1. The Learning Center’s Academic Coaching Model: Empowering Students to Take Charge of Their Lives
Theresa Maitland, Ph.D., CPCC
Kristen Rademacher, M.Ed., CPCC
Marc Howlett, Ph.D.
Across the Old Well Advising Conference
September 25, 2015

2. Breakout Session Goals
Understand the Learning Center’s Academic Coaching Model
Core beliefs/assumptions
Fundamental tools
Role of student/coach
Phases of a coaching conversation/session
Observe a sample coaching conversation/session
Distinguish coaching from other methods of communicating with students
Explore the application of using a Coach Approach in university settings
Learn about future Coach Approach professional development opportunities available via the Finish Line Grant

3. Academic Coaching What does this term mean to you?
Academic Coaching with a small “c”
Academic Coaching with a big “C”
Evolution of the Academic Coaching
Academic Coaching at UNC

4. Coaching Demo Watch the coaching demonstration and
Note the roles played by the coach and student
Consider how the conversation is similar and/or different to the way you work with students
Notice the flow and structure of the conversation
Jot down questions you may have

5. Academic Coaching
A collaborative relationship that empowers students to:
Set and take action toward goals
Stay accountable and committed to goals
Understand their habits and thinking patterns
Understand their strengths and weaknesses
Improve self-regulation
Learn effective study skills
Reference co-active coaching book and cti training

6. Fundamental Coaching Beliefs & Assumptions
Students are “naturally creative, resourceful and whole.” They are not broken. They do not need to be fixed
Students, not the adults, are the experts on their lives
The person, not the problem, is the focus
Challenges are opportunities for growth
Coach is fully engaged, present and flexible
Coach and student are collaborative partners
Coach does not work harder than the student
Coach guides students to arrive at their own strategies
Remind participants who completed the readings that they will notice some adaptations of the core coaching beliefs and tools in our adaptation.

7. Fundamental Academic Coaching Tools
The Fundamental Coaching Tools Academic Coaches use to promote growth and action in students
Ask open-ended questions
Listen fully
Stay curious
Guide creation of action plan
Manage yourself
Curiosity guides the conversation, not information gathering..
Curiosity evokes discovery, openness and playfulness
The Curious coach doesn’t have all the answers but is joining the student in a quest to explore.
The natural outcome of curiosity are open, guiding probing powerful questions that are designed to help the student reflect and access their own wisdom and knowledge.
Listening fully is one of the most important tools in coaching. Skilled coaches listen to not just what is said but everything else that is unsaid and to their own intuition . This type listening goes beyond just hearing the words and focusing on ourselves and our reaction to what is being said (Level 1) but a total focus on the other person with our full attention and using our all of senses-what we see feel and sense subtly and intuitively. Listening and reflecting back with empathy , and with a desire to clarify and fully understand as well as noticing how you respond impacts the student.
While coaching helps students grow in awareness its main purpose is to facilitate action toward a students goals and provide accountability that allows them to account for what they did or didn’t do, reflect on what helped or hindered and learn from their experiences.
For coaching to be effective, the coach must manage themselves to ensure that they are not steering the session away from the student’s goals or that they create a positive, supportive, trusting, non-judgmental relationship that keeps the student and the student’s goals at the center of the conversation

8. Student and Academic Coach Play Active Roles
Set agenda for session
Keep student focused on agenda throughout session
Self-Reflect: How do I want my situation to be different? How do I want to be different?
Ask questions to promote self-discovery
Brainstorm options and ideas
Ask questions to generate possibilities, broaden and evaluate perspectives
Try out an idea, practice a
strategy
Provide guidance and feedback
Make commitments to use
strategy independently
Ask questions to help student
develop a clear action plan
Agree to be held accountable
Brainstorm accountability measures

