Establishing an Equity-Based Coaching Model: Cultivating Holistic Student Development and Success

Introduction

As institutions strive to create environments, programs and experiences that increase student development, persistence and post-graduation outcomes, many educational leaders have implemented success coaching programs on their respective campuses as one method to meet these goals. While Coaching programs exist in many forms across colleges nationwide, coaching can provide a crucial role in assisting students throughout their collegiate journey (Bettinger & Baker, 2014; Grant, 2003; Garvey, 2011). Rooted in positive psychology, Govindji and Linley (2007) articulated that the coaching process focuses on an individual’s strength(s) to achieve specific goals while working through the steps needed to achieve those goals. As a professional practice in higher education, coaches collaborate with students in an intentional and creative process to maximize their potential.

The International Coaching Federation (2021) defines coaching as partnering with clients (in this case students) in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. In a collegiate setting, success coaches (often professional staff members) collaborate and assist students in achieving individual goals, overcoming obstacles, and celebrating successes through focusing and developing student’s strengths (Sepulveda, 2017). Utilizing this approach, students have the ability to build an ongoing and professional relationship with a success coach, thus increasing their connectedness and sense of belonging to the institution (Tinto, 1987). It also provides students with an additional layer of both academic and co-curricular support during times of transition, anxiety and stress. Additionally, this model has proven to be effective amongst underrepresented students, who experience mismatched social and academic expectations, inadequate peer and family support and lack of role modeling, etc. (Stephens et al., 2014; Stephens & Townsend, 2015).

As coaching has expanded on college campuses, there has been a growing number of empirical studies validating the efficacy of such a program (Dyson & Torbrand, 2015; Grant, 2003). The research that has been conducted on coaching has revealed several positive outcomes for highly stressed university students (Fried & Irwin, 2016), college students with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Boutelle & Parker, 2009; Mitchell & Topf, 2016), female students with obesity (Irwin et al., 2009), and English college students prone to procrastination (Dyson & Torbrand, 2015).

Designed as a collaborative approach to student success, success coaching program(s) offer students the ability to build a professional relationship with a campus constituent, reflect and develop skill sets relevant to college and career and finally, reflect and overcome obstacles that are linked to their overall success. Griffiths (2005) found that while goals varied greatly amongst students, positive outcomes of coaching included increased self-awareness, greater sense of well-being, lower stress levels, increased self-confidence, effective communication and problem solving skills. Furthermore, these programs have the ability to create pathways that simplify a student’s journey, to break down unintentional silos between departments or unify student support and resources, to use data to inform decisions, and to engage students in their own learning experience. This chapter will provide an overview of a small, private, religiously affiliated, liberal arts approach to creating a holistic, equity-based success coaching model on their campus as well as provide considerations and implications for practice.