Setting up students to succeed at Jeff State

From mental health resources to emergency grants to a food pantry, the Student Success Center benefits all students. Learn more by clicking here.

#highereducation #communitycollege #studentsupport #studentsuccess #mentalhealth

Transcript

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Welcome to the Pioneer Voice. I'm Danielle Collar. We're at Jefferson State Community College with Aaliyah Boone from the Student Success Center. Thank you, Aaliyah, for joining us today. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. So tell us, I know it's in the name, but tell us a little bit, what is the Student Success Center here at Jefferson State? For sure. So the Student Success Center here at Jefferson State Community College is what we like to call essentially the one-stop shop for holistic student support. The Student Success Center provides wraparound services to our students. And so when I say holistic student support, these are services that provide just support to the whole student. Obviously, our students are here to reach their academic goals. But the Student Success Center meets students not just academically but also their mental health, well-being, and even their physical needs. So it's a holistic student space where students can get access to support. Okay. So you said wraparound services. What does that really include? For sure. So wraparound services include access to mental health counseling. Wraparound services include access to our food pantry as well as emergency grant assistance for students who may find themselves in some type of economic hardship during their time as a Jeff State student. Okay. And this is for every student? I mean, is how how does a student get involved with a student success student? For sure, it is. It is for all Jeff State students, whether or not they're physically on campus or even some of our online learners. And so the physical space is on our main Jefferson campus, but the Student Success Center services are accessible to students on all four of our campuses as well as our online learners. Okay, great. And if a student needs um help from the Student Success Center and maybe they're um they're kind of hesitant to ask, what would you say to that student? I always tell students, um, whether I'm just kind of meeting them in passing, whether or not like a faculty member brings a class into the physical space to kind of tour, I always tell our students that the best students are the students that ask for help. Absolutely. I recognize asking for help, particularly around like mental health, um, is still heavily stigmatized. Right. Um, but I do, I tell our students, the best students are the ones that will, you know, say, hey, I'm struggling in this area. Um, because if if we're all really transparent, whether or not we're a student or whether or not we are, you know, just a human being that works every day, we all need support. We all need help and could just kind of benefit from the support. So I would tell the student the best students are the ones that ask for help. Um, and if you want to be successful at some point in your journey as a student, you're gonna need to speak up and say, Hey, I need some assistance. Absolutely, yeah. Um, and so you talked about the food service pantry. Is that what it um is? Can you talk a little bit more about that for us? Absolutely. So through a partnership um with the community food bank of central Alabama, um, Jeff State is able to provide access to an on-campus food pantry. Um, as I said, it is physically housed on our Jefferson campus just because that's where we have the space for the storage. Um, but once a month, one of our staff members actually drives out to the food bank. Um, we're able to purchase items um at a relatively low cost. Um, and these are items um that we see that students will will, you know, will kind of benefit, whether it's just kind of grab and go items or also items that students can take home to prepare meals for their families. But once we retrieve those items, we stock them there and our students can walk in um and get any items of their choice. And then we also um do a monthly food distribution, um, and that is for both students and community members. Um, and so um that's a really great partnership that we're very fortunate to have. Um and yeah, our students really, really do benefit um from being able to access these services and all the food is completely free to our students and the community members. Great. Um, and how how do students know about it? Like how do they know where to come? Um, do they need to reach out to anybody in particular? Can you for sure? So there there are a few different ways that students can find us. Um, obviously, word of mouth. Um there are many times, you know, when I'm there at Jefferson campus, I may just kind of stroll the campus. As I see students, I have handouts um that your your office um has has helped us to be able to provide graphics. And so we we still just kind of do some foot traffic and just kind of tell students um with with just different handouts. Obviously, there are graphics that are posted around campus. Um every so often there's posts that are made through social media. Um, but also we tell students to check out um just you