(upbeat music)
(bright, upbeat music)
- Hi everybody.
My name is Juan Carlos Carranza
and I'm here today to talk to you
about the student success coaching program,
a program to empower first generation college
students to achieve their goals.
We're an initiative that's a partnership
between UC San Diego Student Affairs
and the undergraduate colleges to partner
with academic advising, to really provide students
with a customized support system for their journey at UCSD.
So to get started, I wanna talk a little bit
about what it means to be First-Gen.
The University of California system defines First-Gen
as neither parent having completed a four-year degree,
meaning that neither parent completed a bachelor's degree,
went to college for four years.
And while that sounds like a very generic description,
we understand that the First-Gen experience is
something that can encompass a wide range of experiences.
And that because of that,
First-Gen students may face very unique opportunities
and challenges as they try to navigate
the four-year college experience here at UCSD.
So what our program really aims to do
is provide students with some of that support
and some of that foundation and infrastructure
that they might not have as easy access to
as students whose families and immediate networks
are more familiar with the four-year college process.
So a little bit about the First-Gen population
at UC San Diego, specifically.
About 37% of undergraduate students
at UC San Diego identify as first generation
and about 35% of those First-Gen students are Latinx.
The thing about First-Gen is
it's what we call a hidden identity.
So not everybody can see who is First-Gen.
You can't look around a room and assume who's First-Gen.
And so sometimes that can feel
like a very isolating experience
because you don't know who shares
that First-Gen identity and experience with you.
So what we try to do at the success coaching program
is to help students understand what that identity means,
feel empowered by it, and try to build connections
around that identity.
So, to talk a little bit more about the program
I'll go into what success coaching actually is.
So who are we, what is this program?
We really think about success coaching
as your personalized team of advocates
who provide you with a customized support
to make sure you achieve your goals
and maximize your college experience.
We recognize that every student at UCSD is unique
and you have your own strengths, backgrounds, and goals.
And we wanna make sure that you find your specific pathway
at UCSD to help you achieve those.
And that will look different for every student.
And so we wanna make sure that you understand
what your goals are, what your strengths are,
and really use those to your advantage
to make the most out of your college experience.
So who are we and how do we work?
Each student in the success coaching program gets
what we call their "success team" and who this is,
is a professional success coach who's a staff member
who is trained to work with you one-on-one, like myself.
There's about one of us
at each of the undergraduate colleges
and also a team of undergraduate peer coaches.
These are current UCSD students
who have been trained to support you.
And again, whose experiences are closer to you
and who may share some tips and tricks
about what their experiences have been like along the way.
And, how do we work?
So we work with you one on one,
either in-person or virtually,
to connect about whatever challenges or goals you may have.
Everything from learning how to study for your classes,
to reviewing your resume and sending out
your grad school applications.
We really work with students across their four or five years
at UCSD to make the most out of their journey.
In addition to our one-on-one coaching,
we also provide students with personalized success plans.
Again, knowing that each student has a unique pathway,
has a distinct major, and has their own unique goals
to really try to understand what do they want
their time at UCSD to look like.
What combination of classes, internships,
extracurriculars, that will make them
get the most out of their undergraduate career.
We also offer skills-based workshops,
everything from how do you craft a cover letter
to how do you reach out to a professor
and what do you even do in office hours?
Again, to really give students the technical
and the practical advice that they might need
to really make their journey their own.
And then finally, we have a wealth
of online resources and materials
that students can use when they're
not meeting with us one-on-one.
We have a whole course on Canvas
that provide students with different activities,
videos, readings that they can do
to really think about how are they
getting the most out of college?
How are they attending office hours,
applying for the right kinds of jobs,
getting the right kind of co-curricular activities.
Really making sure that you have all the tools
that you need to make your time at UCSD your own.
We recognize that everyone's college journey is unique.
And so we wanna work with you to uncover what
your unique strengths are to create a roadmap
of what college should look like for you.
So there are certain milestones that every student
wants to hit throughout their time at UCSD.
And so we work with you to identify,
one, what are those milestones
and two, what do you need to get there
and how can we work together
and how can you use all of the resources
that UCSD has at your disposal to your advantage?
And you don't have to take my word for it.
We have a quote from our most recent
student satisfaction survey where one student
shared their experience.
They said that what was most beneficial to them
was having someone to talk to where they could lay
out their plans and goals for the quarter
and be guided on how to move forward to succeed.
They felt that it was a safe space for them
to celebrate their achievements, whether big or small,
and they were encouraged to always do more.
Overall, the advice, guidance, and motivation
provided by coaching was super helpful.
And we hope that you get the same kind
of experience through success coaching,
again, to feel empowered about who you are,
what you want to do, and how you can make the most
of your time here, and to be celebrated
for who you are and for all that you do.
We really like to celebrate the big wins,
but also the small wins.
So even when a student goes to office hours
for the first time, if you are meeting
with a TA for the first time, if you're getting
your first midterm grade back, and you wanna celebrate that.
We wanna make sure that we're there for you
with the challenges and also with the successes.
And if you wanna learn more about our program,
we encourage you to get connected with us.
You can follow us on Instagram @UCSD_successcoaching
or to visit our website at successcoaching.UCSD.edu
to learn more about our program,
learn more about our staff and the people
who make success coaching work,
and to get excited about potentially
making a one-on-one appointment with us.
We hope to see you there, and we're so excited
for you to potentially engage with our program.
Thank you again.
(bright, upbeat music)