Achievement coaches, success coaches, navigators…known by many names, these coaches oversee student success. But what does this mean, and why are they important? Originally meant to provide support to students who are at risk of not completing their degrees, a success coach can have a wide array of responsibilities. These may include, but are not limited to: Tracking student attendance and contacting those students who are missing school as an early intervention method; connect students with school/community resources to help them overcome barriers; provide (or coordinate) workshops geared to student success, including study skills, time management skills, and test-taking skills workshops; help understanding course syllabi and/or browsing the school learning management system (i.e. Blackboard).
Success coaches are mentors, who create relationships with their students to help support them as needed. If something is out of their scope, they can connect the student with the appropriate person, or outside resource, to make sure the student is able to navigate issues that may come up. Trust is important in this relationship, as the student needs to be able to confide in the coach with things that are becoming a barrier so it can be addressed.
These coaches are usually introduced to help at-risk student populations across the school. In those cases, their responsibilities span across a large population of students. A success coach can be implemented to help students in a specific program, where students are not doing well, or to help at-risk student populations who have been previously identified to improve and better their academic performance.
Another way to leverage a success coach is by embedding them in a specific program or class, to make sure all students within that course are successful from the start and even after completion. In these cases, the coach may also work with the students to help them improve their interview skills; updating their resumes and cover letters; and searching for employment. This is great for short-term courses, like Nurse Aide or Pharmacy Technician. The coach will take the student through the course, and make sure that as barriers come up, the student is able to navigate them successfully.
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Workforce Warrior is an education blog, created by a workforce development professional with 20+ years in all areas of workforce development and college programming, including admissions, advising, career services and program development. The goal of Workforce Warrior is to pass on the knowledge collected over the years to fellow workforce and college professionals.
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