know our webpage, just through the Jeff State webpage. Um, our um services are listed under the student hub. And then from there, once you go to the student success center page, you can actually see an outline of all of the services. So you'll see information about the mental health services, you'll see information about the food pantry, where it's located, as well as emergency grants. So um we try to, you know, get the word out as much as possible. Um, and just um it's very helpful sometimes when I can get in front of faculty and staff. Um, you know, I tell them, hey, like put put a small blurb about the student success center on your syllabus. That's very helpful. Um we utilize Canvas, you know, as much as as much as we possibly can. So we're always looking for more ways to get the word out. Um, but you know, just traditional, just word of mouth is very, very helpful. Okay. And you've mentioned a lot about mental health. I think it's so important. Um, and we partner with do we have two partners? Is that right? We actually have three partnerships for mental health. Um, we do. Um as of lately, we've been very fortunate. So the Alabama Community College system, um, all of the institutions within ACCS um just recently started to partner with a company that's called You Will, You Will Mental Health and Wellness. And through You Will, um, it's a very unique platform where our students um they can access um teletherapy. Um, and all of our students have access to three sessions, and it's tailored specifically for the students. So they can they can choose a therapist based off of like race, gender, um, or just specific issues. And so a lot of students really like that. Um they can meet with them um, you know, before class, after class, or just at a time that's most convenient. Um, and and that's been that that has been a partnership that's been very, very vital because our students um you know they're they're being met exactly where they are. Um and then of course we still have a partnership with Together All, and that's more peer-to-peer counseling. It kind of functions like a social media platform where students can also find different articles or just just a wealth of different mental health resources, and then through a partnership with employee assistance services, our students also have access. So um, you know, as students come in, we we try to make referrals based off of what meets their need. But um it's it's a great service that Jeff State provides, and we're just hopeful that we can continue to get the word out to students. That's great. And you said that it's free, right? All free. All free, all free. And there's 24-hour access from 24-hour access from wherever they are. That's awesome. Um, do you have any stories you can share with us, maybe, of a student that's you know benefited from the student success center? Absolutely. Um, so when I first um started working at Jeff State, I got introduced to the ambassadors. Um so the ambassadors, of course, are you know the student leadership group. Um, they do so many different things um around Jeff State from orientation, um, just assisting with different events. And so as I was, I was as I was coming um into Jeff State, I got a chance to meet one particular ambassador who I believe was entering her second year at Jeff State. And so, of course, students that are um going into their second year, they're having conversations about what's next. Am I going to transfer? Or, you know, what does life look like once I finish my two years at Jeff State? And I'm I'm an open book, and so I was talking to the student, and you know, we're just having conversations. I'm like, you know, where do you where do you see yourself? Right. And she says, I I really want to go to Mississippi State. When she said that, I was like, well, do you know what? I am a two-time alum from Mississippi State. Um, and that just really opened the door to so many things. You know, I started telling the student, you know, hey, they have fall and spring preview day. If there's ever a time that like you can like actually go, you can get connected, you know, with the counselor that, you know, can just make sure that, you know, everything from Jeff State transfers. And, you know, sometimes, you know, students may they may think they want to go to a place and then, and I'm like, you know, that's interesting. She's in Birmingham. You sure you want to go to Starkville, Mississippi? And she's like, no, I want to go to Mississippi State. I've done my research, we've toured the campus, and it's beautiful. And I kid you not, this past week that student graduated from Mississippi State. Oh, that's great. And it's, you know, when you think about time passing, it's like, man, she left Jeff State, she went there. And that just really showed me the power of telling your story. Um, just because, you know, who knows? You know, maybe if I said, you know, I did not have a great experience while I was a student there, you know, that maybe would have changed that student's um mindset. But I had really positive things to say, you know, and I have tried to, you know, maintain contact with the student. I do follow her on social media. So just being able to see her, you know, have success as a student leader at Jeff State, but also go um onto my alma