Bowling Green State University:
How and Why we are Breaking the
Golden Rule of Life Design Facilitation

One of the first learnings they shared with us was to consider building an elective life design course as opposed to a requirement. In their experience, even implying requirement has the potential to break the class. At BGSU, we are excited to talk about why and how we are breaking this guideline. Our vision for Life Design, guided by our President, Dr. Rodney Rogers, starts with an introductory Life Design class, but goes much further. At BGSU, we are weaving Life Design into the fabric of the BGSU experience for our students from their first interaction through graduation and beyond. Life Design is a University-wide initiative focused on ensuring that students are empowered and supported as they explore their purpose, make connections, identify meaningful and productive lives after college, and become equipped for a dynamic future full of possibilities.

For context, Bowling Green State University is a mid-sized public institution in Northwest Ohio serving approximately 15,000 undergraduate students. In May 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Bowling Green State University launched our Office of Student Success and Life Design. The goal of the office is to lead and contribute to efforts intended to redefine student success, using Life Design as our foundation and guiding framework in this University-wide work. This includes providing each student with a team who can help them make meaning of their collegiate experience including academic and career advising staff and a Life Design Coach. This plan strives for equity for each student and stewards our students' investments in a 21st century education in a constantly changing workforce where the skills of wayfinding and problem solving are more important than ever.

In August 2020, 6 Life Design Coaches were hired to lead a prototype of the program for 1,000 first year undergraduate students. Over the past 5 months, these coaches and other campus partners taught over 60 sections of BGSU 1910: Life Design at BGSU with an average enrollment of just under 20 per section. Students from select majors and programs were placed in these sections of the class. These coaches helped students develop their own life design toolkit during the first semester and will continue to work with students throughout their four years at BGSU. Each student’s life design coach stays with them until graduation, providing guidance and tailored support to each student. As Dr. Andy Alt, our Associate Vice Provost of Student Success and Life Design shares,

“We believe that one of the most significant opportunities we have to build lasting and meaningful relationships with students is through our BGSU 1910: Life Design course. This course sets the stage for the student experience by introducing students to Life Design concepts and tools, and also through early and frequent contact between students and Coaches. The weekly class meetings are critical in establishing rapport, building community, fostering trust, and cementing the relationship Coaches will have with the student through graduation”.

At BGSU our coaches are designated as a primary contact to empower them to use life design tools throughout their collegiate experience in and out of the classroom -- the class is just the beginning of the relationship.

At the end of the fall semester, some of the students admitted that they were wondering why they were in this class at the beginning, and some expected it to be a typical first year success class and found it to be much different. When we asked our students at the end of the semester to provide advice for incoming students enrolled in this class who were unsure what to expect, some answers included:

• “This class may seem like a waste of time, but it will actually help you grow more as a student and individual and get you ready to continue with your college career and future career afterward.”

• “This class is really going to help you dig deeper and learn more about yourself. I learned so many new things about myself that I honestly didn't know.”

• “Trust me you want to be here.”

While we did see success from this first cohort of students, we also learned some great lessons. In course evaluations for Fall 2020, students enrolled in BGSU 1910 evaluated the course higher than the average BGSU course for five out of six standard university teaching and learning metrics. Here are some other learnings we gained from this first cohort of students:

• Fall 2020 brought many challenges for our first-year students during a pandemic, and we needed to meet and accept them where they were in order to meet their needs and support their holistic success. Sometimes this meant focusing less on the material to be covered for that week, and more on the needs of the students in our classes.

• This upcoming semester we are focusing on what is important. For our students, that includes less assignments to check off a list and more meaningful discussions about the essential tools and assignments shared in the class. In having less assignments, we will also be able to highlight the iterative nature of life design revisiting ideas and tools throughout the semester to reinforce learning and provide more opportunities for continued application. We will concentrate on what is important and how we can prepare students to continue to use the Life Design framework throughout their college careers and lives. As part of the end of semester evaluation, we also had students rank all of the activities from most helpful to least helpful so we can continue to prototype our curriculum and what is most relevant for our student population.

• Many students were confused as to why they were in the course, so for Fall 2021, we are launching a communication campaign to inform and excite students about their life design experience at BGSU. This will start when they commit to the University and will go throughout the summer and the orientation process where students will be able to meet their coach 1:1 before enrolling in courses for the fall.

• Also, we hope meeting with the student before they register for classes will help them to see their coach as a key part of their team and support system in place rather than simply as an instructor for one semester. We are still learning and understanding how students respond after the first semester in the class, and are constantly learning, growing, and adapting to the needs of our students.

As we move forward, we are preparing to launch this program with all BGSU’s approximately 3,200 incoming undergraduate students at BGSU in Fall 2021. Our decision to make this class required of all students, and the service of a coach available to each student, was one built with a lens of equity and inclusion. While we know this will not address all equity gaps or concerns, in our model, each student will be provided someone who deeply cares about them and their future, rather than leaving this critical aspect of a successful college experience to chance.

UPDATE:
As of October 2021, we have hired an additional 6 coaches for a total of 12 Design Coaches at BGSU. We are currently designing new ways forward as we are serving a larger population of our students. This fall, with the help of campus partners we are working with over 1700 students who are enrolled in a BGSU 1910 course. We have increased our retention efforts while helping students to see the value of Life Design as they transition to Bowling Green State University. In addition to teaching our Life Design course, coaches are also connecting students to different resources across campus to help them improve their academics, career, purpose, well-being and connections. If you would like to connect, please reach out to lifedesign@bgsu.edu

Click here to learn more about Life Design at Bowling Green State University