Being a Coach
Coaches lead the Circle of Champions implementation at their college, acting as the driving force and the first point of contact for any questions coming from campus. Coaches coordinate with JourneyGPS regarding technology issues. JourneyGPS helps coaches with some operational issues.
Participating faculty incorporate the Circle of Champions assignment into their courses. The assignment can be downloaded from the Course Assignment Page. Coaches recruit and support participating faculty as a core strategy for enrolling students into the program.
Through the Network, Champions learn how to support their students, and students learn strategies for succeeding in their college-to-career journey. Learning is facilitated through a supplemental instruction (SI) model at no cost to students or champions. Coaches facilitate the SI instruction.
Coaches assist with faculty recruitment across their campus to implement the Circle of Champions assignment in their courses. This in turn generates student and Champion registration in the Network. Coaches help build the College network into a cohort made up of many Circles.
Coaches initiate communications across their cohort and inside each Circle with the goal of stimulating conversation and engagement between students and their Champions. The coach organizes the conversation, helps get it started, and then steps away, allowing the group to learn from each other.
The Circle of Champions is being thoroughly assessed through a partnership with UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania. The research has national and local college implications. Coaches help with the implementation of research methods.
