Dr. Leslie Cizmas from Texas A&M University presented a session at the 2020 Lilly Conference entitled “Strengthening Student Learning by Leveraging University and Community Resources” that really made me think about the resources we have that I could share with students to support their academic and wellbeing. Cizmas discussed a variety of financial, resilience, professionalism, and financial resources. Their department has a strong collaboration with alumni to help connect current students to employers and aid. Cizmas described the resources for academic success at their institution: academic success centers often have guides, time management sessions, strategies, and numerous opportunities to help students learn how to learn (metacognition). The work by these centers and metacognition made me think about Dr. Saundra McGuire’s presentation yesterday at the OTD Teaching and Learning Symposium and her book I’m currently reading.
Cizmas mentioned counseling and psychological services offered at their institution and emphasized that if students feel better they can learn better. Cizmas talks about well-being in public health courses. Working with the Offices of the Dean of Student Life, Cizmas invites specialists to talk about anxiety, coping strategies, sexually transmitted diseases… and discusses mindfulness and wellbeing at the beginning of sessions. these are all issues and technical content directly relevant to college students. Cizmas highlighted the value of student groups and associations. I have enjoyed working with student groups and admire all the events and community they offer. As Cizmas stated, these groups can be particularly helpful for underrepresented or marginalized people. Cizmas mentioned kognitocampus.com as a resource for a forty-five minute training on difficult conversations and self-compassion.org to take a self-compassion quiz. Cizmas reflected: how can we a better support to ourselves?
For professionalism and career planning Cizmas uses an external advisory board to learn about the needs of employers, for example. Using Zoom, they were able to connect employers and advisory board members with students. Young alumni are eager to share advice. Cizmas reminded us that financial issues are encountered by students, and we should be prepared to help direct students to help. How can we support first-generation and marginalized students? Cizmas suggested one-on-one listening sessions with instructors, bringing diverse alumni to class sessions, working with student groups, and talking about diversity and systemic racism. First-generation and other student populations often feel isolated, and connecting students to others and campus mentoring programs is critical. I love that Cizmas integrates all these support systems into the courses they teach and talks about how, as faculty, we can all be influential mentors. Further, how can we help connect students to appropriate mentors? This session reminded me of all the groups, alumni, and campus services that we can leverage to support students wellbeing as humans and professionals. While I sometimes struggle to find time or a way to integrate these resources and connections, I no longer feel guilty when I do. I care about all students in our community and awareness of what support systems we have can have tremendous impact on their success.