mater. That has been really, really fulfilling. Um so I for me, um, I think that's a success for the student, but also a really personal um success. Just, you know, being willing to share your story and talk to students. I think a lot of times we um we think that a student is just a student and we're just uh a staff or a professional. Um, but we were once students, and and a lot of times our students need to see us outside of our roles. Um and just being willing just to kind of you know take take that cape off sometimes and just kind of meeting them where they are. So um that that's been really, really valuable. That's awesome. Great story. Um, so is there anything that you really want anyone to know about the Student Success Center? Anything that I want any um really just um I know a lot of what we do um can kind of be deemed confidential. Of course, students that are are, you know, maybe reaching out for mental health or counseling services, a lot of that information, um, it is confidential. Sometimes students are a little private, you know, when they have to say, hey, you know, we're a little bit short on, you know, money for bills, or you know, like, hey, like I could benefit um from you know visiting the food pantry because money's tight for groceries. Just really in, you know, just encouraging students to kind of take some of that pressure off. Um, you know, I I especially when I think about the food pantry and and just, you know, just the times now, you know, groceries are high. Yes. And so, you know, that they are they're very high. And so just kind of giving students an extra nudge, you know, I think faculty have um a really valuable insight into, you know, what students are facing sometimes more than any of us do. And so if you do have a student that confides something in you um that that may be a little bit more private, um just kind of give them the extra nudge. Um, there's a lot of faculty um that have been really great. If they have a student that's a little reluctant to kind of reach out on their own, they'll physically walk the student over to our area to kind of help alleviate um some of some of that stigma. So just just really making sure that our students know um this is what it's here for. I I think, well, I know that when, you know, when the student success center, like when it came to, you know, when there was this conversation about this space, it was because there was a there was a need. And so, you know, our students are very valuable, you know, that they did have, you know, campus leadership that, you know, saw the need and actually did something about it. And because we exist, um, we exist to make um make the student, you know, make make their time at Jeff State as as easy as possible. Right. Absolutely. Um, one thing that I love that y'all do is yes, you we have that center there, but I love that you get out and you try to meet the students like in any events, um, like welcome back and y'all have to do that. Yes, for sure. Little parties and things for that, you know, that's what's what's great too. Um, just for students to be able um just to see us and you know, even now for the month of May, um, something that's been really valuable. I I did not mention this in terms of services, but we also have a partnership with the bundles of hope um nonprofit that provides um like diapers and just different like hygiene items because a number of our students, they're parents, they're mothers, and so we're hosting that drive now um just so that we can, you know, continuously collect diapers and things like that. We're able to stock um hygiene items across campus. And so being able to kind of be visible and kind of get around does, you know, it does help students a lot. I know a lot of times they get emails, they get texts, or they may see the graphics, but sometimes it's really, really helpful just to kind of be able to connect, you know, with with the physical person. And so um I try to be really instrumental in doing that. That's great. And the center itself, they're you know, um, it it's uh it's open to all the students. It's open to all students. Even if you don't necessarily need that service, it's available for students to come and study. We have students that come, they come study, they form study groups sometimes, like with the with the pantry being there, they'll come in, they'll store their food um in in the refrigerator or they're they'll heat up their food. And so it is it is a really, really good student space, not just to come ask about the services, you know, but just kind of a quiet place just to be able to study sometimes. Yeah, and it's such a great place. It is, it is. Um, so just want to highlight a few things. Uh is that this is for everybody at Jeff State. It's not just the Jefferson campus, it's for all campuses. For all campuses. And we tell students um if you know, you know, if you ever need, you know, if it's food and and you're at Pale City, we work very closely um with our like our campus mail carrier. We'll say, hey, like we've got some some food that needs to go out. You know, we'll we'll put the student's A number on a box. We talk with like campus security, campus police, and say, hey, this student's gonna pop by um and pick this up. I'm at Shelby pretty regularly. And so um if