Episode Transcript
Parent Perspectives Podcast Transcript
Season 1, Episode 11: Academic Coaching and Academic Success
Posted June 23, 2026
[00:00:00] Dana Bekurs: This podcast is produced by members of The University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council and reflects the personal views, experiences, and opinions of the hosts and guests. These views are independent and do not represent, reflect or speak on behalf of The University of Alabama, its administration, faculty, staff, or affiliated organizations. The content shared is for general informational and conversational purposes only. It is not intended to provide academic, medical, legal, financial, or institutional advice. While we aim to share thoughtful and helpful perspectives, we make no guarantees regarding accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Listeners are encouraged to verify information independently and rely on official University of Alabama communications for policies, decisions, and guidance. Listening to this podcast is voluntary and any actions taken based on the content are done at your own discretion and risk.
Welcome to Parent Perspectives. Navigating The University of Alabama experience as a parent can be exciting, overwhelming, and full of questions. And you don't have to do it alone. Parent Perspectives is a podcast by parents, for parents and with parents created to share real conversations, trusted insights, and firsthand experiences from those who've been there. Whether your student is Bama bound, settling into freshman year, or finding their stride on campus, this is your go to source for all things Bama student related. From academics in campus life to traditions and the moments that matter most, we cover what parents want to know honestly and thoughtfully. Tune in and feel confident knowing you're part of a supportive Bama parent community.
[00:01:51] Bryan Johnson: Welcome to the UA Parent Perspective Podcast. Today we're talking about one of the most valuable resources available to students at the University of Alabama Academic coaching.
Many parents and students are familiar with tutoring, but academic coaching is often a newer concept. We'll discuss how coaching helps students develop the skills, habits, and strategies they need to succeed academically, what support is available when student challenges arise, and how families can encourage students to take advantage of these resources before small issues become bigger ones.
Joining us today are Dr. Tiranda Donato and Judith Sitkinen from the Learning Commons at the Capstone center for Student Success.
Both work closely with students as they navigate academic challenges and build the skills needed for long term success.
They'll help us better understand how academic coaching supports students through their college journey.
Before we dive into academic coaching, let's start by getting to get to know you a little better. Can each of you briefly introduce yourselves, share your role at the University of Alabama and tell us how you work with students through academic coaching and support services?
[00:03:06] Dr. Teranda Donatto: Hi everyone, I am Dr. Donato. We are so happy to be here with you all and what I do is I direct the learning commons. Here at the university we have supplemental Instruction, tutoring and academic coaching, which we'll be talking about today.
[00:03:24] Judah Siekkinen: And my name is Judah Sakinen. I am the academic coaching manager in the learning commons.
And so my day to day is a lot of managing our peer coaches. But I also have some time set aside to meet with students one on one.
We'll get into that later, I'm sure, but that's my job.
[00:03:44] Bryan Johnson: All right, thank you. Well, now that we've learned a little bit more about your roles, let's start with the basics.
So what is academic coaching and what does the coaching process look like for students?
[00:03:56] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah, academic coaching in a very short order. I say it's academic skill building.
So what we do is we meet with students often on a one on one basis and we talk about what's going on in their lives, what's going on in their academic lives, their personal lives, their sort of a holistic look at their life as a student here at ua.
What are the pain points, what's going well?
And we work together to sort of build that foundation of academic skills. So it's often like the big topics are time management, how to avoid procrastination, what are the best study skills for your major, for your class.
So that broad stuff all the way down to like really nitty gritty details like maybe your roommate's stealing your milk and you can't study math. Right, Something like that.
So anything to do with academics and sort of the skills necessary to do well is what we talk about.
[00:04:56] Bryan Johnson: Okay. When parents hear the word support, they often immediately they may think of tutoring, they may think of failure or crisis.
How is academic coaching different from tutoring? And how do students know which resource is right for them?
[00:05:11] Dr. Teranda Donatto: Yeah, so this is a great question that we get a lot to. In the high schools that your students were going to, you probably have dealt with tutors before.
It's that session where you're one on one, maybe with a tutor or maybe you have drop in hours where your student can go and get questions about the content of the course answered.
Academic coaching is different because these are places where you're going to, or this is a place where you'll get questions beyond the content of the course addressed. So like Judah was saying, you know, maybe you really do understand what you're learning in that biology class.
However your freshman comes in, they're enjoying their social life and they're not getting to class on time or they, their friends wanted to stay up late instead of studying, they decide to go with their friends and you know, do whatever they do.
So these are issues that can affect the course, their performance in the course, but it's not necessarily the content of the course. It's things like time management, like Judah was saying, procrastination, making decisions that are going to be helpful to you long term.
That's really what academic coaching targets. So that's how it's different from tutoring. Tutoring deals with the content of the course. Academic coaching deals with everything beyond content that can really affect academic performance.
[00:06:47] Bryan Johnson: So you to follow up, you could be a good student and still benefit from academic coaching?
[00:06:52] Dr. Teranda Donatto: Absolutely.
[00:06:53] Bryan Johnson: Okay. Okay.
One thing that makes Alabama's coaching program unique is the variety of coaching options available. What is the difference between working with a peer coach versus a professional coach?
