When the pandemic hit, GWC leaders created the Case Management Project (CaMP) to personally connect with students to make sure their needs were being met
In March, Golden West College, like most schools, closed its campus to students and nearly all staff members because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Student Services Team had their work cut out for them.
With all classes moved online, many students were anxious and confused.
“I called a student who was very worried and confused about the online process for her classes,” says volunteer case manager Meredith Carr, a staff aide in Enrollment Services.
“I kept in contact with her by email and text every week just to say hello and to see if I could help in any way. At the end of the semester, I texted her to see how things turned out. She was so excited. She told me, ‘Things ended up great!’”
Over 60 staff, faculty and managers from across Golden West College rose to the challenge and created a new way to serve students during this time of upheaval. Thanks to their commitment, GWC staff members were able to make one-to-one, personal contact with thousands of students and connect them to resources when they needed them most.
“It was inspiring to see in this moment of crisis how quickly the campus was able to pivot to serving our students’ needs online,” says Christina Ryan Rodriguez, dean of Enrollment Services.
“We were making policy decisions day by day,” she adds. “At times, it felt like we were building the plane as we were flying it. It’s been a real privilege to watch that transformation during this historical moment.”
Groundwork was set
Three years before the pandemic erupted, GWC began taking advantage of new technologies to more efficiently meet the needs of the over 12,000 students who sign up for classes
each semester.
For example, the web-based platform Cranium Café allows students to speak through chat or webcam to a staff member during office hours. Pre-COVID-19, Rodriguez notes, about five students a day would use the services. That number surged to a high of 124 during the pandemic.
With the physical campus closed, GWC leaders recognized that they would need to create more than just a new web page to be able to answer students’ questions.
In order to meet students’ needs in this quickly-changing environment, Rodriguez and other GWC student services leaders came up with a crisis-management plan they called CaMP, for Case Management Project.
Dr. Susana Castellanos-Gaona, director of Student Equity, also recognized that many students who relied on campus resources, such as the food pantry and other academic and technological resources, no longer had access; many students still needed the in-person GWC community and support to maintain momentum and success.
CaMP provided the kind of centralized tool kit necessitated by the emergency. It served as a vehicle and kept the human connection to the campus thriving.
Rodriguez and others put the word out, seeking employees who would be willing to volunteer to help staff CaMP. Each volunteer was assigned a caseload of students to reach out to, and directions on how to connect them with campus support and resources.
The students initially received an introductory email from their CaMP representative, then the staff member followed up with phone calls, text and email messages regularly to support challenges the students were facing week-to-week.
Many students faced
pressing challenges
Following a loose script to assess students’ needs, the volunteers prioritized their issues and color-coded the names of the students, with red meaning they had an urgent need, for follow up.
For example, some students didn’t have computers at home, which made studying remotely impossible. Chromebooks were quickly made available for check-out to students. Based on the campus being closed, pickup was arranged for every Tuesday afternoon so students could drive through the parking lot and pick up the technology needed to be successful in their online classes.
Case management of each student provided individualized interventions as needed. For example, while speaking to the students, the CaMP representatives surveyed them to determine what obstacles may impede their success online. If a student said she was in need of financial aid due to a loss of job, for example, the representative could complete a form on the student’s behalf that would instantly send the student’s email to the financial aid office so someone there could follow up with her.
By May 22, CaMP volunteers had made personal contact with 4,315 students, Rodriguez says. Of these students, 258 were identified in high need of a laptop, food resources, financial aid support, or mental health services.
Emergency grants of between $50 and $200 in the form of gift cards were given to 39 students so they could buy groceries, Rodriguez says.
The goal of CaMP was to not only connect with students but to show them GWC staff members care by providing a continuous stream of support, encouragement, and resources during a very difficult time, whether they were physically on campus on not.
Rodriguez recalls a student she called who was initially too busy to talk to her.
“She told me, ‘I do need the help, but I have three kids at home who I’m trying to homeschool and I’m so overwhelmed,’” Rodriguez recalls. “I told her to let me know when she was free and I’d make the time to talk to her and see how the campus could provide support she needed.”
When Rodriguez spoke to the student, it was obvious she needed a Chromebook and was able to coordinate meeting the student’s need during a very stressful time at home.
Oftentimes, students would tell the representatives they were doing fine; however, it was clear they wanted to talk.
“Many students were lonely,” Rodriguez says. “They loved having someone to talk to and kept representatives on the phone sharing thoughts, feelings and experiences during quarantine. Students felt supported that the campus representatives were making this effort and it made a big difference to them.”
As much as CaMP supported GWC students, the program also was very fulfilling for volunteers, Rodriguez says.
“Many of our employees really wanted to find a way to stay connected to students,” she says. “There was definitely a reciprocal value as campus representatives learned to become engaged in a way that was meaningful during these uncertain times, especially for those who normally don’t have a lot of contact with our students.”
Rodriguez held weekly debrief calls on Zoom with the volunteers to make sure the campus representatives weren’t feeling overwhelmed and to share best practices. Most representatives enthusiastically participated and were happy to get regular updates on the resources and changes on the campus.
“It’s been a labor of love to meet the needs of our students during a very challenging semester,” Rodriguez says of CaMP.
