The Chancellor’s Student Success Work Group had four key findings; last week we provided an overview of the desire students expressed for more human connections. This week we focus on resources: “Students too often noted that even when they knew that a resource was available, they often did not utilize it until they were in trouble or crisis.” In addition, many students reported not knowing about resources until someone referred them; this suggests that many of our students are in need of referrals, and participants noted that referrals from a trusted peer were particularly valuable.
Earlier this term, we posted about reminding students of existing resources, and thanks to your responses, we’re now working on a more comprehensive resource list that will help all of us better identify options for students, and that ideally will also help students with after-hours questions. Stay tuned on that; once it is available, we will provide more detail along with suggestions for how we can best use it to expand our efforts. We can also do more to leverage our peer structures. Peer mentors, resident assistants, tutors and others can be particularly influential in helping students identify existing resources.