Earning Criteria

• Participants attend two 75 minute trainings to learn Slate (MC Connect), a customer relationship (CRM) tool used to manage student interactions across multiple Merrimack offices. Slate is a comprehensive platform for student success designed and developed exclusively for higher education and provides Success Coaches with a single, unified interface to track and support student success.
• Participants engage in one 75 minute workshop on motivational interviewing, a student centered counseling technique to elicit behavior change by helping students explore and resolve ambivalence. This workshop covered the principles of motivational interviewing, characteristics, strategies, spirit, and skills associated with helping students be self-directed and make wanted changes in their behaviors.
• Participants attend two 75 minute trainings to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to providing advising, support, and referring students to mental health counseling at the college. Participants learn how to frame mental health counseling to help students overcome the stigma of mental health help.
• Participants are also cross-trained in campus-wide resources including the Tutoring and Math Center, Writing Center, Campus Wide Tutoring, and the Merrimack Study Partners Program. Participants develop skills needed to navigate student advising and registration. Additionally, participants learn how to support neurodiverse students and are trained on how to refer students to the Accessibility Services Office at Merrimack.
• Participants complete two, one-hour, LinkedIn Learning courses. Participants who complete "Communicating with Empathy" learn the principles of empathetic communication and strategies to approaching difficult conversations.  Participants who complete "Coaching for Results" learn different techniques to improve performance, develop careers, and encourage high performers and get results.
• Participants attend one two-hour diversity, equity, inclusion and the College Experience workshop to learn strategies to enhance students experiences and success on campus. The interactive workshop guides participants through a discussion of issues and challenges, including implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion.