Recognizing that many of the students who we encounter in the Dean of Students Office need the opportunity to engage in purposeful dialog with someone who can help them reframe cognitive behaviors (decision making, time management, stress management, study and learning activities, interpersonal communication, and so forth) we have established the Success Coach Program.
Success Coaches are professional and pre-professional staff and faculty designated and trained (as necessary) to work in one-on-one relationships with students as part of a developmental sanction and support process.
The goal of this program will be to create a culture of “two way listening” including “listening to feelings.” Success Coaches can help individual students who have, for a variety of reasons, become entangled in the campus conduct process or have come to the attention of the Dean of Students Office or the Critical Case Team.
Typically a student would be required (in the case of a judicial incident) or encouraged (if no formal judicial requirement exists) to meet on some level of frequency (bi-weekly or monthly) and for some level of duration (month, semester, year). The Success Coach will provide feedback to the Dean of Students Office about whether the student is complying with the schedule and a brief summary of how the sessions progressed.
This is not psychological counseling nor is it a substitute for essential mental health treatment. There should be no expectation of strict confidentiality. There is no expectation that individuals participating in the program have any specialized formal training in counseling.
All that is required is empathy and a genuine interest in working developmentally with individual students. This is primarily student engagement through relationship building, success coaching, and personal accountability and it provides the Success Coach an opportunity to work with students who need support and guidance.
For more information contact Jim Hurd, Associate Vice President
and Dean of Students (jhurd@uwf.edu or
call 850-474-2384).
