Addressing Students’ Basic Needs to Secure Student Success

was laid in 2022 when UHD’s Counseling & Disability Services (C&DS) team received a Trellis Foundation grant, “Mental Well-Being: A Basic Need for Postsecondary Students.” Dedicated to providing wraparound services—including counseling, workforce programming and placement, domestic violence awareness and support, and nutritional and financial assistance—the program has been facilitating students’ access to internal and external resources. As a result, C&DS is building a community of partners equipped to meet the unique needs of UHD students.

As an anchor institution, UHD is committed to graduating students with a degree of value, one that empowers them to take on critical roles as leaders in the community. But when students’ basic needs are unmet—including issues with food, housing, transportation, physical/mental health, and dependent care—their ability to stay the course and graduate is in jeopardy.

To explore this issue, Blanchard hosted Leanne Davis, Senior Director of Education & Training Services at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University in Philadelphia, for a President’s Lecture Series event, “Supporting Students Starts With Basic Needs.”

“Students are humans first, and their basic needs are essential conditions for learning,” said Davis. “We can’t talk about providing society a more educated workforce unless we’re addressing basic needs first.”

A recent UHD student survey confirmed just how urgent the problem is: 30%-40% of participants reported facing one or more insecurities related to basic needs. UHD responded to this critical issue by launching a Basic Needs Center. With the help of a $943,724 award from the U.S. Department of Education, the Center provides staffing and support to address immediate student needs and collects data through a case-management process. Ultimately, the Center will analyze data and create key performance indicator reports to assist the University in adjusting resources to address students’ areas of greatest necessity.

Blanchard called the program a “collaboration and connections approach” that draws together and builds on existing efforts within UHD and provides access to resources via community partners. One cornerstone of those efforts

These and other efforts that flow from the Basic Needs Center to the Gator community share the same goal: student success. According to Blanchard, “The Center will consolidate existing campus-level interventions and services, improve awareness of and access to these services, and increase available resources, allowing students facing basic needs insecurities to stabilize and experience academic success.”