Board lauds academic success coaches

By Arianne Olayinka
Staff Writer

At the LCC Board of Trustees most recent meeting on Feb. 21, the board spent more than an hour discussing the college’s Academic Success Coach Program.

According to “The Star,” LCC’s employee newsletter, the board approved a budget resolution in 2016 that paved the way for the creation of the Academic Success Coach Program. The goal of the program is “to give every student persistent, proactive, individualizing mentoring and support throughout their time at the college.”

During the meeting Feb. 21, the board focused on three specific measures of student successes: credit momentum, persistence and retention.

LCC Board Chair Ryan Buck spoke about the program after the meeting.

“The academic success coaches are to be commended,” Buck said. “They, like so many of our faculty and staff members, have dedicated themselves to the success of the academically disadvantaged and marginalized.”

Buck explained different obstacles the students face.

“It is not simply about being able to afford tuition or not,” Buck said. “It is also about food security, ready transportation, access to reliable internet, mental health (and) study habits, among so many others.”

Buck expressed thanks to several people involved with the Academic Success Coach Program.

“The Board of Trustees is committed to student success and this includes supporting Success Coach Manager Sarah Garcia-Linz and the entire academic success coach team,” Buck said.

“I also want to express my support for President (Dr. Steve) Robinson, Provost (Sally) Welch and Dr. Matt Fall for their tireless efforts to inform the board about the academic side of the house. It is a complicated, and perhaps thankless, endeavor at times.

“What I can offer is a renewed commitment to do better in the future, so that together, we can continue to make LCC into a college like no other,” Buck added.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be Monday, March 21 at 6 p.m. in the Administration Building Board room.  People may also attend virtually via WebEx. For more information about the Board of Trustees, click here.