academic coaching program based on your insitutional resources.
General Readings
Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (white paper)
Sepulveda, A. (2017). Exploring the roles and responsibilities of academic coaches in higher education. Journal of Student Affairs, 26, 69-81.
Bettinger, E. P., & Baker, R. B. (2014). The effects of student coaching: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student advising. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(1), 3-19.
Howlett, M. A., McWilliams, M. A., Rademacher, K., O’Neill, J. C., Maitland, T. L., Abels, K., ... & Panter, A. T. (2021). Investigating the effects of academic coaching on college students’ metacognition. Innovative Higher Education, 46, 189-204.
Alzen, J. L., Burkhardt, A., Diaz-Bilello, E., Elder, E., Sepulveda, A., Blankenheim, A., & Board, L. (2021). Academic Coaching and its Relationship to Student Performance, Retention, and Credit Completion. Innovative Higher Education, 46, 539-563.
Robinson, C. E. (2015). Academic/success coaching: A description of an emerging field in higher education (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina).
Mitchell, J. J., & Gansemer-Topf, A. M. (2016). Academic coaching and self-regulation: Promoting the success of students with disabilities. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 29(3), 249-256.