Directly engage students in the development of comprehensive student success coaching models.

Survey students to learn why they are pursuing a postsecondary education and how best to satisfy their needs. 

Provide all new students, including transfers and returning adults, the information they need and opportunities to ask pertinent questions related to their college career, goals and success. Offer an orientation course that introduces them to the institution and the basics of navigating available resources.

Recruit students to serve as peer success coaches, giving students familiar faces to connect with.

Give students choices about the services they may need, with multiple modes for achieving success.

Provide spaces for students to build community and a sense of belonging.

Centralize student success services with a concierge office staffed with trained success coaches.

Provide a one-stop shop for triaging students’ needs for academic, social, physical and mental health, and basic transition support needs.

Provide training to all faculty and staff on the concierge office’s role and responsibilities in student success

Train campus staff and faculty on improved success coaching methods, current student needs and where students should go to access the services available.

Train students as peer coaches to ensure students have multiple modes of contact.

Train willing and skillful staff and faculty to guide the peer coaches.

Adapt, customize and modernize effective student success coaching models.

Develop consortia through which institutions can share promising practices and resources related to student success coaching.

Develop coaching teams dedicated to degree completion, career counseling, life coaching, mental health services, financial support, social and government services, childcare and academic support.

Modernize early alert and prevention strategies to help with persistence before academic probation, sending alerts to student success coaches and faculty.

Repurpose existing programs to add coaching capacity. The University of Kentucky, for example converted COVID-19 contact tracing services to student success coaching.