there's a student that needs a box while I'm here, I'll pack it up in my car. Um, so it really is about meeting students wherever they are. Right. Um I've had students um semester after semester say, hey, I can't get to um Jefferson, but I'll be at Shelby on this date. Like it's no problem. And that that matters to a student. Um it matters so much. Um just to be able to to kind of meet them and hear them. Um it it really does matter. Each individual student is tailored to. Absolutely, absolutely. And so another big thing to highlight is you know, don't don't hesitate to reach out, right? Yeah, don't hesitate to reach out. Life happens to all of us. You can wake up and the sun is shining, and you know, you know, there's no bad weather, and then boom, like you hit something on the interstate, and now you got a flat tire, you know. But it's like, oh, like I gotta get there to take my nursing exam. And so, you know, just all of those things, life does happen. And so being able to model that to students, as faculty and staff, we're not exempt. Um and so when life does happen, don't feel completely bummed out. You know, maybe you did just spend your last on books. Well, hey, like, I know you may have a bill that's coming up. Let's let's walk over here to the student success center to see if maybe there's something that they can do. If there's emergency grant support that can kind of help to alleviate some of that stress. Um because our students, they they're not just students, they're parents, um, they're they're guardians, they they look after siblings, um, they work, you know, multiple hours in a week. Um, they're not just students, and so um making sure that they know we see them, we hear them, um, and we're there for them. And we're gonna make it happen. Oh, we're gonna make it happen. We are going to make it happen. I I am a person um that prides myself on always remembering why. Always remembering why. Like I carry that with me, and I have um across um different institutions, different, different roles that I've had. Just remember why. I think sometimes like we get in the routine of, okay, like I gotta get up and I gotta go to work because like I gotta take care of X, Y, and Z. But on a on a deeper note, like I'm doing this because there's a need that needs to be, but also I care. You know what I'm saying? Like, just really it at the core of it, it's just caring about people. Um, it's it's caring about someone else outside of myself. And so on days that are busy, or you know, I've been I've been sitting in 65 traffic like for way longer than what I would have wanted to, always remembering why. Like, you know what, there's a student somewhere, um, and I have, you know, I've been I've been blessed, I've been privileged to be able to be in this role in the in this position. There's something that I can say, or there's something that I can do that plants that seed, or you know, that just kind of helps a student a little bit further along. And so for me, when I do see students, you know, kind of go from from triumphs to victory, just remember your why. This is this is why we do what we do. Um, and it it does, it hits on a on a real deep level. Yeah, very personal. You um from the moment I met you, I would always say that like you have such a big heart, like you do. And it's gotta be at the core, and and especially for not just as a higher ed, but for the work that I do. Like it starts like like at the heart. And like my mom has always said, like, what's from the heart will reach a heart. Like if you don't have it in your heart, like a student's not gonna feel that. And that's that's a big part. It's like, you know, students, we can say all day that we care about them and we can market it, and we can, you know, we can put it up in lights. But if a student doesn't feel it and they don't know it, you know, how how likely are they to to tell us their story or to come in and and you know, just really, you know, be vulnerable. You you really, really have to um to have it in your heart um for it to make an impact. Yeah, and and I lead with that. That's awesome. Yeah, it's good for them to be able to see a face and hopefully feel it because I know you truly mean it. I mean it. And you know, there's times that students come in and and they're like, okay, I'm gonna ask for help or I'm gonna come back. If I realize, you know, time has passed, I haven't seen that student or I haven't heard from them, I'll follow up, you know, because I think that even goes a long way. You know, okay, like okay, she she not she not letting me off easy. Like I said that I was gonna come back and she hasn't seen me. And just being able, you know, because we we see and we service a lot of students. So sometimes for students to know that they're not just a number, like, hey, like, you know, hadn't seen you in here in a while. Um, you know, is everything okay? You know, did you actually follow up on those things that we talked about? Um, that counts for a lot, also. Oh, yeah, that means a lot. Yep. Well, that's great. Elian, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. We uh we appreciate you so much and all the efforts that you give and help our students. I appreciate it so much. I'm glad to be here. Thank you for joining us on the Pioneer Voice and see you later.