Academic Coaching
Unlimited one-on-one coaching sessions are available with a professional staff member throughout the fall and spring semester, as well as during the summer.
What is Academic Coaching?
College is weird. It presents new demands and expectations on how you learn from novel and/or more challenging forms of instruction than you have previously experienced. Academic success at Haverford requires adoption, acquisition, and/or adjustment of new habits, skills, and practices that match this weird environment we call college. Academic coaching at Haverford exists to make this strange environment more familiar, and help you reach your goals. The OAR team is available to work with you individually throughout your tenure at Haverford, from customs to commencement, to help you reflect, plan, and strategize on how to make your academic journey at Haverford more meaningful and rewarding for you.
Topics Covered in Academic Coaching Sessions
- Time management
- Reading strategies
- Note-taking strategies
- Test anxiety
- Test-taking strategies
- Imposter syndrome
- Exam prep
- Thesis support
- Goal setting
- Syllabus review
How Academic Coaching Works
We deeply value stories in the OAR and we place your story at the center of every coaching session. Therefore, our work is less prescriptive and more collaborative. We recognize every student comes to Haverford with a story, and we lean into your story to identify your strengths we can use to help you overcome your current challenges or create tangible goals. This means we, as coaches, position ourselves as learners and may ask you a lot of questions; we also do not claim to have all the answers: we will work with you to find possible strategies, practices, and habits to employ. Some strategies may work for you, some strategies may not. Every learner is different and there is no one-size fits all guide to learning in college and that is why we view our work as a process and invite you to work with us over the course of your time at Haverford at your discretion.
Meet Your Coaches
Gabriel Angrand (he/him)
gangrand [at] haverford.edu
While I may be the only one doing the talking as you read this, I'm looking forward to meeting you and listening to your story at some point this semester! I come to this work with experience as a Haitian-American STEM student, peer educator, and spoken word poet who knows how much it means for someone to be kind to you and empower you to make yourself known. With that said, I want you to know something. Whether you feel like it or not right now, you are the center of an academic success team waiting to be assembled at Haverford! I'd be happy to join your team, help you identify other members (because I won't know all the answers), and hone your own skill set during your time here!
Brian Cuzzolina (he/him)
bcuzzolina [at] haverford.edu
In my practice as an academic coach I am interested in how your life stories impact your motivations, emotions, and how you make meaning and navigate this academic journey. Personally, my academic journey was marked by being labelled with a learning disability and thus, I am attuned to the various difficulties of doing schooling on such an inequitable ‘track’. Punk rock, and self-reflexive practices were things/strategies that have helped me navigate the challenges, and have motivated me in my work supporting students.
Lauren Ward (she/her)
lnward [at] haverford.edu
I enjoy working with students and helping them reach their personal, academic, and professional goals. As an academic coach, your goals are my goals. We can work together on study strategies, time management, test anxiety, test-taking strategies, reading management, and note-taking skills. I take a person-centered approach and strive to support others’ individuality and independence with dignity, compassion, and respect. I work in the OAR office on Mondays and Tuesdays and remotely via Zoom on Wednesdays. I look forward to meeting with you!
