Questions Below Include:
Qs about Signing Up and Signing In
Qs about My Profile
Qs about the Circle Chat Forum
Qs about My Student's Progress
Qs about My Student's Circle
Qs about the Non-Credit Course
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To see a brief overview of what it is like to be a Champion, visit https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/being-a-champion. A full orientation to becoming a Champion is discussed at https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/champion-orientation.
The information your student(s) will be sharing with you may at times be private/sensitive information. We need to make sure this information is kept confidential, and the only way to do this is to have the entire Circle registered behind a username and password. This will set up a secure environment. Once you are logged in, you can stay logged in to make accessing the Circle of Champions as easy as possible.
The process usually takes less than 5 minutes to register.
No. Champions and students can register and participate in the Circle of Champions at no cost. This program is free to Champions and students.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
When you open the sign-in page, if you do not remember your password, click on the "Forgot Password?" link and follow the instructions. You can also reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
Qs About Signing Up or Signing In
Building and maintaining your profile information is important because it helps your student(s) get to know you a little better. I helps them build a more meaningful and personal relationship with you. It also helps the other Champions in your Circle get to know you in your common effort to help your student(s) succeed.
Champions typically take about 5 to 10 minutes to initially fill in their profile information. You can go to your profile at any time and spend as much time as you would like making sure all the information is accurate and up to date.
Yes! We keep all of your information securely stored behind your username and password. The only people who have access to the information are you, your student(s), the other Champions in your Circle, your student's Coach, the executive personnel charged with maintaining the website/application.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for student help at www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
Qs About My Profile
The chat/messaging tool makes it easy to communicate with your student and other Champions in your Circle. It also makes it easy for everyone else in the Circle to stay connected with each other. You can use the tool like a texting tool. This is also an important tool because it allows us to track/record all communications. This helps us make the Circle of Champions Network available for free to all students and Champions.
Login/sign-in to the Network through www.myCircleofChampions.com. Click on the chat/message tool. Choose who you want to communicate with by selecting a channel. If you only want to chat with your student, choose that channel. If you want to chat with everyone in the Circle, choose that channel. Once you have selected the channel, start typing your message. When you are done, hit send.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
We refer to a Circle of Champions as a Circle or your Circle. The Circle includes all the Champions who are supporting a student's academic journey (one student and several Champions). It may take a little while (a few months?) for each student to build their Circle. Students may add people to their Circle over time as key individuals come in and out of their life. Regardless, a Circle is a group of people who will celebrate with the student when they achieve important accomplishments and help the student when they struggle with challenging hurdles.
First-generation college students (students from families where no one has completed college) particularly need a Circle of Champions. First-gen students come from communities with friends and family who love them, but often lack college experience and know-how. As a result, these students receive less guidance in their academic journeys. Surrounded by people who want to help but often don’t know how, they are less likely to receive support when applying for college, choosing courses, securing financial aid, planning for careers, and generally navigating the complexities of college. In addition, the under-funded condition of the public colleges they most often attend means college personnel are not typically able to fill these support gaps leaving an estimated 45% of college students (and more for marginalized students) to never see an academic advisor (Flaherty, 2023).
The result is first-gen undergraduates navigate complicated academic journeys largely by themselves. This condition contributes to an academic equity gap for students from historically underserved communities. While we can celebrate the achievement of proportionate college access for most student groups (Mora, 2022), success and completion rates remain disproportionately low for students of color and low income students from all race and ethnicity groups.
An engaged Circle of Champions has been proven to help first-gen students find greater academic success.
This feature allows you to see all the Champions in your student's Circle. You can view their individual profile information and reach out to them via email or chat. You can also communicate with the entire Circle easily from this view.
At a minimum, students should aim for 3 Champions to be in their Circle. We recommend that student's not exceed 10 Champions. If your students has not completed their Circle, it would be helpful if you encourage them to do so.
This varies quite a bit from student to student. Some students are able to identify nominees very quickly, extend invitations, and fill their Circle in a matter of weeks. Other students come from small families, no families, or families with strained relationships and consequently spend several months or longer going through the process of building their Circle. If your student is struggling to find a minimum of 3 individuals to join their Circle, you may want to reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) for help finding additional Champions.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
Qs About The Circle Chat
All of the progress information comes from the student him or herself. We do not pull data from the college to assess student progress, rather we rely on students to self-report.
If the student's profile/progress seems to lack information or be out of date, it is because the student has not updated their profile. This in itself may be a good reason for you to reach out to your student with a note of encouragement. Talk to them about the need to maintain an assessment of their progress. You may want to make that comment as a post for the student and the entire Circle in the chat/messaging area.
You may want to "brag" about your student's progress, especially if they are doing well. For example, you may want to post something on your social media account about your student that other family members will see. This is a good practice. It will help your student feel supported. Your student has already provided consent for you to share their progress information. With that said, we recommend that you use caution and exercise discretion before sharing any of the following information:
grades
grade point average (GPA)
student schedules
student contact information
Social Security numbers
student ID numbers
Rather than specifically mentioning these confidential items in public, you should think about making more general statements. For example, instead of say you are proud of your student for maintaining a 3.1 GPA, you may want to say you are proud of your student maintaining good grades.
