Academic Coach

Overview

The Academic Coach serves as the primary contact for learners from matriculation (orientation) through the completion of their program. The Academic Coach manages a pipeline of learners by coaching, motivating, mentoring, removing barriers, owning issues through resolution, guiding strategies for completion, and tracking progress. They help learners clarify key decision points and identify solutions and alternatives aligned with the learners’ motivations and goals.

The Academic Coach utilizes relationship-building and influencing skills to foster positive learner behaviors and outcomes, contributing to learner success and persistence. The Academic Coach provides personalized interactions to assist learners in successfully navigating their educational path, with outreach at key milestones and based on identified behaviors to keep learners on track and help overcome obstacles. Each interaction involves exploring needs and delivering personalized solutions to prepare learners for long-term success.

The Academic Coach also collaborates with faculty and university partners to address learner concerns and collaboratively define options to help learners overcome obstacles and achieve academic success.

Essential Duties

• Academic Planning & Engagement
• Assist learners in developing an academic plan that includes all program requirements, enables the most direct path to completion, and aligns with their educational and career goals
• Leverage tools, systems and software applications to optimize advising engagement
• Build a relationship with the learner to encourage learner success and engagement
• Utilize program analytics and outreach protocols to drive purpose-driven and transformational conversations
• Help learners navigate changes in their programs and plans and understand and respond to Capella-initiated changes
• Explore alignment of learner’s educational and financial plans in relation to degree completion
• Provide resources and refer learners to university support services
• Assess learner needs in order to help them make fully informed decisions about their pathways and challenge them to make progress toward their goals
• Progress Monitoring & Academic Risk Mitigation
• Proactively reach out to learners identified as at-risk, including but not limited to lack of engagement, academic standing, pace of progress, course completion, gaps in competency development
• Highlight and address potential barriers that may impact persistence, success and completion
• Encourage learners to develop skills and abilities to directly resolve challenges and issues; coordinate with faculty, academic leadership and learner-facing team to seek resolution of learner issues
• Coach learners through disruptive life events and challenges
• Provide options based on the unique situation
• Respond to the learner via a wide variety of communication tools and systems including, but not limited to: phone, voicemail, chat, email, casework and social media
• Collaborate with faculty, chairs and other university leaders in handling escalated learner situations and supporting conflict resolution
• Communication & Interaction
• Maintain appropriate and accurate documentation of all learner interactions in accordance with departmental best practices
• Program, Process, and Policy Subject Matter Expertise
• Serve as University Subject Matter Experts concerning programs, processes, and policies in meetings, committees, and informal sessions
• Monitor and communicate trends impacting learner persistence, success, and completion; discuss obstacles and challenges to the learner
• Support development and training for faculty and/or staff regarding programs, process, and policy
• Proactively and respectfully identify and provide insight into program, process and policy opportunities and gaps. Participate in creating solutions in partnership with key stakeholders once areas of improvement are identified
• Build trusted professional relationships across the business
• Participate in projects or initiatives that support departmental goals
• Support and participate in departmental and cross-functional training
• Research and stay abreast of issues and trends in other institutions of higher education

Job…