Student Coaching Program

On April 29, 2008 over 35 students and coaches came together to celebrate the successful conclusion of the second year of the UNH Coaching Program. Last year, we had 7 coaches and 23 students. This year our program started with 22 coaches and 55 students!

Our participating students came to the Career Services, signed a Code of Conduct and received a biography of the coach that was assigned to them. The students were from all different majors and class standing.

Initially, the coaches and students had a face-to face meeting then continued their coaching via email or cell phone at designated times. In the coaching relationship the agenda comes from the student not the coach. The coaches held the space for accountability to the student's goals. The relationship is entirely focused on achieving the goals that the student has discussed. Having a personal coach gives the student a professional who has been trained to support the student as they move toward the completion of their goals.

Some of the comments from the Reflective Papers that were submitted from the students are:

"I would recommend this program to fellow students because it helps you to go through life easier. My coach was able to help me with such a wide variety of problems and was always there for me, even if it was not a scheduled meeting. Everything that I learned will be with me for the rest of my life. It truly was a life changing experience, and it definitely was for the better."

"One of the things that my coach and I discussed a lot was success. How does one measure success? How do we know when we have achieved our goals? I feel that these questions have many answers, but I think that an important answer has to be that success means being happy with where one is at in life."

"The coaching program has been a wondrous experience and the knowledge obtained is immeasurable. Prior to taking part in the coaching program, I was apprehensive of the entire program because I did not know what a coaching program is and what its intent was. After partaking in the program, I can confidently say that a coaching program is of vital necessity because it gave me the ability to plan and focus on working towards achieving my goals amid contact pressure to excel in class while working fulltime. The university is fulfilling it purpose by providing me with a quality education however, the coaching program transcends simply education, it provides me with the tools and knowledge on how to obtain resources needed to educate myself in choosing a discipline, making career choices/obtaining a job interview, and planning for my future."