Becoming an Academic Coach
Academic Coaching is Growing!
Coaching in education is one of the fastest-growing parts of the coaching industry. Read below and find out more about becoming an academic coach.
What is an Academic Coach?
An academic coach is any professional who works in an educational environment and has conversations with students to support their success and persistence in their education and life.
Academic coaches work 1:1 with students or in a group setting. Most but not all educational settings provide students with coaching services. These are typically part of a student services role. Below are some examples of specific academic coaching roles.
Anyone in an educational organization can be an academically coaching, though. Teachers and faculty could also be considered performing academic coaching duties as they support their students in succeeding and persisting in their education.
Duties of an Academic Coach
Learn about students who are being supported.
Create a trusting and safe environment free of judgment and assumptions.
Be curious about the student and what their main pain points and goals are.
Explore what is important to the coachee and what they want to achieve in great depth.
Create plans on how the student can move forward and remove obstacles to success.
Duties vary because many roles may be combined to serve the student population. An academic coach typically wears many hats. When coaching, these are the general duties are coach will do.
Examples of Academic Coaching Titles
Education Coach
Learning Coach
Study Skills Coach
Student Success Coach
College Success Coach
Academic Mentor
Tutoring Coordinator
Executive Function Coach
Subject-Specific Coach
Learning Specialist
College and Career Coach
Become an Academic Coach
Academic coaching is growing exponentially in education. The job growth is creating many opportunities for trained and credentialed coaches to make a significant impact on various student populations. High schools, elementary schools, colleges, and universities are all reaching into coaching services. Everyone is starting to see the impact that coaching can have on students in their educational journey. Students need more than advising; they need a coach to help them along their journey. They need to be empowered and design their path towards success. By not being told what to do or how to do it, they are most likely to succeed. Students will be empowered in the process.
Credentialing is essential in this process. More and more educational institutions are acknowledging the importance of credentialing. This will significantly improve your chances of becoming an academic coach.
Considerations For Becoming an Academic Coach
Make connections with anyone in the educational environment you want to coach. Find out what services they are currently offering. Make your case as to why they need an academic coach.
Attending educational coaching conferences. There are many popping up in the industry!
Find jobs on job boards for academic coaches like HigherEd Jobs.
If you are currently employed and want to start an academic coach program, contact us. If you have limited resources, you can begin by offering services and implementing coaching skills during advising sessions.
Know that many educational environments use advisor and coach interchangeably. Be sure to explain your coaching skills and how they can impact students differently.
Considerations for Deans, Faculty, and Teachers
Start implementing the skills you obtain in our training program with all student interactions.
Deans will learn different skills to improve leadership and interactions with staff, including listening and asking powerful questions.
Make the case to develop a coaching program for your students or to improve the skills of the coaches you already have.