Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Academic Coaching?
  An Academic Coach (AC) is a current student who helps their peers develop skills, behaviors and habits to help them succeed in college. Things like procrastination, time management, test taking anxiety or trouble navigating technology are things that almost all students experience at one point in their college career. An AC can help you identify difficulties and examine your academic habits in order to work with you to develop stronger skills through reflection and practice.
• What can an Academic Coach help me with?

  Academic Coaches are great supports for all sorts of academic behavior and skills-building. An Academic Coach could help you with:

  • Overcoming test anxiety
  • Building note-taking and study skills
  • Getting past procrastination
  • Setting achievable goals
  • Developing a homework or study schedule
  • Creating and prioritizing a to-do list
  • Navigating online platforms like Google Docs, UAOnline, Blackboard or others
  • How to talk to your professor, stay organized, manage your time, balance work/school/family responsibilities and thrive in college!
• What happens during my visit?
  When students come to a coaching appointment, they will meet one-on-one with a peer academic coach. Together with the coach, the student will assess their strengths and areas of growth related to the topic at hand and discuss and experiment with new strategies that may serve them better. Most sessions last 30-minutes, but students are encouraged to return and stay consistent to really level-up their academic skills and work through new and emerging difficulties they face throughout the semester, year and college experience.
• What if I'm not sure what I want to talk to the Academic Coach about?
  No problem! You can meet with an Academic Coach whether or not you know exactly what you want to discuss. Since Academic Coaches are trained and experienced in many topic areas they can help you pick a topic, skill or habit to start with through a quick conversation with you.
• What should I bring to my appointment or drop-in visit?
  Bring an open-mind! You may be surprised by the simplicity of some of the tips and tricks Academic Coaches have up their sleeves. With consistency and practice, you can build new skills and habits that will help you thrive in college. We are here to help you at every step. And remember, if one tip didn’t work for you - come back for more! What works for you might be something different and we are ready to help you figure out a new strategy.

Becoming an Academic Coach

Think you have what it takes to be a great Academic Coach? We would love to talk to you! This is a new (returning) program at UAA and we are looking for new team members. Please apply right away on the UA Careers webpage. Pay starts at $17/hr and Academic Coaches must work at least 10 hours per week.