Heather Hendrickson

Communicating the guidelines is important. Including guidelines for appropriateness, participation and expectations.

There are many ways to communicate with students and with in each of the formats there are different features to be used as needed. Finding the right tool for your students is very important.

Online coaching differs from in person because you lose the social cues such as nodding or smiling. When possible do video chats to make it more personal. In writing address the student and acknowledge their emotions and concerns. I had never thought of emotional bracketing before and I really like the idea to help convey what you are feeling. 

Communicate clear realistic expectations. Encourage the students into action by listening and addressing their actual problem and coaching them to find solutions. Keep students motivated through various techniques. 

Provide a comfortable welcoming environment for the student. Be an active listener, react and acknowledge as they are speaking. Listening is not about constructing an answer or solution.  The grow model helps the student be in charge of what is happening. Providing constructive feed back will help the student without offending them. 

It is important to get to know your students and build a relationship with them. By learning about your student and the things that affect their decision making will help you be more successful in helping the student. 

Make sure to accurately document all interactions. Make sure to use detailed, clear concise statements. The MAPP outline will help when writing case notes.

My take away was accuracy is important. In order to have accuracy in the reporting particular workflows and standards need to be in place. Always communicate between departments and double check the data is entered correctly.

There needs to be clearly defined set of parameters to avoid errors, personal interpretation or opinions. There are many variables when considering a student placed, if there are no clear cut requirements reporting will not always be accurate. Using a third party verifier can help with accurate reporting and consistency. Also conducting interviews with the student as opposed to a survey will help the university have a better and more accurate response rate from students

I realized the employment reporting isn't just for my own university or my own use, it plays a part in funding, evaluating program effectiveness, and our students becoming gainfully employed.