SDES COVID-19 Response

SDES COVID-19 RESPONSE

COVID-19, starting in March 2020, had a major impact on our division in the final quarter of this year in review. Everyone in SDES made strategic adjustments to accommodate the university’s move towards virtual and continued to support our students. The next few pages are a small picture of the SDES response…

Career Services

• Career Services virtual workshops, employer information sessions, and other career programs had 2,907 participants summer 2020, and 10,452 participants fall 2020.

• UCF Career Services introduced Hiring Hours as a new, innovative way to engage students and employers.

• Through Reddit, Career Services was able to reach a population of students who are initially hesitant to either connect with us or have little knowledge of what the department does.

• In Fall 2020, Career Services staff had individual appointments with 869 students and alumni.

Creative School for Children

Creative School for Children (CSC) provided daily virtual learning opportunities for the children during the closure and beginning in March 2020 (in partnership with Knight’s Pantry), coordinated with Second Harvest to be a food distribution site for UCF students, employees and community members.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Starting March 16, 2020, Counseling and Psychological Services’ (CAPS) clinical system provided remote services to meet the diverse needs of the UCF community. Remote services included phone consultations and sessions via Therapy Assistance Online (TAO) Zoom platform with audioconference and videoconferencing options. Extended service for students that graduated or were not enrolled in summer 2020: 67

First Year Experience

• First Year Experience (FYE) staff had less than 6 weeks to transition the entire orientation process from an in-person program to a virtual process

• The quality experience was consistent to previous years:

• 95.2% of FTIC students felt they had necessary information to begin their transition to UCF

• 96.4% of FTIC students stated they were confident that UCF had resources to support them in their first year at UCF

Housing And Residence Life

In March 2020, Housing and Residence Life (DHRL) managed a campus-wide effort to support 7,485 residents as they depopulated the residence halls including implementing access restrictions to ensure security of residents’ belongings until retrieved; creating a process for residents to safely retrieve belongings in May and June or have belongings packed and shipped or stored; and supporting 504 students permitted to live on campus during the pandemic due to extenuating circumstances. After rooms were emptied, DHRL and Facilities Operations cleaned and sanitized all rooms and common areas for fall move-in. • Overall satisfaction with the UCF move-out experience was very high with residents and parents/guardians expressing 92.9% satisfaction in spring 2020 (n=257)

Knight's Pantry

• The Pantry stayed open throughout the campus period of remote learning without any gap in service, providing to-go bags to Knights in need through the efforts of our student leadership and student staff.

• Over 3,000 to-go bags were distributed from March–December 2020.

• The Pantry also provided bag service to students that were quarantined/isolated in Housing throughout the fall semester.

LEAD Scholars Academy

• LEAD Scholars Academy was able to pivot 29 face to face classes to Zoom synchronous courses in spring 2020 in March.

• LEAD Scholars Academy events: After UCF went virtual in March 2020, LEAD hosted 53 social, educational, and service workshops for students in spring 2020. In fall 2020 LEAD hosted 159 social, educational, and service workshops including 25 in person events.

Office of Student Financial Assistance

More than $28 Million in Federal Emergency Pandemic Funding (C.A.R.E.S.) ($28,026,869) was disbursed in the 2019–2020 academic year to more than 22,000 students.

Undergraduate Admissions

Undergraduate Admissions (UA) quickly transitioned all spring outreach events and yield activities to virtual formats in March and leveraged Zoom, social media, video, and text campaigns to engage more than 23,000 admitted FTIC and transfer students.

Student Accessibility Services

• Student Accessibility Services (SAS) connected with 2,845 UCF students in 2020

• SAS participated in the Faculty Return to Teaching ad hoc committee to elevate faculty teaching during COVID-19, which was crucial given disabled students’ wide participation in UCF courses.

Wellness and Health Promotion Services

• Launched a new peer wellness coaching program to provide peer to peer coaching.

• Peer education programs included 10,266 student contacts on topics like alcohol and other drugs, couponing and gardening.

• Wellness and Health Promotion Services (WHPS) enhanced social media engagement: 226,598 student contacts including proper handwashing, recipes, cooking demonstrations, and condom information.

• Armor Up Ambassadors: 80 students focused on promoting risk reduction behaviors: physical distancing, mask wearing, and COVID Self Checker screening, with 50,000+ contacts and increased COVID Self Checker screening compliance by 17%.

Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities

Student Care Services (SCS):

• Coordinated CARES Act emergency fund routing with Student Financial Assistance

• Streamlined COVID-19 response for on and off campus students

Spring 2020 - 121 students

Summer 2020 - 365 students

Fall 2020 - 2108 students

SCS has responded to over 2,100 COVID-19 impacted students during Fall 2020. Coordination of care for on-campus students included: phone calls and emails follow-up; referrals to free counseling support; delivery of emergency food items and toiletries; individual meal cards; class absence support and faculty notification and reminders about quarantine and isolation protocols Students in on-campus isolation received additional coordination including support: pharmacy deliveries; and SCS partnered with Lead Scholars to create activity and resource bags for students who were in isolation or quarantine in on-campus housing during the breaks.