9. Learning Center Coaching Model
Four phases of a session
Set the Session Agenda
Self-Reflect and Learn
Explore Options and Actions
Commitments and Accountability
The Learning Center has adapted the Co-Active Coaching Model created by Whitworth , Kimsey-House and Sandahl to include 4 phases of a coaching session or a conversation. The first phase requires the student, not the coach to set a clear agenda for the conversation which typically includes a situation or problem that student wants to changes.
As the student talks through their selection for the focus of the session the next phase allows the student time to reflect and learn about the situation being discussed and/or themselves.
Eventually, the conversation shifts to the future and the student and coach engage in brainstorming ways to change either the students perspective or behavior to bring out the desired goals the student has set for the session.
The final phase of the conversation pins down the broader brainstorming into the student selecting one option and a clear plan to follow and for accountability.
In Section 2 of the book Coaching Questions by Stoltzfus other models for structuring a coaching conversation are shared. If anyone took the HR Coaching 101 class the “lazy coaching model “ was shared.

10. Integrating Questions in a Coaching Session
Set the Session Agenda
"What would you like to focus on today?"
"How do you want to use our time?"
Self-Reflect and Learn
"What would success look like in this situation?"
"What have you learned from last week?"
"What behavior needs to change to meet your goal?"
Explore Options and Actions
"What steps are needed to complete this?"
"How will you handle possible pitfalls?"
"How will you track progress?"
Commitments and Accountability
"What do you commit to doing?"
"When?"
"How do you want to be held accountable?"
The Learning Center has adapted the Co-Active Coaching Model created by Whitworth , Kimsey-House and Sandahl to include 4 phases of a coaching session or a conversation. The first phase requires the student, not the coach to set a clear agenda for the conversation which typically includes a situation or problem that student wants to changes.
As the student talks through their selection for the focus of the session the next phase allows the student time to reflect and learn about the situation being discussed and/or themselves.
Eventually, the conversation shifts to the future and the student and coach engage in brainstorming ways to change either the students perspective or behavior to bring out the desired goals the student has set for the session.
The final phase of the conversation pins down the broader brainstorming into the student selecting one option and a clear plan to follow and for accountability.

11. A Coach Approach
What is similar and different between a coaching conversation/session and the way you work with or talk with students?
In what ways are you already using aspects of a coach approach?
Which aspects of a coach approach might be a good fit for your work with students?
How might using a coach approach impact your work/conversations with students?

12. Academic Coaching: What the Research Says
Improved Self-Regulation Skills
Increased self-awareness
Better management of time, emotions and stress
Better Planning Skills
Realistic and detailed goal setting
Ability to persist, evaluate and modify plans
Improved Academic Achievement
Improved independent completion of assignments
Higher grades, retention and graduation rates
References: Field et.al, 2013; Richman et.al, 2014, Bettinger and Baker, 2011 * Handout
A small but growing body of studies (including two studies done at the Learning Center) evaluating at the impact of individual & group coaching on college students. Some studies focused on students diagnosed with ADHD/LD, others focused on transitioning first-year students and some studied the impact of coaching on any college student.
The literature suggests that students receiving coaching had: This includes the two studies we conducted at UNC.
Overall coaching impacts important :
Self-regulation or self-management skills needed for college.
Making students more self-aware of strengths, weaknesses and patterns of behavior
Allowing to students to have better use of their “executive functioning skills” to be more conscious about making decisions about time and to manage their emotions and stress level.
Better Planning Skills
Able to make plans that allow for a more balanced and deliberate way of living time
Set more realistic, clearer goals and make more logical and specific action plans
Result in more ability to follow through with a plan and modify it when necessary
Improved Academic Achievement
Improved ability to complete assignments on time
Use of more effective study strategies
Better grades
One large-scale study evaluating coaching for first-year college students found that students who were coached were more likely to persist in college and had significantly better retention and graduation rates. These differences held up over time.

13. The Learning Center & The Finish Line Project
Learning Center Initiatives:
Provide training and support for campus partners to develop coaching skills
Develop academic coaching materials and resources
Design and conduct Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) to study coaching’s impacts and effectiveness
Host a national conference on Academic Coaching
Develop a Peer Coaching curriculum and program
Sign up to receive information about future professional development opportunities

14. Thank You!
For more information on Academic Coaching at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Theresa Maitland:
Kristen Rademacher:
Marc Howlett: