How we connect incoming students to the university resources they need

Key points:

• Incoming students deserve equitable opportunities to learn how to advocate for themselves and navigate college resources
• 10 ways to support nontraditional students on your campus
• 6 aspects of today’s student experience in higher ed
• For more news on students and resources, visit eCN’s Student Success hub

“I wish I had known.” How many times did my seniors, student teachers at Bridgewater State University (BSU), say that? So determined and hard-working, teaching all day and often working nights and weekends, they regretted not knowing about all the resources available to them such as the food pantry, emergency funds, and networking with alumni. 

I learned that my students, half of whom were first generation and 70 percent of whom were commuters, were representative of all the students. 

It wasn’t that BSU didn’t advertise events and campus resources available, during orientation and on the EngageBSU app. The students didn’t know what they didn’t know.

I did my best to mentor my students, but knew they missed out on opportunities and support. Why was there a disconnect between student awareness and the many resources available to them?

As a first generation college student myself, I understood why they were uninformed. I realize now that my good experience at college was not as full as it could have been, focused on finishing as quickly as possible and getting a teacher’s certification. 

My students’ stories and lack of knowledge led me to study the student experience at BSU. First, I learned that many students’ families believed that college was a guaranteed path to the American Dream. Second, students often thought that college was a continuation of high school–you attended classes and worked one or more jobs. Period, end of story. After four or more years you graduated. They didn’t understand the “point” of college, how to navigate it, the importance of internships and networking, or the idea of lifelong learning.

What structure did we need to provide equitable, inclusive, and accessible guidance on how to take advantage of all that college offers?

Amid the COVID restrictions in place in 2021, I facilitated an online, part-time faculty committee to study our first generation students’ experiences. We interviewed first generation students, including Elizabeth Rodericks and Alex Chrisman, two graduate students who created videos for faculty with the hope that increased understanding of their experiences would create a better learning environment. Students talked about dealing with “imposter syndrome” or the belief that everyone else knew what was going on, and thus they feared asking for help.

Our committee heard from many BSU students and officials, including department representatives from financial aid, emergency food and necessities, internships and campus jobs, career services, veteran services, and student engagement. I made valuable contacts who supported initiatives to help our students and encouraged me in my pursuit of a path toward improving and equalizing their opportunities. What scaffolding was needed to provide an equitable, inclusive, and accessible portal to how to “do” college? I was incredibly inspired to learn from these students, and support their outreach to the faculty.

Creating a course

It was hard to reconcile the students’ lack of understanding with the many resources available. At orientation and on the EngageBSU app, much information is available about campus events, organizations, and how to access help. I realized that this imposter syndrome was pervasive for ALL students, and pivoted to rethink how I could best support them. I believed that all incoming students deserved to have equitable opportunities to learn how to advocate for themselves and navigate college.

In the fall of 2022, I reached out to a long-time acquaintance and colleague, Vinny de Macedo, who serves as an advisor to the BSU president, and Karen Harraghy, his wonderful administrative assistant, to ask for help. I learned that there was a directive to include Life Design in the strategic plan 2.0 at BSU. 

“Life Design @ BSU is a program which was adapted from Stanford University’s Design Lab and developed by BSU’s Career Services and Internship Office. The goal is to help BSU students think about where they want to go in their careers and lives. By using this problem solving approach, students will build resilience when faced with adversity while also creating a career and life vision for success after BSU,” according to Bridgewater State University magazine’s winter 2025 edition.

Finally, in the  spring of 2023, an introduction to Undergraduate Dean Rita Miller resulted in a wonderful offer to teach a course on how to navigate college, which would include principles of Life Design. I was incredibly grateful for the enthusiastic response and opportunity. Dean Miller had three simple criteria: the course would be  one credit pass/fail, have a maximum of 15 students, and would need to fall under a department willing to include it in their teaching load. She asked me to reach out to Dr. Anne Hird, head of the secondary education department, to secure her permission. Dr. Hird generously included my course in the SEEL teaching schedule and it was listed for the fall.

In the  spring of 2023, Dr. Michele Meek spearheaded this BSU Life Design mandate and gathered faculty and staff interested in collaborating, teaching a Design Your BSU course, and planning learning outcomes. Carol Crosby, the associate director of Life Design@BSU, shared valuable materials and resources.

