Life Design Coaching: What To Expect

What is Life Design Coaching?

Life Design Coaches build strong relationships with students and collaborate with them to co-create a comprehensive college and life plan that encompasses Academics, Career, Connections, Well-Being and Purpose. To this end, Life Design Coaches: 

• Empower students to take ownership of their educational and vocational journey.
• Facilitate major and career exploration.
• Assist students in developing a plan for maximizing their college experience.
• Equip students with Life Design tools they can use at BGSU and beyond to help them be successful.
• Provide mentoring and non-academic support.
• Help students establish connections and build a community of support.
• Help students to identify and articulate their values, strengths, interests and aspirations.

Life Design Coaching Principles

• We embody the Life Design Mindsets: Share Your Story, Be Curious, Reframe, Collaborate, Take Action, and Embrace the Process.
• We utilize the design thinking process as an overarching framework for creative problem-solving and Life Design
• We empower our students with the skills to design academic, career and life experiences that align with who you are, what you value and what you want to do in life.

Student Responsibilities

• Engage in each coaching session as an active participant.
• Communicate openly and honestly with your coach. If something isn’t working for you or you are struggling, please reach out for support.
• Please notify your coach at least 24 hours before your appointment if you cannot make a session or need to reschedule. In case of an emergency, please communicate with your coach as soon as you are able.
• Take action on your goals as discussed in each coaching session. While your coach serves as a trusted guide, only YOU have the power to make the changes you want to see.

Coach Responsibilities

• Be present, direct, and honest during each coaching session.
• Provide accountability to students for their identified goals and action steps to help them move forward when they are having difficulty taking action.
• Serve as a thought partner and offer new insights with the student throughout the coaching process.
• Customize the student’s coaching plan to fit their unique goals.

Please Note:

While fostering student well-being is an important part of our work, Life Design Coaches are not mental health professionals. Similarly, although topics of our conversations with students may overlap with other offices on campus, we are not experts on certain areas of the student experience, such as graduation plans or financial aid. When necessary, we will refer you to other campus offices to help meet your needs.

While we do abide by FERPA regulations, we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality.  As a part of your BGSU community of care, we may occasionally share information via Navigate, email, conversation, or other means about your progress with other BGSU faculty and staff that are supporting you.  Information will only be shared on a “need-to-know basis,” and we will remain as general as possible. 

As mandatory reporters, there are some situations where we may need to share about your experience with other professionals in order to protect you or others from harm.  If such a situation occurs, we will make every effort to discuss it with you before taking any action.