The Elm

Are you interested in working with a trained coach to boost your professional performance and to enhance your well-being? Professional Development Coaching is for you!

Professional Development Coaching is a free service for all interested UMB faculty members offered by the Provost's Office. Note that this year we also have openings for residents, fellows, and staff members. 

Coaching is a confidential, personalized, one-on-one relationship between a trained coach and a faculty member. It is designed to help individuals reach their professional goals, overcome challenges, and maximize wellness. Think of it like executive coaching but designed for our unique circumstances in academia.

Together with your coach, you will identify your professional goals and current barriers to success. You will then work with your coach to create and implement more effective strategies to reach your goals. The aim is to heighten your awareness of what it takes to achieve professional development success — however you define this success — and anchor this with new strategies, a supportive relationship, and personal accountability.

This service is provided at no charge and is offered virtually. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Professional Development Coaching service, want to know what your colleagues have said about working with a coach, or are ready to request a coach, please visit our website.

For questions about this service, please email Michelle Pearce, PhD, at michelle.pearce@umaryland.edu

What are some examples of topics I can be coached on?

The focus of coaching is driven by you, not your coach. Here are a few goals that Professional Development Coaching can be useful for accomplishing:

• Clarify what is working and not working in your current professional situation
• Define “work success and professional fulfillment” for yourself and create a plan of action to achieve it
• Create a personal, value-driven vision and mission statement for work
• Understand and capitalize on your strengths and values
• Better manage feeling overwhelmed and busy
• Increase effectiveness in the classroom
• Identify and change self-limiting beliefs
• Improve leadership and/or supervisory skills
• Identify and overcome barriers to accomplishing projects
• Balance responsibilities of work and family