MyCoach: personalized support for success in the Faculty of Science

It is primarily designed to guide each student towards the most appropriate success aid(s) from the catalog on offer. This system not only promotes equity between students, but also collects constructive feedback with a view to optimizing existing support systems. What's more, at the end of the year, the jury is given an advisory opinion on the student's active involvement in success aids.

MyCoach's role is not limited to this, however: it's also about encouraging them to make the most of themselves.

The initial scheme particularly targeted first-year students who had validated fewer than 30 credits, an audience for whom the challenges are often numerous. By encouraging them to assess their strengths and weaknesses, MyCoach strives to turn these difficulties into opportunities, helping students to see, in their failures, constructive learning. "Having my path traced and immediately identifying the things I needed to change was beneficial for me.", expresses one student.

After a first year of implementation, MyCoach's assessment reveals encouraging results. More than fifty students responded to MyCoach's call. Of these, 95% of students with fewer than 30 credits were motivated to become actively involved in the process, and 74% of them completed the entire program. The effects were also felt on an academic level: almost half of the students monitored succeeded in validating their 60 credits.

Beyond academic results, the scheme enables more personal aspects to be addressed, including vocal, psycho-affective and educational assessments. These follow-ups indirectly contribute to the overall support of students, helping them to project themselves more serenely into their career.

Following this first year, with the support of the Vice-Rector for Training, the Faculty of Science wished to integrate the MyCoach scheme into its catalog of assistance. The scheme has been adapted to cater for a wider audience. From now on, the program will include various types of meetings, including small-group sessions to reinforce collective dynamics and peer support. While the program has, until now, adopted an essentially curative approach, the MyCoach team is now integrating a more preventive dimension.

The MyCoach experience has highlighted the need of some students for more framing and self-esteem-boosting support.