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Breaking down student/professor barriers through academic coaching

by Benson

Students are often intimidated by their professors, especially freshmen who are in new and unfamiliar surroundings. As a consequence, many students don’t ask for help when they really need it. This is one reason that some students get off to an unsuccessful start in college and may decide not to return after their freshman year.

Dan Ennis, dean of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, decided it was important for students to stop feeling intimidated and be more comfortable with their professors. So the Edwards College has initiated a program called “Academic Coaching” to help students overcome this issue.

For nine evenings each semester, CINO Grille is the designated meeting place for students to have a casual meal and conversation/consultation with their professors from the Edwards College. According to the rationale of the initiative, by meeting with faculty members outside the classroom setting in an informal environment, students will feel more relaxed about asking questions and interacting with their professors.

“It has broken barriers between the faculty and the students and has shown to be a great way for students to get help with test prep, among other things,” said Frankie Weeks, lead academic adviser for the Edwards College.

The program has been going for six semesters and has grown during that time. In the beginning, Weeks estimates that the event averaged about 30 students and now more than 100 students attend. During the 2016 fall semester, the event was held on three consecutive nights in September, October and November.

On the last Tuesday night in October, for example, several tables in CINO Grille were occupied by Academic Coaching faculty and students. Upon arrival, each student checked in at a registration table near the door and received an $8 food voucher good for that evening. The Academic Coaching tables have signs with the professors' names and departments. Some students engaged in group discussions with a professor, and some met one on one.

One of the primary goals of the program is to raise retention rates for the University, and organizers are able to report an 85 percent retention in students who attend the program. Even though they cannot say this rate is a direct result of the program, the number gives organizers encouragement to continue the program in the future.

“It is definitely a way for students to be relaxed with their teachers, receive helpful tips and be better prepared for class,” said Destiny Robinson, a sophomore who currently helps with the program as a student assistant to Weeks. She participated in the program as a freshman.

Attending the fall Academic Coaching session is a mandatory requirement for humanities freshmen as part of their University 110 course. The spring session is voluntary, although organizers say it is almost as well attended as the fall event. Participation isn’t limited to freshmen; upperclassmen are also welcome.

“I see academic and personal value in the program,” said art history professor Stephanie Miller. “It allows for a conversation to happen, questions and answers, but no lecturing. So it is also more personal. We don’t always talk about class. We get to learn a bit more about our students — majors, where they are from, how their other classes are going, how’s the roommate situation. I think those conversations break down barriers so it’s easier to communicate.”

Academic Coaching isn’t the first such informal tutoring initiative at CCU. Since the fall of 2014, CCU's Department of Math has been holding Math Outreach sessions where faculty members commit to spend a minimum of two hours weekly at the HTC Center, Kimbel Library and the Math Learning Center, meeting with students outside the classroom and office hours to help them with math problems and concepts. Jim Solazzo, coordinator of the outreach, says that math faculty have met with nearly 400 students so far this fall, and 70 percent of those have earned a C or better. The outreach is working, he says, but more students need to take advantage of it.

Tanesha Benson is a student worker in the Office of University Communication.

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