“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
This quote is on the wall in the office of Megan Harris, who acts as an academic advising coordinator in the Center for Academic Services and Advising (CASA). It is just one of the tips she offers Mines students who come to her with desires or requirements to raise their grade point averages.
Last year, Harris started the Bounce Back Program—an experience that gives students a concentrated academic coaching experience, providing structure, resources, accountability and support to help them achieve their goals. In addition to academic skills, the program focuses on resiliency and having the ability to bounce back from adversity.
For the past year, Harris has watched students who completed a semester of the program improve their GPA.
“We have seen whole grade changes, where students went from a ‘C’ average to a ‘B’ average,” Harris said. “As the program continues to grow, we hope this pattern of success continues.”
Harris said 60 students signed up this semester, an increase of 40 students from the semester before. She attributes the growth to expanding the program from including first year students to sophomores and juniors, and to the positive reaction from students who have successfully completed the program.
Electrical engineering student Eugene Duran went through the program last fall and was eager to share his experience with students currently in the program. Duran serves as one of Bounce Back’s peer coaches, helping facilitate weekly meetings where students learn academic skills such as time management, stress management, techniques to improve memory and test taking strategies.
Duran knows firsthand that it can be difficult to come back to school after a tough semester.
“It was through this program that I was able to earn the best grades I've ever had at Mines,” said Duran. “I had been a deficient student for a time leading up to the point where I was on academic suspension. When I came back to Mines, I attended Bounce Back because it seemed like I could learn from the program and be part of an environment where I could share my experiences with students who had faced similar academic hardship.”
Peer coaches help students like Jim Feng, a petroleum engineering student, who is participating in the program this semester because he hopes to boost his GPA by a full point. In the last month, he has already seen significant changes in his study habits and has learned how to better organize his academic responsibilities.
“It's been so rewarding to have a group of students and coaches keeping me accountable,” Feng said. “The most important thing I've learned from Bounce Back is that I am not alone and that facing my fears is the first step to success.”
Bounce Back acts as a support system for students’ goals, but the success of the program comes from students’ willingness to improve.
“If the person is committed to making a positive change for themselves, this is the place to do it,” said Harris.
Learn more about the Bounce Back Program.
Contact:
Kathleen Morton, Communications Coordinator / 303-273-3088 / kmorton@mines.edu
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations / 303-273-3541 / kgilbert@mines.edu
