BECOMING YUCOACHES' PLAYBOOK

Table of Contents

About Becoming YU ........................................................................................................ 3

Coaches Timeline .............................................................................................................. 4

Becoming YU: Check-In Guidelines for Coaches .............................................................. 5

Orientation Meeting with Students ............................................................................. 5

Goals & Objectives Setting Meeting with Students .................................................... 6

Mid-way Check-in with Students ................................................................................ 7

Final Check-in with Students ...................................................................................... 8

Becoming YU: Check-in Form ........................................................................................... 9

PART I – Goals and Measures ..................................................................................... 10

PART II – Mid-way Check-in ...................................................................................... 11

PART III – Final Check-in ............................................................................................ 12

Resources ........................................................................................................................ 13

2

About Becoming YU

Becoming YU provides students with a framework to set meaningful goals, identify the skills they want to develop to achieve those goals and recognize and reflect on their experiences so that they can articulate their accomplishments with confidence! Through Becoming YU students will recognize the value of their co-curricular and curricular experiences and have greater clarity about their personal, academic and professional goals.

While Becoming YU is designed to be self-driven by students, supervisors, mentors and coaches play a key role.

Students will complete a series of online modules and be encouraged to reflect upon and track the competencies and skills they’re developing through these experiences:

• The Understanding YU modules are designed to help students understandthe importance of learning about themselves to set personal, academic andprofessional goals that meet their needs and align with who they are andwhat they want to learn.

• The Experiencing YU modules will support students in making the most oftheir personal, academic and professional experiences, identifying andleveraging opportunities, building relationships, navigating tricky situationsand gaining the tools for success.

• The Expressing YU modules are intended to help students articulate andprovide examples of their skills and accomplishments in a variety of contextsand formats when applying for or considering future personal, academic andprofessional experiences.

As a supervisor, mentor or coach of these students, we encourage you to have regular check-ins with your students to provide on-boarding/orientation to the position/role and your team, work with your students to set annual learning objectives that relate to their position/role specifically, encourage students to reflect on and record their experiences and skills development and discuss skills building activities and projects. Recognizing that some coaches have many students and can’t meet with them all individually, prefer to meet in groups or already have established onboarding programs, the Becoming YU: Guidelines for Coaches included in this playbook are just that, guidelines.

3

Coaches Timeline

Please Note: Given many coaches have larger groups of students, orientation and check-ins can take place in a group setting. In some instances, coaches have assigned senior peer leaders to facilitate discussions around goal-setting. Goals and objectives can be shared for multi-incumbent or similar positions and larger groups of students can provide each other with feedback during the mid-way and final check-in phases of the process. This is a guideline and you are encouraged to be creative and customize the process to your unique needs and groups.

4

Becoming YU: Check-In Guidelines for Coaches

Please note: You may meet with your students more frequently than what is outlined below or choose to meet with students in a group setting, however the following is the minimum recommended number of check-ins to ensure that students are getting the most out of their experience!

Orientation Meeting with Students

During this meeting, provide an orientation to the experience/position:

• How does your unit support thedivision’s/university’s strategic priorities?

• What is your unit responsible for overall?• Where does the student’s position/role fit

within your unit’s mandate/university’s strategic priorities?

• Who will the student work with mostclosely?

• Are there any key strategic partners?• Introduce the student to members of the

team.• Show them their work space,

bathrooms, kitchen, etc.• Set a schedule for the student to

complete any necessary training(e.g. university-wide and job-specific).

• Describe yourworking/communication styleand how you would like tointeract with the student, e.g.frequency of meetings, groupdiscussions, etc.

If your student is new to Becoming YU, ask them to complete the first foundational module in Understanding YU designed to help them identify the skills they have and those they hope to develop. Let the student know that you will be meeting with them to learn about the skills they are hoping to develop during their experience/position with you.

Please meet with your student soon after they begin their position –

ideally within the first 2 weeks.

5

Goals & Objectives Setting Meeting with Student

Review the Becoming YU: Check-In form with the student to help set goals and objectives. Complete the Learning Objectives, Rationale and Measures (pg. 10) sections of the Becoming YU: Check-In form with the student. To complete the form, ask students to identify up to 3-5 objectives.

For each objective, students will answer: • What I want to learn (objectives/goals)• Why I want to learn it (rationale)• How I might learn it (activities/measures)• How I am working towards learning it

(interim results) – do not complete until Mid-way Check-In

• How I learned it (final results) – do notcomplete until Final Check-In

The objectives should be specific to the student’s position/role and their personal, academic and professional goals, however, you, as a Coach can discuss how they align with your unit’s overall goals and objectives and if they are realistic for the position/role. Once these objectives have been determined, discuss which skills-building experiences or projects may help the student achieve their objectives.