We keep all student progress information securely stored behind username and password protections. The only people who have access to the information are the student who "owns" the profile, the student's Champions, the student's Coach, and the executive personnel charged with maintaining the website/application.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
Qs About My Student's Progress
The chat/messaging tool makes it easy to communicate with your student and other Champions in your Circle. It also makes it easy for everyone else in the Circle to stay connected with each other. You can use the tool like a texting tool. This is also an important tool because it allows us to track/record all communications. This helps us make the Circle of Champions Network available for free to all students and Champions.
Login/sign-in to the Network through www.myCircleofChampions.com. Click on the chat/message tool. Choose who you want to communicate with by selecting a channel. If you only want to chat with your student, choose that channel. If you want to chat with everyone in the Circle, choose that channel. Once you have selected the channel, start typing your message. When you are done, hit send.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
We refer to a Circle of Champions as a Circle or your Circle. The Circle includes all the Champions who are supporting a student's academic journey (one student and several Champions). It may take a little while (a few months?) for each student to build their Circle. Students may add people to their Circle over time as key individuals come in and out of their life. Regardless, a Circle is a group of people who will celebrate with the student when they achieve important accomplishments and help the student when they struggle with challenging hurdles.
First-generation college students (students from families where no one has completed college) particularly need a Circle of Champions. First-gen students come from communities with friends and family who love them, but often lack college experience and know-how. As a result, these students receive less guidance in their academic journeys. Surrounded by people who want to help but often don’t know how, they are less likely to receive support when applying for college, choosing courses, securing financial aid, planning for careers, and generally navigating the complexities of college. In addition, the under-funded condition of the public colleges they most often attend means college personnel are not typically able to fill these support gaps leaving an estimated 45% of college students (and more for marginalized students) to never see an academic advisor (Flaherty, 2023).
The result is first-gen undergraduates navigate complicated academic journeys largely by themselves. This condition contributes to an academic equity gap for students from historically underserved communities. While we can celebrate the achievement of proportionate college access for most student groups (Mora, 2022), success and completion rates remain disproportionately low for students of color and low income students from all race and ethnicity groups.
An engaged Circle of Champions has been proven to help first-gen students find greater academic success.
This feature allows you to see all the Champions in your student's Circle. You can view their individual profile information and reach out to them via email or chat. You can also communicate with the entire Circle easily from this view.
At a minimum, students should aim for 3 Champions to be in their Circle. We recommend that student's not exceed 10 Champions. If your students has not completed their Circle, it would be helpful if you encourage them to do so.
This varies quite a bit from student to student. Some students are able to identify nominees very quickly, extend invitations, and fill their Circle in a matter of weeks. Other students come from small families, no families, or families with strained relationships and consequently spend several months or longer going through the process of building their Circle. If your student is struggling to find a minimum of 3 individuals to join their Circle, you may want to reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) for help finding additional Champions.
Reach out to your student's coach (www.mycircleofchampions.com/mycoach) or find other resources for help at https://www.mycircleofchampions.com/help.
Qs About My Student's Circle
Qs About the Non-Credit Course
The course is completely free. There are no fees, not tuition, and no required materials to purchase.
All champions (whether enrolled in the course or not) receive weekly materials from the Champion Success Coordinator. The course does not interrupt or change the learning that Champions do at the Circle of Champions. The Coordinator continues sending weekly materials, suggested activities, chat prompt ideas, and continues providing feedback on Champion engagement.
Champions are invited to enroll in a no-cost, non-credit course offered by one of our partner community colleges, including Santa Ana College, School of Continuing Education and Gavilan College).
The main purpose of the course is to support you as a Champion. It provides practical, easy-to-use guidance that helps you offer consistent, informed support to your student. The lessons are grounded in what students tell us they need most. Champions who participate gain helpful language, tools, and strategies for encouraging and guiding their student throughout the college journey.
While enrollment is voluntary, your participation also helps keep the entire Circle of Champions program free for colleges, students, faculty, and Champions. When a Champion enrolls, the college is able to report participation and receive state noncredit funding (FTES). A portion of that funding is used to support faculty stipends, coaching and student services, technology and platform development, research, and the staff needed to run and improve the program. Without this mechanism, we would need to charge colleges, faculty, or students to continue offering the program.
Yes. You can opt to join or NOT join the course.
You will remain in the Circle of Champions and continue to receive weekly content and learning materials from the Champion Success Coordinator.
Right now, only CA residents may register for the course. All other champions can continue to be part of the Circle of Champions at no cost and will receive learning materials at no cost.
We embed the Circle of Champions learning materials within a noncredit course because it brings academic rigor, oversight, and credibility into the program. The course is formally approved by the college’s curriculum committee, meets standards reviewed by the Academic Senate, and aligns with our partners’ expectations for quality and student support. This structure ensures we maintain a high level of academic excellence for everyone involved.