COACHING

In September 2022, Fielding’s Evidence Based Coaching (EBC) Program achieved a milestone that few universities in the world have obtained.

The EBC Program was recognized as having met the Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching (GSAEC)’s Academic Standards for Graduate-Level Educational Programs. Previously, the EBC Program earned Level 2 accreditation from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in August 2022.

Having both designations sets Fielding apart as an educational pioneer. EBC learners are not only highly trained in competencies and skills, they are also graduateschool-prepared coaches with a strong foundation in cutting-edge research and scholarship. Graduates of the EBC program are now eligible for the Graduate School Educated Coach (GSEC) credential.

“We don't see the ICF and GSAEC as competing accrediting bodies,” said Carrie Arnold, PhD, MCC, EBC Program Director. “We see them as supplementary and complementary. The ICF ensures that programs like credit-bearing education. The blend of theory and practice is foundational at Fielding.”

The GSAEC, founded in 2005, is an association of institutional, individual, and student members dedicated to strengthening and promoting the discipline and practice of coaching through excellence in graduate-level coach education and research. The ICF, established in 1995, is one of the most recognizable accreditation bodies that ensures programs demonstrate rigorous curriculum and code of ethics.

While Fielding has always held ICF accreditation for its EBC certificate, the ICF recently revised its competency model and accreditation process. EBC is now a Level 2 education provider offering 150 hours of education, which exceeds the 125-hour requirement.

“What's interesting is that when executive coaching emerged in the 1990s, it was still mysterious,” Dr. Arnold said. “Not many understood what the work entailed. Well, when you fast forward 30 years, our markets and governments are far savvier. They better understand now how coaching is leveraged, how it works, and how it can be provided at any level. They also know that credentials are important, and they want to see that evidence.

Fielding’s stay grounded in practice, skill, and competency. GSAEC honors the theoretical underpinnings, research, and scholarship we incorporate into our graduate-level,

“Prospective students also now realize their chances of getting sustainable work as a coach improves by attending an accredited educational program and maintaining their credentials. Many organizations require an ICF credential. However, EBC graduates have an additional advantage by also demonstrating their graduate-level education."

The GSAEC recognition adds an extra layer to their coaching identity and may open up additional opportunities.

“It builds a reputation not only of the student-practitioner and faculty members but for Fielding as an institution,” said Laura Hauser, PhD, MCC, Evidence-Based Certificate Program faculty and Past President of GSAEC. “It ensures the highest standard of quality and academic rigor in coach education. The GSAEC recognition process was rigorous and included a review of the curriculum and other things, such as supervision, diversity, and inclusion. All those are obviously core values of Fielding, so it's a natural fit to be able to go through that process.”

Rhonda Foster, EdD, MPH, MS, RN, NEA-BC, earned her EBC certificate in 2022 and said it transformed the way she looks at not only the world around her but who she is as an individual and student-practitioner.

Previously, Dr. Foster worked as an executive leader in healthcare and coached in several capacities throughout her career. The pandemic changed the way she looked at her career and life, and she knew she needed to make a change. Fielding helped her reclaim her purpose and authenticity.

“I found myself with a family in my cohort,” Dr. Foster said. “I found myself learning about not just coaching but about people, myself, and community. I learned so much in eight months that I felt like I was going to burst. I had a rough two years with the pandemic and the role that I was in, and I was really burned out and disenchanted, and a little bit depressed. And I believe I got Rhonda back. It fed me in every single possible way, and what I left with was myself. I learned to not be the somebody I was before but the person I was to become.”

The program allowed her to shift her mindset and gain perspectives while challenging her assumptions, beliefs, and values. Now, she is at the helm of her own coaching company full-time. She continues to build her aspirations for the future and nurtures a deep appreciation for successes and failures — thanks in part to her EBC certificate.

The EBC certificate cohorts are offered three times per year, and each cohort lasts eight months. Students who graduated from Fielding’s Evidence-Based Coaching program on or after September 2021 can apply through GSAEC to receive the Graduate School Educated Coach (GSEC) credential.

“It's like this program satisfies a part of their soul, like it's an itch that's been wanting to be scratched for years,” Dr. Hauser said. “Through the program, student-practitioners form deep personal relationships, including relationship with oneself, with one other, and faculty. Everyone is there as peers to create a safe supportive environment to experiment and become more of who they are and to learn to use themselves as an instrument, if you will. So, they come out the other end as more of who they are.”