Ask students to consider the following questions when drafting their Becoming YU: Check-In form:

• Why did you choose to take part in this position/role?• What are you hoping to gain from it?• How do you think this experience may relate to your personal, academic and

professional goals?• Are there other ways for you to achieve your learning objectives, outside of this

position/role?• What skills would you like to learn?• What skills do you already possess that you would like to improve?• What new knowledge would you like to acquire? (e.g. about your field of study, the

structure of the business/organization for which you will be working, etc.)• What would you like to accomplish during your position/role? (e.g. lead a

presentation, design a database, earn a certificate, etc.)

Upon reviewing the draft of the Becoming YU: Check-In form, you may ask the students the following:

• Are the learning objectives you outlined in your Becoming YU: Check-In form, skillsyou would like to learn or are they part of your position/role?

• Are the activities you outlined measurable?• How does your Becoming YU: Check-In form relate to your personal, academic and

professional goals?• How do you plan on achieving these learning objectives? (e.g. attending

workshops/events, special projects, information interviews, etc.)

This initial meeting is also an opportunity for students to reflect on their goals and objectives and track them through the Reflection component of Becoming YU.

Please meet with your student soon after they begin their position –

ideally within the first 2 weeks.

6

Mid-way Check-in with Student

Coaches will meet with their students halfway through their experience/position/ role to review the Becoming YU: Check-In form and discuss the status of their learning objectives, e.g. late December or early January for Fall/Winter students and late July or early August for summer students.

During this meeting, confirm that your student is on track and provide them with feedback on their learning objectives and skills development to date.

Review and update the Interim Results Achieved and Part 2 sections of the Becoming YU: Check-In form (pg. 11) with the student.

Coaches may consider the following questions when conducting the interim review: • Are the learning objectives outlined in the Becoming YU: Check-In form still realistic?• Are the activities/measures outlined in the Becoming YU: Check-In form still realistic?• Is the student progressing towards meeting their learning objectives?• Can you provide any advice for the student to succeed in this position/role or specific

examples of what the student can do to achieve their learning objectives?

Coaches may ask students the following questions when conducting the interim review:

• Please comment on your experience so far.• Are you experiencing any challenges?• What do you think are your biggest

achievements to date?• How are you progressing towards meeting your

learning objectives?• What skills are you developing?• Are there additional skills you’d like to build?

This mid-way check-in is also an opportunity for students to reflect on the status of their learning objectives and track them through the Reflection component of Becoming YU.

7

Please meet with your student

ideally halfway through the experience/ term/position

Final Check-in with Student

Coaches will meet with their students at the end of their experience/position to review the learning objectives outlined in the Becoming YU: Check-In form, e.g. late April for Fall/Winter students and late August for summer students. During this final meeting, discuss the student’s accomplishments and whether their objectives were met and be sure to provide feedback on their skills development.

Complete the Final Results Achieved and Part 3 sections of the Becoming YU: Check-In form (pg. 12) with the student.

Coaches may consider the following questions when conducting the final review: • What are the student’s major strengths, as related to their learning objectives?• What are his/her opportunities for improvement or development, as related to their

learning objectives?

Coaches may ask students the following questions when conducting the final review: • Please discuss how the work you completed helped in clarifying your personal,

academic or professional goals?• Please list the top skills you developed or improved during this experience.• Please comment on your experience with this position/role and provide any

suggestions on how we could improve it for future students.

This final check-in is also an opportunity for students to reflect on the learning objectives they achieved during this cycle and track them through the Reflection component of Becoming YU.

8

Please meet with your student

ideally at the end of the

experience/term/position

Becoming YU: Check-in Form

Name: Position: Coach’s Name: Learning Period: Date of Preparation: Date Interim Review Completed: Date Final Review Completed:

The Check-In Form is designed to support students in setting objectives that are aligned with their position/role and your unit. This form enables students to plan their own learning and development and support them in creating future personal, academic and professional goals. Through this form students can identify which competencies and/or skills they want to learn and why, outline which activities might help them build these competencies/skills and track their accomplishments.

Benefits of the Check-In Form Identifies clear learning objectives; Outlines competencies and/or skills required to achieve those objectives; Enhances communication between students and their Coach; Facilitates feedback in relation to the student’s development; and Provides an opportunity to develop and discuss future personal, academic

and professional plans.

