Success Coach Graduate Assistant Program

A collaboration between Chatham's Office of Student Affairs and graduate counseling psychology programs, the Success Coach Graduate Assistant (SCGA) program pairs counseling psychology graduate students with first- and second-year undergraduate students.

Through the development of a relationship, undergraduate students receive support and guidance, and the graduate students gain experience and earn a stipend.

The SCGA program works hand-in-hand with a one-credit first-year seminar course called SDE 101: Strategies for Success in College. SDE meets for 50 minutes once per week and is co-instructed by a Success Coach and a professional staff or faculty member at Chatham. Topics include conflict resolution, time and stress management, diversity, equity and inclusion, career development, self and community care, and different types of resources available to students, both at Chatham and throughout the City of Pittsburgh.

Each Success Coach meets with their students one-on-one to get to know each other and discuss how things are going. The goal is to establish a comfortable, brave space for students to talk to their SCGA about anything that is bothering them, such as adjusting to a college level workload and being away from home. The SCGA can then connect the student with resources to aid with the transition to college and increase their sense of belonging to Chatham.

It doesn’t stop there! A student’s Success Coach will remain an important point of contact throughout their first two years at Chatham. As part of their support network, SCGAs will continue to check in with their students as they learn and grow as members of the Chatham community.

Read a story about the Success Coach program, and visit Funding Opportunities for more information on graduate assistantship programs.

What Students Say

“My Success Coach was a kind and supportive person who I know I can still message if my academic stressors increase.”

"My Success Coach gave me the courage to stand up against the people that perpetuated injustice."

"My Success Coach helped make my transition to college as smooth as possible. They provided me with the tools I needed to be successful, and helped ease the stress of college [and] homesickness. My Success Coach also helped with the scheduling of classes and is a great resource to help guide you on your next steps in life."

"My Success Coach, Talia, genuinely cared about how I was doing in my classes and outside of that. If she noticed I missed a few classes in a row, she'd send a message asking if everything was okay. She really got to know me, too, and would even send me links to Chatham events she thought might interest me. Overall, my Success Coach made Chatham a better experience and really pushed me to carry on with this journey."

“My Success Coach has made my transition to Chatham a wonderful experience, as she always gave great advice and was always there whenever I needed to talk.”