Calling all students: Sarasota-Manatee bridges the gap
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ITH THE MID-SEMESTER SHIFT to remote instruction due to the coronavirus pandemic, staff at USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus wanted to make sure students had the resources and support they needed to successfully continue their studies. The nine staff members reached out by phone to students – all 2,100. Brett Kemker, regional vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, says that when he learned that faculty and students were having difficulty connecting via email, he felt “the best thing our student success team could do was reach out to students personally by phone, just to check in and offer our support. The call-outs have been very well received.” He related a conversation an academic program specialist had with a student enrolled in an online program. “The student really appreciated the call, saying ‘I didn’t know if you knew I existed,’ since he already was fully online,“ Kemker says. Megan Dudley, a sophomore majoring in interdisciplinary social sciences, says that in her time as a student at the Sarasota-Manatee campus, “I’ve never felt more connected to a school than when I received a call from Student Services. “I was asked if I had any trouble adjusting and if they could be of assistance,” she says. “I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of concern they had for my academic success.” Before the call was over, Dudley was able to schedule a phone appointment with a student advisor. “This call made me very appreciative of the amount of support from USF Sarasota-Manatee, and they could not have been more helpful at a time like this.” Kemker looks forward to having his staff continue making the calls “even when we get back to normal.” “It’s not a call saying ‘you need to do this or that,’ it’s just reaching out and making an honest connection,” he says. - RICH SHOPES | Communications and Marketing
University students flock to Pen Pal program
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S UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE WORLD moved to remote teaching and learning during the spring semester, students from USF and universities around the world turned to a time-honored concept to stay connected: the pen pal. The College Pen Pal initiative was launched by the COMPASS student experience office at USF’s St. Petersburg campus after USF moved to remote instruction in March. Less than 48 hours after the program was announced on Instagram, more than 700 students from universities across the country and all three USF campuses signed up to correspond with a like-minded pal while practicing social distancing. By late April, the COMPASS office had matched nearly 1,600 students from 227 institutions, including 240 USF students. The vast majority are from the United States (including the University of Hawaii, Manoa), with additional sign-ups from Canada, Zambia and South Africa. “I thought of the idea the first week students were away from campus, when we were scrambling to think through how to engage them from afar,” explains COMPASS Program Coordinator Meredith Mechanik. “My first thought was to keep the program within USF, but there’s something really powerful about the fact that college students around the world – regardless of their major or where they live – are having a shared experience. With that in mind, we leaned into the opportunity for them to connect with someone they likely never would’ve come across otherwise.” To participate, students can go to bit.ly/collegepenpal. Links are also available on USF’s social media pages. After filling out the online form, participants will be matched with one another by members of the COMPASS program. It is up to participants how frequently they want to correspond.
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UNIVERSITY of SOUTH FLORIDA
- CARRIE O’BRION | Marketing and Communications
