Student Success Coaches

Helping you develop good study skills and habits.

Overview

Student success coaches empower students to succeed in college and beyond. They help you build academic and college-life skills to prevent, prepare for and respond to common obstacles students encounter in higher education. And then they guide you toward achieving your personal goals by putting those learned skills into practice. In short, student success coaches help you learn how to learn.

At COTC, you can work with an assigned success coach from day one to make sure your educational journey is a success. Coaches are available on every campus and online.

One-On-One Coaching

Student success coaches work individually with students to develop healthy student-centered habits such as:

  • Time Management
  • Learning styles
  • Resource utilization
  • Active Notetaking
  • Study Skills
  • Success Planning
  • Motivation
  • Organization

Get Back on Track

Student success coaches also connect with students who are struggling or need academic assistance to get them back on track to completion.

Free, online StudentLingo workshops

StudentLingo is a series of interactive on-demand workshops, action plans, and valuable resources focused on helping college students reach their academic, personal, and career goals. To get started, go to www.studentlingo.com/cotc.

When accessing StudentLingo for the first time, you’ll need to create a user profile using your COTC email. This profile will be used anytime you want to access these on-demand workshops.

Who Can Benefit from a Student Success Coach?

All students — no matter what their program or year in school — can benefit from a student success coach. Coaching is recommended for students who struggle to remember information from a lecture or reading, receive low scores on exams, have difficulty managing their time or are generally not performing well in class.

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Meet our Student Success Coaches

Student Success Coaches are available by appointment only.*
Schedule an appointment with a Student Success Coach

*Each student is assigned a Student Success Coach after orientation. To find out who your Student Success Coach is, please email COTCsuccess@mail.cotc.edu or go to the “Student Assistance” section of COTCconnect on myCOTC.

Newark

Stephen Pierce
pierce.661@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Stephen Pierce
Stephen [he/him/his] specializes in working with students struggling with digital literacy as well as underserved students. His approach to coaching is to create a safe space where you can discuss your strengths and weaknesses to work out how you can become a better student. Stephen graduated from Ohio University in 2014 with degrees in history and psychology and from Columbus State in 2021 with a degree in cybersecurity.

Yvonne Townsend
townsend.652@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Yvonne Townsend
Yvonne [she/her/hers] specializes in studying social and educational inequalities, student persistence in higher education, and ways to improve educational attainment. As an academic coach, she takes a student-centered approach to help identify their goals and help develop plans to help reach their goals. Yvonne has a BA in Psychology and Sociology from The Ohio State University, a MA in Sociology from the University of Kentucky and a MEd in higher education administration from Tiffin University. 

Coshocton

Jackie Farmer
farmer.240@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Jackie Farmer
After working at the Ohio Department of Education for 12.5 years, Jackie [she/her/hers] was a teacher in both adult education and business education at the Coshocton County Career Center as well a part-time faculty member at COTC. She also served as a tutor for computer, reading and writing skills. Jackie has bachelor’s degree in education from Kent State University and an MAE from Muskingum College.

Knox

Rachael Bailey
bailey.444@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Rachael Bailey
Rachel Bailey has worked in higher education for 25 years, including six years at COTC, in admissions, advising, testing and success coaching. As a Success Coach, she sees her role as an encourager, a motivator and a guide through the college experience.  She believes that every student learns in unique ways and that effective studying is a learned skill. Rachel has a BS in Elementary Education from University of Rio Grande and an MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University.

Pataskala

Janetta Davis
davis.6883@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Janetta Davis
Janetta [she/her/hers] has taught and advised at the secondary and post-secondary levels for over two decades and enjoys helping students find their authentic voice. As a coach, Janetta believes that a student’s background is intrinsically tied to their academic success. She collaborates with the student offering support and practical tools. Janetta received an MFA from Ohio University and earned a BFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Joan Webb
webb.859@mail.cotc.edu
Headshot of Joan Webb
Joan [she/her/hers] has been with COTC since 2019.  She has over forty years experience in aviation, engineering and project management. Her interests include recruiting and helping with the success of STEM students, particularly women in STEM. She has worked with engineering co-op students and interns throughout her career, and volunteers in various roles with The Ohio State University, including acting as a micro mentor for the Young Alumni Academy. Her goal is to help students succeed, regardless of what they may need assistance with. Joan is an Ohio State alumna with a degree in civil engineering; she also earned her MBA at Seattle University.

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Academic Champion Workshops

Illustration of a hand holding an lightbulb upright.

This workshop series will help you learn the skills to be a more successful student. Students who successfully attend all five workshops and earn a semester GPA of 2.0 or better will be recognized with the Academic Champion designation- receiving a certificate and acknowledgment on COTC’s website. Workshops will be in Hopewell Hall, room 53, lasting about 45 minutes.