Applications Going Home with Students for Career Coaching Program

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Applications for a new career coaching program will be sent home Tuesday, Sept. 4, with students who attend 17 Northwest Arkansas high schools. Parental consent is required for students to participate in the program.

The program is based at the University of Arkansas and is modeled after Gov. Mike Beebe’s “Arkansas Works” program. Fifteen counselor education graduate students in the College of Education and Health Professions were hired to work 20 hours per week as career coaches in the participating high schools. These coaches will guide at-risk high school students and their families to help them determine the students’ best opportunities after high school graduation. Kristin Higgins, assistant professor of counselor education, serves as principal investigator for the project.

The program was dubbed Razor C.O.A.C.H., which stands for “Creating Opportunities for Arkansans’ Career Hopes.”

“The graduate students in the counseling program chosen to work as career coaches have undergone intensive training this summer in addition to the regular coursework they have taken to prepare them for this extremely important role in our public schools,” Higgins said. “We brought in several people from post-secondary institutions in Northwest Arkansas to help the career coaches understand all the options available to students. We’re confident our career coaches can relay that information effectively.

“By working one-on-one with high school students, the career coaches will come to know these students well and can help them plan a post-secondary experience that best suits their talents, personalities and abilities,” she continued.

Each career coach will work with 25 high school students for a total of about 375 students served in the first year of the project.

“They will address whatever might be slowing these kids down, whether it be absences from school because of work obligations, the need for financial aid or simply information about all the choices available to them after graduation,” said Gary Ritter, professor of education reform who is one of the co-principal investigators on the project.

The new program’s career coaches, who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to facilitate career development, will help students explore post-high school education options and assist in preparing for and enrolling to take the ACT college entrance exam. The coaches will stress family involvement in the entire process as they help students go over college scholarship and financial aid opportunities, college selection and technical training possibilities.

The graduate students in the College of Education and Health Professions and their school assignments are Bonni Behrend, Fayetteville High School; Tiffany Bushee, Elkins High School; Sarah Campbell, Bentonville High School; Brittany Chunn, Heritage High School in Rogers; Whitney Farrar, Gravette High School; Angela Harless, Siloam Springs High School; Lauren Jones, Pea Ridge High School; Carolyn Kelch, Decatur and Gentry high schools; Rhiannon McKee, Har-Ber High School in Springdale; Bethany Mitchell, Farmington High School; Kaitlyn Moritz, Prairie Grove High School; Katie Rice, Springdale High School; Taylor Scott, Rogers High School; Heather Spickard; Lincoln High School; Betsy Walker, West Fork and Greenland high schools.

“These are thoughtful, energetic coaches,” Ritter said. “Several of them have experience working with students and they wanted this graduate assistantship specifically.”

The new program is organized and funded through a partnership between the Walton Family Foundation, the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions, the Northwest Arkansas Council’s Educational Excellence Work Group and the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative. A three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation will support the Northwest Arkansas program. The governor’s Arkansas Works program, which operates in 21 Arkansas counties, is not currently serving school districts in Benton or Washington counties.

Other co-principal investigators are Dan Kissinger, associate professor of counselor education, and Arie Greenleaf, assistant professor of counselor education. Josh Raney directs the day-to-day operations of the program.