By Melanie M Jalim, Student Success Coaching
Student Affairs and Academic Advising professionals from across the country attended the first virtual Student Success Coaching Conference: Ignite Your Success Through Coaching on October 15, 2025. The conference, hosted by University Life’s Student Success Coaching (SSC) unit, provided an opportunity for more than 400 coaching professionals from 100 institutions – including Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Purdue University, and others—to collaborate and learn from each other.
Envisioned by SSC Associate Director Pegg and Assistant Director Michael Ward, the conference was born from a simple idea: to create a space for coaching professionals within higher education to come together. The main goals of the conference were to create a purposeful space for the student success coaching community to learn, share, and collaborate in an ever-changing field, and to offer dedicated time and opportunities to connect with peers and gain new insights.
“We wanted our team to have the chance to host a conference fully,” said Ward. “We envision Student Success Coaching at George Mason becoming a global hub for the field, much like Kansas State is for academic advising.”
“We wanted to create some sort of experience that put coaching at the center,” Pegg said. “We wanted to make sure that we’re connecting with other coaching communities so that we can learn from each other, as success is a layered achievement.”
A Growing Field
Success coaching has grown as a new functional area to support student success within the field of higher education in recent years.
Since 2020, the university’s SSC unit has supported more than 20,000 students in achieving individualized success. The need for supporting coaching professionals has grown into a collaboration with international associations like NASPA and ACPA. NASPA’s Success Coaching Knowledge Community was co-founded by Adrienne White, former SSC director. Pegg and Michael Rybak, a success coach, co-founded ACPA’s Task Force for Coaching.
New Insights Shared
“Attending the sessions expanded my perspective and introduced new strategies and innovations that can be applied to my work,” said Tanzania Cooper, a presenter and attendee from Trinity Washington University. “I left the conference re-energized, connected to new colleagues, and motivated to continue bridging research, practice, and advocacy to elevate student success.”
Sessions addressed how to utilize coaching for student success, student assessment best practices, and other trending topics. Attendees had opportunities to learn from one another and network through collaboration spaces.
Nena Rogers, two-time George Mason alumna and current deputy athletic director for Student Services and Performance, delivered the opening keynote speech focused on the power of coaching to help students thrive.
“This is the perfect time for higher education professionals to come together in this capacity to share the knowledge, tools, and the amazing results that success coaching has on students’ lives,” said Kelly Severo, director of Student Success Coaching. “I’m excited to see this conference grow into an even bigger event in 2026. Coaching in higher education is a rapidly growing field, and the impact on students’ lives cannot be overstated.”
To learn more about Student Success Coaching and how it supports students, visit coaching.gmu.edu.