Academic
Excellence and
Support Services
AESS: ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES
The Learning Assistance
Center
Suite 2441, French Hall-West
(513) 556-3244
www.uc.edu/aess/lac
ACADEMIC COACHING
Presentation Topics
• Exercise identifying
effective mentoring
qualities
• Structure: What is
Academic
Coaching?
– Goals
– Staff
– Size
• Content: How
Coaching
Addresses “AtRisk” needs
• Style: What Is MI
and WHY MI?
– Background
– Basics
– Coach Training
ACADEMIC COACHING
Content, Style, and Retention
Each element of the coaching program
seeks to promote student success,
self-sufficiency, and retention.
The content and style are two, separate
coaching components, each of which
seeks to promote success.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Academic Coaching Staff
One Program Manager
10 Student Staff Members
 3 Grad/Professional
Students
 7 Undergraduates
Coach Majors

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3 Pre-medical
1 Music Performance
2 Psychology
1 Business (finance)
1 Law student
1 Communication (grad)
1 Sociology (grad)
ACADEMIC COACHING
Program Structure
 Student driven (online, flexible
scheduling, etc)
 Appointment-based
 Individualized & Private
 Peer-led
 Coaching vs Mentoring
 Academic, not personal, focus
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Numbers
Student Usage During 13AY
1400
1284
1200
987
1000
888.8
800
600
499
348
400
200
132
325.5
209
0
Students
Appointments
Visits
Hours
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Numbers
Students by Term in 13AY
250
209
200
150
135
132
96
100
73
50
35
0
Total Students
Probation/Gen 1
Self-Referral
ACADEMIC COACHING
Academic Coaching Impact
• Data show consistent ½ grade point improvements after 4 or more sessions,
with many students achieving even more!
GPA Impact for Probation Students, 13SS
0.25
2-0 Appts
0.83
4-3 Appts
0.82
5+ Appts
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
GPA Impact for All Coaching Students, 13SS
0.33
2-0 Appts
0.55
4-3 Appts
0.82
5+ Appts
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
ACADEMIC COACHING
Academic Coaching Content:
At-Risk Students and
Success Skills
ACADEMIC COACHING
Year One to Year Two Retention for At-Risk Students
All Institutions
Public Four-Year
Private Four-Year
70%
80%
90%
60%
70%
80%
70%
60%
50%
60%
50%
40%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
20%
20%
10%
0%
Retention
Percents
30%
20%
10%
0%
Attained
or
returned
after Y1
Transferr
ed after
Y1
Did not
enroll Y2
66%
9%
26%
Retention
Percents
10%
0%
Attained
or
returned
after Y1
Transferr
ed after
Y1
Did not
enroll Y2
76%
12%
12%
Retention
Percents
Attained
or
returned
after Y1
Transferr
ed after
Y1
Did not
enroll Y2
77%
11%
11%
ACADEMIC COACHING
How do At-Risk Students Fair in
College?
The retention gap is largest between the
first and second years of enrollment.
Retention in later years is more consistent.
Retention rates are comparable between
four-year public and four-year private
institutions.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Who are At-Risk Students?
Typical Demographics of At-Risk Students

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
First-Generation
Low Socio-Economic backgrounds
Attend college close to home
Nontraditional/Non-matriculating
ACADEMIC COACHING
Who are At-Risk Students?
Typical Behaviors of At-Risk Students