[00:07:06] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah, great question. A lot of universities have coaching, but it's either one or the other. UA does both.
So I'll start with our peer coaches. That's sort of the bread and butter. That's where most students enter coaching is with our peer coaches. So those are employees of the learning commons who are upperclassmen, have maintained a good gpa, have exhibited sort of leadership qualities on campus. They're also all trained through the College Reading and Learning association as peer educators. So they're all CRLA certified and they're students. Right. There are students in those classes, they've been in those situations. So they have the academic coaching training to talk through some of those problems, but they also have practical experience of being a student in those situations and can talk with students about what it's like, the lived part of it, that's the peer coaching. And like I said, that's the majority of our coaching. We do offer professional coaching. Myself and two of my colleagues as well as a graduate student offer professional coaching, which really is just for students whose need sort of rises to that level.
Maybe they're really struggling with the executive functioning piece or they're really having a hard time really with any issue. But the help they're getting from a peer coach isn't meeting that need as much. That's when a professional coach will step in, take that student, work with them a little bit more.
So that's the difference. The content's really the same. It's just about intensity.
[00:08:48] Bryan Johnson: Okay, thank you. Parents often ask how frequently students should be using these services.
So could you talk about how often students should be meeting with an academic coach? And just as I asked a little while ago, maybe you can elaborate on this. Is coaching only for students who are struggling?
[00:09:07] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah. So yeah, I'll start with that. Actually, coaching is for everyone.
We see students across the spectrum in coaching, students that are certainly struggling come to see us.
But students who are performing at a really high level. Right. 4.0 GPA, maybe they're applying to graduate school, though. Right. And now this added stress level is becoming too much for them, so they come to us for help, support. How do I navigate this?
But as to the main question, how often, it really depends on the student.
At most we do once a week.
And that is a sort of extreme case in my opinion.
Every other week, once a month is perfectly reasonable. Happens all the time.
And then sometimes students just come once, once a semester. They just want to come right at the beginning, get some help figuring out their schedule, and then they're good to go, and then they'll come back at the beginning of next semester.
So how often is really dependent upon your situation as a student, as a parent of a student, guardian of a student, how much support do they want, do they need?
How long does it take to address the issue and to overcome the obstacles that we're dealing with?
[00:10:24] Bryan Johnson: Okay, thank you.
[00:10:25] Dr. Teranda Donatto: I'd like to add to that really quickly. So if a student is in a situation where you see that they're struggling, maybe their gpa, their credit hour earnings have dropped, we know from our data that coming at least five times during the semester, that's what it takes. Takes for five and more.
That's what it takes for students to start to pull up their GPAs, to pull up their credit hour earnings. So if your student is in that kind of situation, they need to be seeing us at least five times during the semester.
[00:11:03] Bryan Johnson: Okay. All right, thank you.
Let's talk a bit about some of the specific programs that parents may hear mentioned. So tidewatch and Uplift, how do those programs support student success?
[00:11:15] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah, so both of these are required programs that students may find themselves in, depending on the situation. So we'll start with Uplift because it's a little simpler and it'll ease us into the larger conversation. So uplift is for upperclassmen who are on scholarship warning.
So they've received an email from scholarship office telling them they've been placed on scholarship warning. And then another, sometimes in the same email, the scholarship office will let them know that they're required to go through the uplift program that is run through our office. And what it is, it's. It's mandatory coaching. You have to come see us so many times a semester.
And all that, The. All that information is information we give to the students once they're placed in that program. So they have the requirements up front and once they complete that program, it is taken into account for their scholarship reinstatement purpose. So we'll get into the these requirements a little bit more later on, I think.
[00:12:25] Dr. Teranda Donatto: But
[00:12:27] Judah Siekkinen: uplift is not the only requirement. It's a part of the requirement to get back into good standing with your scholarship. The Other requirements are a 3.0 GPA, 67% credit hour completion and then in good standing with the university as well. So all of those come into play. But our program is a piece of that and it's a really important piece because that's where the difference happens, right? That's where the change in behavior takes place.
Tidewatch is very similar, but it is only for second semester freshmen. So it's their second semester here at ua.
It can, it is partially also the same students in the same situation. So scholarship warning, but it also includes students who are on SAP warning and academic warning within that second semester freshman cohort.
Very similarly, they get an email from us detailing the requirements of the program. It's required coaching. They have to come see a certain amount of times a semester.
And then there's the same thing applies the same kind of requirements, right? 3.0, 67% credit hour completion to get back into good standing.
[00:13:45] Bryan Johnson: Okay. Sometimes families don't become aware of support resources until a student encounters academic difficulty. So if a student receives a scholarship warning, what steps should they take to get back on track?
[00:13:59] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah, well, first thing is you're going to know because you're going to get those emails from the scholarship office, you're going to get emails from your college, you're going to get emails from us, basically stating that you're in those programs because they are required. Tide Watch and Uplift. So what you have to do is just engage, talk to us.
People's lives are complicated. Things happen, things come up and we understand that, but we have to know to work with you on that.