Check-In Form Sections • Part I describes the student’s learning objectives and how they hope to

achieve them as they relate to the experience/position/role• Part II is the Mid-Way check-in completed by the student and their Coach

• Part III is the Final review completed by the student and their Coach.

9

Part I – Student Work Goals and Measures

Please complete the following sections based on the skills you identified as wanting to develop in the first Understanding YU module and through previous experiences and reflections. Be sure to engage your coach or student leader/mentor/group in this discussion to validate your goals.

Please Note: This section can be amended as your goals, objectives and/or priorities change OR as a result of your Coach’s feedback.

Learning Objectives

This is what I want to learn

List the specific skills you want to develop and the

goals you hope to achieve in your current

experience/position/role.

Rationale

This is why I want to learn it

Describe why it is important to you and how it will

contribute to your current experience/position/role and

your overall development.

Learning Activities/ Measures

This is how I might learn it

Describe how you will go about building your skills and achieving your goals and how they will be measured, e.g. quantity, quality, timelines.

E.g. I want to learn how to write professionally.

E.g. I want to learn how to manage my time better.

E.g. I want to work on my attention to detail skills.

E.g. I would like to assist the department in furthering their communications goals as many students are unaware of their services; and I am interested in a career in writing.

E.g. I feel that time management is an important life skill and this position will require me to manage my work schedule, school and extra-curricular commitments.

E.g. I know that attention to detail is an important skill for the career in accounting that I would like have, I want to use this opportunity to hone this skill.

E.g. I will work with my Coach to outline a communications plan and content timeline in which I will write emails, reports, social media messages and contribute to the creation of marketing materials.

E.g. I will attend a Time Management workshop with Learning Skills Services and then work with my coach to put in place a plan.

E.g. I will work with my coach to outline a plan that gives me the opportunity to practice and develop this skill.

1.

2.

3.

10

Part II – Mid-Way Check-In

Mid-way Results Achieved Describe what you have done to date to work towards achieving your goals.

E.g. I drafted emails for volunteers. I wrote an analysis of student evaluations for my Coach.

E.g. I attended a Learning Skills workshop on Time Management; developed and implemented a weekly calendar that schedules a time for all my commitments (curricular, co-curricular and work).

E.g. I developed a new filing system and a process for double checking that material was placed in the files.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Student’s Comments (consider the following): • How is your experience going so far?• What do you see as a valuable

component of your experience?• What has not been valuable so far?• How could your individual experience

be improved?• What actions would you like to take to

improve your experience?• How are you progressing towards

meeting your goals?

• Are the goals outlined in your BecomingYU: Check-In form still realistic?

• Are the activities/measures outlined inyour Becoming YU: Check-In form stillrealistic?

• Are you experiencing any challenges?• What do you think are your biggest

achievements to date?• What skills are you developing? Are there

additional skills you’d like to build?

Feedback/Other Comments:

____ I have read and discussed this review with my coach.

11

Part III – Final Check-In

Final Results Achieved Describe what you have done to date to work towards building your skills and

achieving your goals. E.g. In addition to the interim results, I drafted an article for YFile and wrote event descriptions for marketing materials for several departmental events with the student audience in mind.

E.g. Using my calendar, I was able to manage my time effectively and ensure that I kept all of my commitments.

E.g. I continued to use the filing system that I created.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Student’s Comments (consider the following): • How was your overall experience?• What did you see as a valuable

component of your overall experience?• What was not valuable?• What are your major strengths?• Were there opportunities for

improvement or development?

• How did the work that you completedhelp to clarify your interests?

• What were the top skills you developedor improved during this experience?

• How do you plan to use/apply whatyou learned from your experience?

Feedback/Other Comments:

____ I have read and discussed this review with my coach.

12

Looking for skills-building activities or training for your students? Here is a list of campus partners that can help!

Career Centre – offers workshops on a variety of topics to help students identify their skills, clarify their career goals, research occupations, apply for future work and succeed on the job. https://careers.yorku.ca/

Learning Skills – offers workshops, peer coaching, and individual sessions to help students with time management, studying and learning more effectively, keeping up with readings and course work, and getting the most out of their studies? https://lss.info.yorku.ca/

Talent Acquisition & Development – offers learning programs and courses to support York University employees. https://csdtl.info.yorku.ca/

13

Notes

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________ 14

Notes

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________ 15

__________________________________________________________________

LEARN MORE@BecomingYU

becomingyu.yorku.ca