Holistic Student Support & Care
Promising Practice: Leverage technology for proactive advising
Student success technology platforms enable more proactive academic advising, allowing advisors to focus their attention on students most in need of their support. Review your existing advising model and seek to make infrastructure improvements needed to ensure the delivery of best practice proactive advising.
MATC Strategies:
EAB Navigate is providing informative student profiles to Care Unit users, such as Academic Advisors, Retention Coaches, Student Success Liaisons. Advisors and retention coaches search for individual students or establish lists around a variety of parameters, depending upon identified success markers or advising needs. From their searches, users can send communication to students via email or text with applicable messaging. The manager of Retention Coaching and Director of Advising worked with the Holistic Coordinated Care Team as well as their respective teams to map Early Alert reasons and communication paths for a number of identified barriers to student success. Staff and Faculty can submit an alert with some alerts resulting in an automatic email to a student conveying appropriate services or actions. Cases created by the alert prompt proactive action by a retention coach, other pathway team staff, or appropriate campus offices. Progress Report campaigns are course performance requests sent proactively to faculty on a schedule designed for easy-to-use and time-efficient reporting of student needs or faculty concerns.
Promising Practice: Make student care a coordinated effort
Support offices such as financial aid, career advising, academic support, and student health and counseling centers positively impact student success but are often underutilized. Institutions should create a Coordinated Care Network across offices to easily coordinate and collaborate on appropriate next steps for student support.
MATC Strategies:
The Holistic Coordinated Care Team (HCCT) was established in March 2021 with current representation from twelve (12) different areas of wrap around services, including Advising, Retention Coaching, Financial aid, Tutoring/Academic support, Counseling, Veterans Resource Center, Student Life, Faculty Mentoring and Online Learning. Co-leaders are the Director of District Wide Advising and Manager for Retention Coaching with one key team focus to develop and help coordinate a Care Network across campus. Care Units (those who will be using NAVIGATE platform in Phase 1) and Care Partners (those not directly using the NAVIGATE platform for Phase 1 or who will not be integrated into the platform) are vital to how we map and implement an Early Alert process for faculty and staff to alert appropriate offices of student needs AND to inform students who could provide support with automated email communication.
Additionally, Retention Coaching and Student Resource Center leaders met with the VP Retention and Completion to see what is possible to further understand cross-campus collaboration and clarity of communicating about resources to staff and students.
Promising Practice: Foster student belongingness
A student's sense of belonging on campus is crucial not only for student success and persistence but for student equity. Leaders who invest in initiatives and policy changes that address self-confidence, academic preparation, and a sense of belonging will be the first to move the dial on equitable outcomes. Campus leaders should evaluate best practices and develop support and response plans to ensure that all students, especially those from underserved backgrounds, feel supported and valued by their community.
MATC Strategies:
A student’s sense of belonging can be nurtured in many ways. The transition to our Guided Pathways model led to the creation of an assortment of student supporting positions. They have several titles, but all were established to escort the student from the “onboarding” process to active opportunities through the student's MATC experience. One of the first contacts for a student is the Navigator, a greeter and direction finder from first contact. Students unsure of direction may be redirected to a Career Coach in MATC’s CareerHub. If an academic direction is better defined, the student will be assisted in the Academic and Career Pathway by a Student Services Liaison providing an introduction to the more specific academic path. A Pathway Advisor stands ready to more directly connect the student with registration to the appropriate classes. Along the way, a Retention Coach will assist the student with out of class challenges with a wealth of knowledge about student resources. It is not uncommon for MATC students to struggle with many of life's insecurities, including, but not limited to, food, housing, mental health insecurities and even homelessness. The Student Resource Center and other Student Life resources are ready to assist students with real solutions to these struggles. By taking advantage of these resources, the student can give more serious attention to the important lessons being learned in the classroom. MATC is providing a housing option nearby called “Westown Green'', equipped with valuable and comfortable amenities. If the student just wants to find a listening ear about concerns, MATC’s Ombudsperson is there to help. All these positions, resources and opportunities facilitate a true sense of belonging at MATC.