So what you just got to do is email us, talk to us, show up and we will figure out what's going on in your situation and how we can best move forward.
[00:14:39] Bryan Johnson: So related to that, there are several academic standing terms that parents may hear throughout the years. What is academic warning and what should parents understand if their student receives this notification?
[00:14:51] Dr. Teranda Donatto: To go back to the previous question, then I'll answer about academic warning.
I would also say, you know, students don't always check their emails. We know this. So they need to be checking their emails to make sure that they don't see this. If they are in these programs, they'll get an email, but they need to be checking their email also. They should be coming early. Come often.
We can work with students through any difficulties that we have. But like Judah said, we need to know. We've seen students show up at the end of the semester and they try to fit in all of their sessions at once. That's not a good model and in the long run it's not going to help them.
So what is Academic Warning was your question?
Academic warning is sort of like scholarship warning, only there's not any kind of aid attached to it. That's about being in good standing with the university.
If you are on academic Warning, then It means your GPA has dropped below a certain point, usually below a 2.0.
And it also means that your credit hour earnings may have dropped below the requirements that the financial aid and scholarship office have set up.
[00:16:05] Bryan Johnson: Talk a little bit about SAP warning. How is that different from an academic warning?
[00:16:10] Dr. Teranda Donatto: SAP warning is linked to the federal aid and for that it's a little bit like the academic warning and scholarship warning in that students have to have a minimum credit hour earnings. A minimum GPA. Do you know the minimum GPA, Judah? Is it 3.0 or 2.0?
[00:16:27] Judah Siekkinen: It is dependent upon their credit hours. So if you're under 30, it's 1.0.
If you're under 60, it's 1.7. There's a list on the website and
[00:16:38] Dr. Teranda Donatto: they also have to earn at least 67% of their credit hours in the semester. And for this we don't make those rules. We would highly suggest that you go to the scholarship and financial aid office website to review those.
[00:16:56] Bryan Johnson: Let me give you a bit of a scenario as we get closer to the end. Let's say you have a student like me. I was a first generation college student cruising kind of long, doing okay, but not really aware of how much better I could be doing or why I could be doing better. So it wouldn't have occurred to me to reach out for any help. And help you offer didn't exist then. So how do students who don't have an awareness that they could be doing better, how are they engaged with you or how do you reach out to those students?
[00:17:22] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah, that's a great question. We do have other programs involved with COMPASS courses across campus. So freshman COMPASS courses where our services are sort of plugged in there. We also often reach out through various organizations on campus. So you'll see us around.
But what I tell students, especially students who are sort of emblematic of the kind of student you were, Brian, is that coaching is for everybody. And the real lesson that we're trying to teach you is that no one can do everything on their own. Everyone needs support. Everyone needs help, especially.
Well, maybe not especially, but everyone. Students who are struggling, students who are here at a very high level. Right. Having a 4.0 here is difficult and you need help to maintain that. It's not something that you can maintain on your own. Or at least it is very rare for someone to be able to do that. So come to us and what we're doing is helping you be a better student. And everyone can be a better student is the real answer at the end of the day.
[00:18:26] Bryan Johnson: Well, before we wrap up, I'd love for each of you to share one final piece of advice.
[00:18:31] Dr. Teranda Donatto: I would say come early, Come as often as needed. Don't be hesitant about coming. Our peer leaders and. Or, sorry, peer coaches, we also have peer leaders in those Compass courses. Our peer coaches and our professional coaches and all of the learning center staff are very welcoming. And that was one of the things that we heard consistently in surveys about our tidewatch program and Uplift program that we gave to students was just how, what a positive interaction they had with our coaches. So don't be afraid to come and see us.
[00:19:04] Judah Siekkinen: Yeah. My piece of advice, I think would be, especially to freshmen, is don't be afraid to ask for help.
Don't be afraid to explore the university. It's very large. There's a lot going on and it is often overwhelming.
So be picky. Pick and choose what you want to do, what's most exciting. But also pick things like the learning commons who are designed to make you better. Right. Like that is our goal here is to make you a better student.
So pick things that are interesting and fun, but also pick things that are actually going to propel you in the long term.
[00:19:37] Bryan Johnson: And what is one thing every parent should know about academic coaching and academic support services before their student needs them?
[00:19:44] Dr. Teranda Donatto: Judah, I'll let you take that one.
[00:19:46] Judah Siekkinen: This is always popular with parents, so I'll say you're already paying for it. It is free for students and if you don't come, that means you're throwing money away. So encouraging your students to come see us is a good investment.
[00:20:00] Bryan Johnson: Well, great. Thank you. Thank you both for joining us today and for helping parents better understand the resources available to support student success. I learned a lot myself today. And to our listeners, remember that asking for support is a sign of strength. And the earlier students connect with resources the more successful their college experience can be. Thank you.
[00:20:22] Dana Bekurs: Thanks for tuning in today for the latest episode of Parent Perspective, brought to you by The University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council. Check out all our podcasts on voices.ua.edu. you can learn more about the Parent Advisory Council, parent perspectives, and UA Parent and Family Programs on the UA Parent and Family Programs website at parents.sl.ua.edu.