Learning outcomes

The faculty and staff who met to plan the “Design Your BSU “course, in May of 2023,  agreed to these learning outcomes:

Students would be able to:

• Reflect on personal and career aspirations, interests, talents, and values and connect how they relate to one’s academic, life, and career goals
• Create a BSU educational plan or “road map” incorporating academic study, work, research, volunteer and internship opportunities, and student organizations and co-curricular experiences
• Learn the benefits of and begin to implement foundational life design mindsets such as curiosity, reframing, mindfulness, storytelling, radical collaboration, and a bias to action 
• Develop self-advocacy skills by gaining awareness of BSU resources and utilizing ones that support progress towards personal and professional goals 
• Recognize ways of resolving unexpected academic, personal, professional, and social challenges utilizing the Life Design@BSU methodology
• Build connections within the culturally diverse BSU community via purposeful contact with classmates, upperclassmen, student clubs and organizations, and centers on campus
• Identify and access campus resources for success and well-being
• Develop a sense of responsibility to yourself and your communities

Piloting a “How to Navigate College: Design Your BSU” Course

In the fall of 2023, I taught my first section of “How to Navigate College” to 15 BSU freshmen. These students were sophomores in high school when COVID shut down schools.  Realizing the effects of that on students, I focused on mentoring these students and relied on my experience as a long-time public school teacher. I knew the value of creating a safe space, and building trust and a learning community that promoted problem solving and collaboration.

My goal was for students to identify their values, life goals, challenges, career interests, strengths, and learn how to design their BSU experience to meet their goals. I introduced them to representatives of many campus resources and assigned students to visit these offices, ask questions, problem solve and collaborate with classmates, and take advantage of the networking and internships available. 

Each student took a career assessment inventory and met with Career Services to discuss the results. I used journals to check in with students weekly, and had them set goals. They loved the writing connection, quickly bonded with their classmates, and worked well together. They liked the “high school vibe” of the class, and wrote that the class was a safe haven. I included time in every class for discussion and noted that students offered solutions and advice to their classmates–everything from what to do about roommates as well as how to approach professors for help.

In time, students reached out to me about specific, urgent needs and I was able to connect them with appropriate resources. Slowly, the connection I hoped to make was becoming a reality. That is, above all, the point of teaching. It is interesting that students who were in my course that first semester will sometimes sit in my current class, ask for help, be a sounding board for me, and stay in touch.  

Next Steps

For the past three semesters I’ve learned from my students and increased student-led activities and opportunities to collaborate. Students create an “IMAGINE” collage of their story, values, strengths, challenges and questions about their college experience.  Students engage in interactive learning using campus resources such as a campus scavenger hunt, and learn how to make use of those connections. They create videos about how to solve common campus problems, as well as highlight opportunities to participate and serve the BSU community. 

Using Life Design materials, students compare the pros and cons of different career options, examine their career readiness, and determine whether their values align with the path they have chosen. They create a road map that reflects upon their strengths and challenges, problems to solve, and a five-year odyssey plan. Classmates discuss and offer possible solutions to the problems raised.  A new addition to this project is that students include the ways in which they’re involved on campus and in serving the community.

Most importantly, they practice advocating for themselves, posing questions, and working together to solve them. Students are amazed at the enthusiastic welcome they receive from representatives of all the BSU resources, and discuss how they are taking advantage of opportunities.  Students feel comfortable advocating for themselves and asking for help. 

Feedback from students in my course : FALL 2024

“The resources that were provided by this class were great and I very much liked learning about all of them for if I needed them. I used the ACC [academic achievement center] for some tutoring and for taking tests in my classes at the testing center.”

“The speaker presentations were all great and provided more of a look at departments and resources on campus. I really liked learning more about studying abroad. For the scavenger hunt and the common problems video, I think they were both great the way they were, and I liked how the problem solving video used the scavenger hunt resources to solve the problems.”

“I think this course was great but one thing that could improve it would be getting more of the less-known departments or the non-required resources from the scavenger hunt to come present to the class to make people aware that they are available to them.”

“The class always felt like a welcoming environment with the circle we would make and talk about problems together and how to solve them. Also it definitely was great with feeling being included with a community of peers from working with others on the scavenger hunt and the problem solving video, and also having the feeling of everyone else going through the same new feeling as yourself.”

Conclusion

My students taught me that there was a disconnect between their understanding of how to navigate college and the many resources available. To ease the transition between high school and college, I developed this course to serve as an advisory type of learning community.

From such basic questions like “How do I register for classes as a first semester freshman?” or “I am struggling to keep up in my math class,” to “I’m not sure why I’m in college,” students have a safe environment to ask questions, explore their values, career interests, and strengths, and learn how to advocate for themselves to solve problems.

It’s important to note that I did not develop this course because I felt sorry for my students. Instead, their stories made me determined to provide ALL students with the insider knowledge and confidence to design their experience at BSU to meet their goals. I have already felt the ripple effect of this self confidence as students help each other and share their success.

If every student started college with the same awareness and understanding of how to benefit from college, the impact on their future would be priceless. How lucky am I to participate in this process, and to have a positive influence on the trajectory of students’ lives.