Frequently Asked Questions

The Achieving the Promise Academy is a collegewide academic program. We offer embedded coaching in 240+ courses, and we provide one-on-one academic coaching that guides you on your path to timely degree completion, graduation and/or transfer to a four-year institution.

If you enroll in a course with ATPA embedded support you will have access to a coach in the classroom, weekly emails from your coach with content review, course reminders, and other critical campus information, and weekly group study sessions with your coach.

If you enroll in one-on-one coaching, you'll meet with you ATPA coach weekly and receive highly structured academic support in all your courses each semester until you graduate. Every semester you will develop and adhere to a personalized academic success plan with your coach. Program requirements include weekly coaching, two workshops per semester, academic, transfer, and career advising, targeted academic support like tutoring and study sessions, participation in a Learning Community, and faculty feedback to track and improve your academic progress in your courses and timely degree completion. Every semester you can work with the same coach or switch to another coach. You'll benefit from continuous assessment of your academic progress, and monitoring of your financial aid and registration. You’ll also have access to a laptop loaner each semester and ATPA tuition assistance (based on eligibility and availability of funds) and other resources to help you overcome obstacles to you academic success and timely degree completion.

ATPA services are open to all students registered for courses at MC. ATPA especially aims to support students who have been historically marginalized, underrepresented, and/or underserved.

Proven Results! Passing courses with a C, B, or A reduces the need to repeat courses, saves you money, and keeps you on track to graduate in a timely manner.

In spring 2018, the College provided ATPA embedded support in 124 course sections—affording more than 2800 students to receive services. Sixty-three percent of the course sections with ATPA embedded support had lower DFW rates than those without it, In other words, fewer students received Ds or Fs or withdrew from these courses.

Students who enroll in one-on-one academic coaching and follow their personalized academic success plan each semester see improved course grades and GPAs. As a cohort, the average GPA of on-on-one students increased 16.46% percent after one semester of working with an ATPA one-on-one coach. ATPA is designed to keep you on track to complete your degree and graduate in a timely manner. Your unique ATPA Academic Success Plan is designed specifically for you. Your coach will help you build on your strengths and improve in any areas of concern so that you excel academically. By enrolling in one-on-one coaching services, you will gain access to services and opportunities uniquely available to students active in ATPA, such as access to a personal ATPA Coach; financial resources for tuition, fees and textbooks; the ability to borrow academic supplies, and leadership opportunities like national conferences and other enrichment activities.

With our highly structured and personalized ATPA one-on-one coaching services every semester—and embedded classroom support—you can stay on track and progress more quickly to degree completion and transfer.

Courses offering ATPA embedded support are identified in the course schedule. View a list of courses and instructions to perform a search (PDF, ) . Any student who registers for a course offering ATPA embedded support will receive targeted coaching in relevant coursework for the semester.

Students in the Achieving the Promise Academy are expected to commit to completing their degrees and participating in specific ATPA services that will meet their academic needs. When you join ATPA, you'll sign a Student Agreement, complete an online survey so ATPA can understand how to best support you, meet regularly with your coach, and develop and follow a personalized ATPA Academic Success Plan each semester. ATPA coaches will make recommendations for you based on your pre-coaching survey, academic history, current courses, academic plan, personal goals, and academic performance. To continue receiving one-on-one coaching services, you are expected to meet regularly with your one-on-one coach, follow your ATPA Academic Success Plan, attend student success workshops, and maintain good academic standing. 

The time requirement is different for each student and can change each semester based on your academic history, course registrations, and academic performance. Minimum requirements for all students include:

• Regular coaching sessions as agreed to with your coach
• Participation in at least two student success workshops per semester
• A minimum of one advising/counseling meeting per semester

You will work closely with your ATPA Coach to develop a personalized ATPA Academic Success Plan each semester that you can stick to!

No – ATPA services (one-on-one coaching and embedded classroom support) are offered at no cost to students!

You must fulfill program requirements by adhering to your ATPA Academic Success Plan each semester and maintain good academic standing. Once you enroll in one-on-one coaching services, you have access to this weekly service until graduation and/or transfer.

Call us at 240-567-ATPA (2872) or send an email to atpa@montgomerycollege.edu. You can also schedule an in-person appointment or stop by the ATPA Office on your campus. Please check the ATPA homepage for current in-person and remote hours.

• Germantown Campus, Bioscience Center (BE), Room 115
• Rockville Campus, Science Center (SC), Room 217
• Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, Pavilion 4 (P4), Room 110

For specific questions about one-on-one coaching, contact Marie Arthus at marie.arthus@montgomerycollege.edu.

For specific questions about embedded support, contact Andrea Herman at andrea.herman@montgomerycollege.edu.

Courses offering ATPA embedded support are identified in the course schedule. View a list of courses and instructions to perform a search (PDF, ) . Any student who registers for a course offering ATPA embedded support will receive targeted coaching in relevant coursework for the semester.

Recommend a Student for ATPAnew window. Prior to recommending a student to ATPA for one-on-one coaching, we recommend you have a conversation with the student about MC's Achieving the Promise Academy and the benefits of academic coaching and encourage the student to request one-on-one coaching directly using the online form. If you instead submit a recommendation, ATPA will then contact the student to learn more about their academic needs and aspirations, provide an overview of the Academy and program requirements, and invite them to request a coach. If the student is currently enrolled in your course, ATPA may contact you to gather additional information and request an initial academic progress report. Please View Sample Academic Progress Report (PDF, ) .

Once a student is enrolled in ATPA, they are provided a letter to share with their faculty to inform you they are receiving academic coaching. At any time, you may also follow up on the status of a student’s coaching request by contacting Marie Arthus at marie.arthus@montgomerycollege.edu.

The ATPA Coach partners with the student’s instructors to support their academic success. The coach will request periodic progress reports and feedback from the faculty member which will drive the coach's weekly sessions with the student, help determine how to best support students with assignments and test preparation, target specific areas of concern, and monitor the student's progress in each course. Faculty are encouraged to regularly reach out to a student's coach with any information and recommendations that would support the student's academic success. All communications between coaches and faculty comply with FERPA.

ATPA provides students with a highly structured academic program that gets at the heart of the individual student's academic needs. Students work with their coach to develop and adhere to a personalized academic success plan each semester that includes one-on-one weekly coaching sessions and continuous assessment of a student's academic progress in partnership with faculty. In addition, students are required to meet with academic, career, and transfer advisors, engage in our Learning Community, participate in workshops tailored to their academic needs, receive tutoring, and participate in study sessions. Students may receive financial, academic and other resources to help them overcome obstacles to graduating and/or transferring in a timely manner. Furthermore, students receive assistance with and continuous monitoring of the their financial aid and course registrations. Students typically remain with their same coach from program entry until graduation and/or transfer. Another unique aspect of our program is that ATPA coaches are faculty!

There are many ways you can partner with ATPA and our coaches to improve student outcomes. Help us recruit coaches by identifying and recommending PT faculty to serve as embedded and one-on-one coaches. You can also help identify course sections to offer embedded support. Some other ways in which we can partner include tutoring services, study sessions, program advising, classroom visits and surveys, workshop development, Learning Community activities, and other initiatives. We encourage you to contact a program coordinator with your own ideas and recommendations or to learn about our current needs.