The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is looking to enhance its student success coaching program as its student demographics change. And it is partnering with student coaching non-profit InsideTrack to do so.
Ruth Bauer WhiteInsideTrack
"What UMGC has shared with us is that their student demographics are changing,” said Steve Ast, senior vice president of partner success at InsideTrack. “For many many years, they were an institution that really focused on adult completers and military-aligned individuals. What they're seeing now is, in addition to those populations, they are also working with first-time-in-college adult learners.
“These are folks who are coming with no college experience and they just have a different set of needs that the institution is trying to address."
In what InsideTrack expects to be a multi-year engagement, the Portland, Oregon-based company will work with UMGC to not only address the school’s needs in the present day but also to set up the school for the long term, what Ast calls an “enhancement and expansion.”
The company’s professional coaches will work one-on-one with up to 600 of UMGC’s first-time students – a “high-risk” category comprised of new students with no transfer credit, said Susan Hawkins-Wilding, vice president of student success at UMGC.
First-time college students may have difficulties navigating higher ed and may harbor doubts about themselves and whether they belong, said Ruth Bauer White, president of InsideTrack.
“For us, it's important to do some of the direct coaching ourselves so that we learn about their students and can provide more insights to them about what those students are experiencing,” said Bauer White.
