Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for University Coach

🎯 Role Definition

A University Coach is a proactive student success professional who provides individualized coaching, academic planning, and career-readiness support to undergraduate populations. The coach manages a defined caseload of students, uses data and early-alert systems to identify and intervene with at-risk learners, facilitates workshops and cohort-based supports, partners with faculty and campus services, and documents progress in CRM/LMS systems. This role emphasizes high-touch advising, measurable retention outcomes, and continuous program improvement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Academic Advisor or College Counselor with hands-on student caseload experience
Student Success Coordinator or Retention Specialist in higher education
Career Services Specialist, Admissions Counselor, or Early-Alert Coordinator

Advancement To:

Senior University Coach or Lead Student Success Coach
Director of Student Success, Retention, or Advising
Associate Director of Academic Support, Program Manager for Student Services

Lateral Moves:

Transfer/Transition Specialist
Academic Program Coordinator
Enrollment Management or Admissions Leadership roles

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Manage a caseload of undergraduate students, delivering tailored academic coaching, goal-setting, and progress monitoring that drives measurable improvements in GPA, credit-completion rates, and semester-to-semester retention.
Conduct weekly one-on-one coaching sessions to assess academic barriers, design individualized learning plans, and implement short- and long-term strategies that accelerate degree progression.
Use early-alert systems (e.g., Starfish, EAB, or institution-specific platforms) to identify at-risk students, perform targeted outreach, and deploy tiered interventions in collaboration with faculty and support services.
Develop and maintain clear, actionable academic plans that align course selection, prerequisite sequencing, and transfer/articulation needs with students' degree maps and career objectives.
Coordinate with faculty, department advisors, and academic departments to resolve registration holds, prerequisite issues, and academic probation cases; mediate academic petitions and assist with appeals process as needed.
Design and facilitate curriculum-aligned workshops and cohort programming (time management, study skills, exam prep, transfer advising, career readiness) that scale coaching impact and create peer-support networks.
Advise students on majors/minors and career pathways using labor-market information and career assessments to align academic choices with realistic employment outcomes.
Provide targeted support for first-generation, underrepresented, veteran, commuter, and non-traditional students to reduce equity gaps and improve retention and graduation rates.
Track student progress using CRM/LMS tools (e.g., Salesforce/Slate, DegreeWorks, Canvas) and maintain accurate, FERPA-compliant documentation of interventions, notes, and outcomes.
Prepare and present individual student success plans and progress reports to program leadership; escalate complex cases and recommend referrals to tutoring, counseling, disability services, or financial aid.
Lead onboarding and orientation sessions for new student cohorts, providing a clear roadmap for academic expectations, campus resources, and success strategies during the first 30–120 days.
Collaborate with career services to organize mock interviews, resume workshops, internship search strategies, and employer engagement events that translate curricular learning into career outcomes.
Conduct outreach to faculty and campus partners to integrate co-curricular support into academic programs and align support services with course milestones and assessment schedules.
Monitor and analyze retention, persistence, and degree-completion data; design data-driven improvement strategies and report key performance indicators (KPIs) to institutional stakeholders.
Write letters of recommendation, readmission support materials, and academic progress summaries for scholarship and program applications as required.
Implement behavioral and study-skills interventions for students on academic warning or probation, including structured success contracts and frequent check-ins with measurable benchmarks.
Serve as a liaison with financial aid and student accounts to clarify funding, billing, and scholarship impacts on student persistence and to guide students through financial barriers that affect enrollment.
Supervise and train peer advisors or graduate interns to expand coaching capacity, ensuring consistent delivery of evidence-based advising practices and documentation standards.
Develop targeted outreach campaigns (email, SMS, phone) and cold-calling strategies to re-engage stop-outs and encourage reenrollment, schedule appointments, and drive event attendance.
Coordinate special programs such as summer bridge, freshman experience seminars, retention cohorts, and transfer transition initiatives, including logistics, evaluation, and budgeting input.
Participate in institutional committees and task forces addressing student success, retention, curricular redesign, and academic policy, contributing frontline insight and recommended policy changes.
Evaluate program effectiveness through qualitative feedback and quantitative outcomes; recommend continuous improvement actions and support grant-writing or funding requests for program expansion.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of higher-education trends, accreditation standards, and regulatory requirements (FERPA, Title IX basics as related to team referrals) that affect advising practices and student privacy.
Develop and manage targeted resources (guides, checklists, online modules) and micro-learning assets that increase student self-efficacy and reduce advisor load through scalable content.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with special projects as assigned by the Director of Student Success, including pilot programs and cross-functional initiatives.
Represent student success services at recruitment events, admitted-student days, and community outreach initiatives.
Maintain professional development through trainings, conferences, and certifications to ensure best-practice advising models are applied.
Support accreditation and program review efforts by preparing evidence of advising effectiveness and student outcomes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Student coaching and academic advising best practices (intrusive advising, developmental advising, and strengths-based coaching).
Case management and CRM proficiency (Salesforce, Slate, Banner, Ellucian, DegreeWorks, or similar).
Learning Management Systems and virtual advising platforms (Canvas, Blackboard, Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
Data literacy: ability to extract, interpret and present retention and performance metrics (Excel, Google Sheets, basic SQL or institutional reporting tools).
Early-alert systems experience (Starfish, EAB Navigate, or institution-specific solutions).
Knowledge of college admissions, transfer articulation, degree audit processes, and articulation agreements.
Familiarity with financial aid basics (FAFSA process, scholarship advising) and their impact on enrollment decisions.
FERPA compliance and ethical record-keeping for student data privacy.
Workshop design and facilitation skills for adult learners; curriculum creation for cohort-based programming.
Case documentation and reporting for accreditation, grants, and program evaluation.

Soft Skills

Exceptional interpersonal communication skills: active listening, culturally responsive coaching, and clear written summaries.
High emotional intelligence and empathy to build trust with diverse student populations.
Strong organizational and time-management skills to juggle caseloads, deadlines, and events.
Solution-oriented problem solving, with creativity in removing barriers to student success.
Collaborative teamwork and stakeholder management across academic and student affairs units.
Resilience and adaptability in a fast-changing higher-education environment.
Motivational interviewing and behavior-change techniques to support student accountability.
Conflict resolution and difficult-conversation skills for mediation and academic intervention.
Attention to detail for accurate documentation and compliance reporting.
Continuous improvement mindset and ability to translate feedback into program changes.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Education, Counseling, Psychology, Student Affairs, Social Work, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, Counseling, Student Affairs, Social Work, or Organizational Leadership.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Higher Education Administration
Counseling and Student Development
Psychology
Social Work
Education Leadership

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of direct advising, coaching, or student success work in higher education or related settings.

Preferred:

3–5+ years of experience working with undergraduate populations in a coaching, academic advising, or retention-focused role.
Demonstrated success improving retention or completion metrics, experience managing caseloads (50–300 students), and familiarity with institutional reporting systems.
Experience designing and delivering workshops, supervising peer advisors or interns, and working with diverse and underserved student groups.