Role description Semester Coach

Summary
Description of the purpose, duties and responsibilities of a semester coach .

The semester coach supervises (part of) a class in a personal way. He coaches individual students in their academic career. In addition, he coaches students on their well-being and in their development. We also secure in this way the study career guidance as Fontys promises to all students. We find it important to be able to identify problems in the conditions for arriving at learning at an early stage and to facilitate the student to solve these problems. Facilitation is done by handouts or referrals to specialized guidance through student+ within Fontys ICT or to student psychologist, study choice advisor and/or deans of Fontys.

The Semester Coach:

• is preferably also a tutor or course lecturer at the student group;
• is the first point of contact for problems, concerns and doubts in study and personal life;
• educates student on possible study routes and advises on conscious study career choices;
• together with the other lecturers ensures the introduction of students and student groups during the semester;
• proactively engages with individual students;
• guides students individually regarding their professional development (PO);
• provides feedback on concrete, observable student behavior, encouraging reflective behavior;
• discusses group dynamics with a student, raises student awareness and intervenes as needed;
• encourages the student to take PO training and other practice materials that will allow the student to grow in their professional skills;
• refers - if appropriate - the student to Student+, the dean or Fontys helps;
• actively tracks the student's study progress and personal development and records it in a transparent manner in StudyCoach;
• participates as a co-assessor in the Assessor meeting;
• notes the feedback collected and items for which the student needs to make additional efforts in a subsequent semester, given during the assessors' meeting in StudyCoach for the purpose of a transfer to the next Semester Coach;
• takes care of their own professionalisation in this role. Examples include gaining an overview of options during study, peer review, semester coaching workshop, training related to coaching and group dynamics.

During an individual Semester Coach interview, the Semester Coach typically discusses:

• student well-being;
• (personal) learning outcomes;
• progress and (interim) study results;
• project group and collaboration;
• status portfolio;
• orientation for next semester(s) and registering or arranging for it using studynavigator.

It often happens that students are (temporarily) outside Fontys ICT for part of their studies, for example because of following an external minor and gap year. For these students, it is important that they do not lose contact with the program. When a student takes a unit of study outside Fontys ICT, the student remains linked to the semester coach the student had in the previous semester. The last active semester coach thus remains the fixed point of contact for students during these periods. When students are momentarily inactive due to failure to graduate, students will be assigned to the graduation coordinators.