Posted on May 13, 2011 by Sandra Clifton
In addition to supporting students as an academic coach, I also help families through school transitions as an educational consultant. My main goal is encouraging our young people to choose a college because of its opportunities – not necessarily its ranking. Last week, I had the unique opportunity to learn about one of the most innovative teaching models I’ve yet to see in over 20 years in education. In a coffee shop nestled on a tree-lined street in the Village, a team of representatives from the West Coast talked with me about an incredible program called College Excel.
Founded in 2003 by Jeannie Crowell and Sue Harless, College Excel is based in Bend, Oregon with year-round, rolling enrollment for students who have floundered in more traditional, linear learning environments. The goal of College Excel is to create the kind of foundation that every college student needs – but few receives – in order to thrive in a demanding academic environment. Each student is provided with not one but two coaches who meet together twice a week to strengthen both intellectual and personal skills for success. An academic coach focuses on the tools of organization, time management, critical thinking, and study habits, while a life coach certified in Behavioral Coaching works with each student to examine factors of motivation, purpose, and leadership. Students then earn four credits in a “College Success” program that addresses themes of procrastination, values clarification, conflict resolution, personal finance, and even nutrition. Students then learn to translate these skills into improved performance at partner schools like Central Oregon Community College (www.cocc.edu) and Oregon State College-Cascades (www.osucascades.edu).
Learning about the amazing foundation of holistic support in this educational community was absolutely inspiring – I wish every college student could explore the kind of personal opportunities of vision and direction offered at College Excel. Even parents have access to a one-on-one coach! Weekly conference calls are provided to mothers and fathers of College Excel students to answer questions, manage family conflict, and improve communication with their sons and daughters.
You might be surprised about the variety of students who land at College Excel – there are individuals here from Auburn, Boston University, Syracuse, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Yale.  Where do they journey from here? Participants have been accepted to American University, Colorado College, Northeastern, St. Johns, Texas A&M, and the University of Michigan – among other esteemed institutions.
I encourage you to read more about this supportive, innovative educational experience at www.collegeexcel.com – and be sure to explore the option of attending the Summer Intensive 2011, June 13th-September 11th, which offers courses in Positive Psychology, Fundamentals of Public Speaking, Intro to Literature: Poetry, and Shakespeare Review.
If you know a bright young person who has passion but needs a little direction, College Excel just might be the program to launch a whole new landscape for their dreams.
Sandra,
This is very interesting information. I teach at a college where many of the students are challenged (ADHD/ADD) or are experiencing homelessness, joblessness, and a vast array of socio-behavioral issues. I would like to implement a coaching program to help these students gain focus, assume responsibility, …, and more.
HI Dan,
Very interesting–perhaps you could connect with the coordinators of the program there at College Excel? They have designed a very unique program that is unlike any other I’ve seen in America, and I’m sure that the college administrators would be very helpful with any questions you might have about the structure of support provided for students, which is year-round. This is a school that builds reciprocal relationships, so if you’re out West, I also encourage you to visit the campus, which looks beautiful!
Bright wishes,
Sandra
The model sounds good in theory, not sure how the coaches and prices are now, or the services, all I can say is that one of the ladies who runs it is sour, like an unripe lemon (S–). The other nicer but missing some of what goes on there.
Be most wary of a woman named S–, I think, and her daughter. (a semi-haggard looking woman with blondish/gray hair and her daughter had died red hair) Both are vindictive. The program is super expensive, Jeannie is ok, but in reality it’s a business they make loot on. They rent out houses at quadruple market rate for the students, which is in addition to the “tuition” for the program, which is very high, the program involves some hand holding and meetings, a life coach, they did actually have one good one but he left I hear, and a few other services. The bad taste in my mouth is from seeing how Sue and her daughter, obviously a case of nepitism, treated students in the program. I saw and spoke with several people in the program to form this opinion.
I should also note that there were several problems with the program, but a couple good notes too. I think someone could accomplish the same thing in better ways. Shoot, most of the benefit could be having someone help you move in to a place, check up on you, a little q&a and some excercises you could find in a few self-help and organization books, find some friends/ people to hang out with who also go to school and have problems like many do, (um, everyone) and have someone help you get to the grocery store. Boom, give me 30 grand every few months now.
Your write-up makes it sound great, it’s just not the actual reality, last I checked. The issues I speak to are real.
But hey, it’s all a business too, a system, a status quo, and people are being shuttled through. Pass the human and the bucks. Are there real and relative concerns, sure, and relative help some of these people provide, it’s all relative. Some good, some problems. I could say much more but hey, my time is worth something too.
HI David,
While I respect your opinion and individual experience, I do feel that you are creating an argument “ad hominem,” by attacking employees connected to College Excel, versus addressing specific issues of concern with the ethics and validity of this program.
As a certified coach in Emotional Literacy, I would encourage you to post replies that are helpful to the constituents of this website and the community as a whole, and would invite you to provide contact information if individuals would like to speak to you privately about additional angles with which you are particularly disgruntled.
Thanks very much for respecting this request–
and honoring these principles of positive interaction,
Sandra