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
Full-time Employment
Part-time Enrollment
Enrollment at Branch/Satellite Campus
Living at home (with family)
Involvement in activities away from campus
ACADEMIC COACHING
Generally, at-risk students are those who,
for reasons unrelated to the educational
institution, enroll underprepared for the
college curriculum.
Most often, the disparities in preparation
exist well before matriculation into the
university.
ACADEMIC COACHING
How Coaching Content
Addresses These Challenges
 Serves a large portion of first-generation
college students and students who enter
college underprepared for the university
curriculum.
Addresses “Learning Skills” and practices
that may be overlooked in traditional course
content
Offers an on-campus location for
accountability (campus connection)
The Coaches’ Toolbox
Academic Coaches use a variety of tools
and resources in their sessions to further
promote student success.
Included are tools:
 Developed by the Learning Assistance Center
 Adapted from sources outside of the
university
 Designed by coaches themselves
ACADEMIC COACHING
The Coaches’ Toolbox
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Time Management Resources
Effective Study Techniques
Efficient Examination Preparation
The Essentials of Note-taking
Goal Setting and Achievement
Campus Connection
ACADEMIC COACHING
Toolkit: Note-taking Essentials
Widely-used notetaking strategies,
such as SQ4R and
the Cornell Method,
enable students to
carefully organize
their coursework.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Toolkit: Time Management
Easy-to-use weekly
schedule allows
students the
opportunity to organize
class times, regularlyscheduled co-curricular
events, and other
recurring meetings into
one convenient tool.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Academic Coaching Style:
Why MI and What is MI?
ACADEMIC COACHING
Motivation and Cognition
“Modern expectancy value theories (e.g., Eccles
[Parsons] et al., 1983; Feather, 1982;
Heckhausen, 1977; Pekrun, 1993; Wigfield &
Eccles, 2000, 2002) are based in Atkinson's
(1957, 1964) original expectancy–value model in
that they link achievement performance,
persistence, and choice most directly to
individuals' expectancy-related and task value
beliefs.”
Ask the Coaches to Translate….
(Wigfield, A., Eccles, J.S., Schiefele, U., Roeser, R.W., Davis-Kean, P. (2006). Development of achievement motivation. In N. Eisenberg
(Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 3: Social, Emotional, and Personality Development (6th ed.). New York: John Wiley.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Expectancy-Value Theory
ACADEMIC COACHING
So, what builds students’
self-efficacy?
What helps establish task
value for academic
success?
…Not a rhetorical question, what do you do?
ACADEMIC COACHING
Experiencing MI
 MI uses concrete skills to promote
interpersonal understanding. This
allows coaches to understand their
students’ goals before offering advice.
 MI focuses on listening, affirming, and
collaborating, not “fixing” students’
problems.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Experiencing MI
 MI Activity
 Break into groups of three
 Select a “talker”
 Talker tells the group a characteristic
about themselves (i.e. I’m organized…I’m
quiet).
 The group can only ask “yes/no”
questions to learn more; talker can only
ask yes/no…
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Style
Motivational Interviewing (Review Handout)
 Counseling approach developed by clinical
psychologists Professor William R Miller, Ph.D.
and Professor Stephen Rollnick, Ph.D.
 Attention to language and intrinsic motivations of
patients/clients
 Seeks to encourage positive change among
clients addressing

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
Addiction
Chronic disease management
Medication programs
Fitness and Healthy Eating
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Style
Motivational Interviewing Skills
OARS:




O: Open-Ended Questions (process, rather than
goal oriented)
A: Affirmations (avoiding “I” statements”)
R: Reflective Listening (2:1 with reference to
Questions)
S: Summarizing (collecting, linking, transitional)
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Style
These are common skill foci in client-centered
counseling practice.
 The fifth skill—Eliciting Change Talk—defines MI and
envelopes all of the above skills.
 DARN CAT
 DARN; Desire, Ability, Reasons, Needs
 CAT; Commitment language, Activation (willingness to change
statements), Taking Steps.
 In other words, the above four skills are used to
explore ideas and elicit change talk, walking the client
through the items above…
ACADEMIC COACHING
Coaching Style
Motivational Interviewing Principles
 Express empathy
 Affirmations, reflective listening, clarifying questions
 Develop discrepancy
 Two-sided Reflections: “So, on the one hand, I hear you
saying that you want a 4.0, but on the other hand, you also
want your freedom and ability to see your friends. Can you
tell me how you balance those two interests?”
 Roll with resistance
 Avoid the “righting-reflex”
 Support self-efficacy
 Affirmations, looking backward, change-planning,
information with permission…
ACADEMIC COACHING
MI and Cultural Sensitivity
 How does MI reflect culturally sensitive practices?
 Motivational interviewing requires consultants to
demonstrate
 Empathy on behalf of the consultant
 Positive regard on behalf of the consultant, creating an
atmosphere of acceptance
 Does not assume homogeneity among clients from the
same cultural background
 Considerations:
 It’s important to remember that the term “culture”
does not specifically refer to ethnic background, but
things such as socioeconomic status, religion,
political beliefs, and other personal characteristics
ACADEMIC COACHING
MI Addresses Diverse Target
Behaviors
 MI has been found to be effective in:
 reducing maladaptive behaviors, such as problem drinking,
gambling, and HIV risk behaviors
 promoting adaptive health behavior change, such as exercise, diet,
and medication adherence
 MI seems to represent a generalizable technique that can
effectively address multiple target behaviors, such as (Hettema
et al. 2005):
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Alcohol/Smoking
HIV/AIDS
Treatment compliance
Gambling
Intimate relationships
Water purification/safety
Eating disorders
Diet and exercise
EDUCATION?
ACADEMIC COACHING
MI Addresses Diverse Target
Behaviors
 Furthermore, MI has been demonstrated
to become more effective with other
treatment methods
 Can be effectively combined with other
evidence-based “styles” or content areas to
address specific issues
 Suggests MI could be useful in addressing
target behaviors in individuals from diverse
backgrounds
ACADEMIC COACHING
MI in Diverse Populations
 MI has been used to encourage
behavior change in individuals from
diverse backgrounds
 Recent meta-analysis found greater
results for minority groups
 Examples available for discussion
during the question section.
ACADEMIC COACHING
Future Research Directions
 MI has been found effective in
encouraging behavior change in a diverse
variety of target behaviors.
 Initial results across multiple groups are
promising.
 Educational Research is currently limited
to small or case studies.
 Researchers need to
 Complete additional population studies.
 Transition into educational settings.
ACADEMIC COACHING
References
Hettema, J., Steele, J., & Miller, W.R. (2005). Motivational interviewing. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1: 91-111.
Manthey, T. (2011). Using motivational interviewing to increase retention in supported education. American Journal of
Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 14: 120-136.
Martino, S., Ball, S.A., Gallon, S.L., Hall, D., Garcia, M., Ceperich, S., Farentinos, C., Hamilton, J., and Hausotter, W.
(2006). Motivational Interviewing Assessment: Supervisory Tools for Enhancing Proficiency. Salem, OR: Northwest
Frontier Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Oregon Health and Science University.
Miller, W.R. (2009). Toward a theory of motivational interviewing. American Psychologist, 64(6): 527-537.
Resnicow, K., Soler, R, Braithwaite, R. L., Ahluwalia, J.S., Butler, J. (2000). Cultural sensitivity in substance use prevention.
Journal of Community Psychology, 28(3): 271-290.
Resnicow, K., Jackson, A., Wang, T., De, A. K., McCarty, F., Dudley, W. M., Baranowski, T. (2001). A motivational
interviewing intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake through black churches: Results of the eat for life
trial. American Journal of Public Health, 91(10): 1686-1693.
Steinberg, Jacques. (2011). Study Finds Academic ‘Coaching’ Boosts Graduation Rates. New York Times
Online. Retrieved from http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/coaching-2/
Sue, D. W., Arrendondo, P., McDacis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural competencies and standards: A call to the profession.
Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 447-486.
The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2010). College Completion [Data set]. Retrieved from
http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/state/#state=oh&sector=public_four
The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2010). College Completion [Data set]. Retrieved
from http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/state/#state=oh&sector=private_four
ACADEMIC COACHING
Using MI to Increase Healthy Eating
Habits in African Americans
 Target behaviors
 Fruit and vegetable consumption
 Participants/setting
 Three treatment groups:
- Control Group (4 churches)
- Self-help intervention with 1 telephone cue call
(4 churches)
- Self-help intervention with 1 cue call and three
additional counseling calls, which employed MI
techniques (6 churches)
ACADEMIC COACHING
Using MI to Increase Healthy Eating
Habits in African Americans
 Results
- Change in fruit and vegetable consumption was
significantly greater in MI group than in other two
groups
- There was no difference in fruit and vegetable
intake between the comparison and 1st treatment
groups.
 Implications
- MI can be an effective strategy used to promote
healthy eating in African American individuals
- NON-Clinical Settings (like Churches) may be
effective settings for interventions
- Combined education and systemic changes
ACADEMIC COACHING
Using MI to Increase the Retention of Students with
Psychiatric Disabilities in Post-Secondary Programs:
A Case Study
 Past EMPLOYMENT studies found that MI

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
increased retention,
reduced dropout rates,
increased first-time employment,
increased confidence in finding successful
employment and pursuing academics
 Manthey (2011) expanded to educational retention within
Supported Education settings
 SE was developed to offer continuous support towards
academic success
 Found anecdotal success