Student Affairs Plan Proposals
UTM Student Affairs sees its role as educating students in the broadest possible sense; creating and supporting learning opportunities in the campus and community, well beyond the traditional classroom’s boundaries. The opportunities arising from UTM’s growth in population and physical infrastructure over the course of this planning period are ideal for integrating many services in a Student Services Plaza, establishing an overall model of service that supports successful student transitions, and a “Students First” research initiative. Student Services Plaza The plaza will bring together the majority of individual student services’ human, technological and physical resources into logical clusters in one area. Designed to be an easy and frequent destination for students, the Student Services Plaza will raise students’ awareness of UTM’s student services and encourage their use. The Plaza will provide an ideal climate for triage of students’ concerns, further encourage team-based programming and holistic care for students, and help us recognize and address gaps across the spectrum of services. A Student Services Plaza also allows for more efficient use of resources, such as sharing staff functions (e.g. reception, currently required in each service location), space and equipment (sharing copiers, servers and resource materials, and where allowed without breaching confidentiality, shared student files that encourage insight into students’ individual issues as they utilize our different services. Services in the Student Services Plaza are anticipated to include: Existing services • academic advising • financial counselling • accessibility support • career counselling • internship support • health education and outreach • nurse, physician and psychiatric care • personal counselling • diversity education & leadership development • shared space for central outreach (i.e. ombudsperson, GLBTQ services) New services (including anticipated staffing needs) • transition support for new students • local services for international students (0.5 FTE, 2007) • promotion of volunteer and service opportunities (1.0 FTE, 2007-8) • centralized resource area (for print and electronic materials) • one-card service (Office of the Registrar)
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additional Student Affairs support positions (Financial Office, Specialists, Research and Assessment Officer, Projects Officer)
Locating these services together, in one well-designed space with surrounding student lounge areas, provides a number of significant opportunities that go well beyond what is currently possible. Multi-service teams can more quickly form to address emerging concerns; cross-trained staff can make immediate and direct referrals instead of sending students off with a card and phone number; hours of operation may be extended more efficiently; responsibilities for large events can be shared; and students coming for a specific service will be exposed to other services and opportunities which they might not otherwise be aware. Another opportunity of the Student Services is the ability to hire shared Student Services Specialists (1.0 in 2006-7, 1.0 in 2008-9). The current size and structure of UTM’s student services demand generalists, but the opportunity of easily sharing personnel allows for more specialized expertise to be brought on board. Student Affairs across North America are developing new services and resources on-line (e.g. student web portals, on-line co-curricular records of involvement), but such initiatives require the development of a technology strategy and technological understanding to guide implementations. The campus’ need for additional policy, procedure and protocol development in Student Affairs and Services is rapidly increasing, and a special focus in communications would be beneficial in writing, updating and developing new material on an on-going basis (particularly with the pending UT/UTM web portal). These responsibilities have been combined into innovative positions on a number of campuses, and would be extremely beneficial here. The services also propose to share a Financial Officer (1.0 FTE, 2006-7) to coordinate and manage their financial resources (whose funding models vary widely, including the college’s base budget, student fees, government grants, external memberships, healthcare and insurance reimbursements, and ancillary fees). This officer could also search for additional grant opportunities for the Student Services. The Plaza and lounges could encompass part of the main floor of the existing library, after the new Academic Learning Centre opens in 2006 and the vacated space is renovated. In order to begin preparations for a Student Services Plaza, significant time must be devoted to exploring best practices (including similar projects at University of Pennsylvania, Tufts, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon and Brigham Young), defining together our Students First philosophy and initial research needs, and planning the actual redesign of the main floor of the current library space in conjunction with the campus’ other needs. Students First Research Initiative Student Affairs professionals across Canada continue to recognize the need for better understanding of students of students and some measures of the effectiveness of our efforts in their development. The body of scholarship in this area is produced almost overwhelmingly in the U.S. (typically in Higher Education Administration and Student
Development graduate programs) and little research is undertaken in Canada. (That which is, is done off of the sides of administrators’ desks.) Our campus size, the diversity of students and programs, a collection of willing and interested academic partners (including Sociology and its Hitachi Survey unit, Statistics, the Academic Skills Centre and potentially OISE/UT) and our growing professional staff in Student Affairs make UTM an ideal laboratory to seriously undertake such research. For these reasons, we seek a Student Affairs Research and Assessment Officer (1.0 FTE, 2007-8) and a Projects Officer (1.0 FTE, 2005-6) to assist services in undertaking such research. Transition Support Although the university and the campus offer a variety of in-person and other services that operate proactively, students tend to wait until their academic performance is seriously compromised before seeking assistance. Many times, the primary factors influencing their academic performance are outside of the classroom – conflicts with families and relationships, the adjustment from the structure of high school to the relative freedom of a university setting, financial concerns driving increased hours of employment and ill-preparedness regarding academic programs and career choices. Many of these conflicts are predictable, within the first year, and benefit from welltargeted intervention strategies. We propose a new service focused on the transition issues for new students (1.5 FTE, 2005-2007), marshalling campus resources to deliver these interventions in timely ways that would enhance campus retention and help students succeed academically. This office would work with the Registrar, other services’ administrators, student organizations involved in orientation, the Academic Skills Centre, and the Research and Assessment Officer to focus our efforts most effectively and efficiently. Existing Services AccessAbility Resource Centre This area is funded by government grants and university funds, supplemented by campus funds. Need/demand for disability-related services continues to outpace both government and university funding, understanding that prescribed accommodations are required to be provided. The staff cohort has not grown in proportion to the overall student population or the number of registered users of the service. AccessAbility relies heavily on a learning strategist position funded year-to-year by a grant (i.e. there is no long-term government commitment to it) and on volunteers to deliver services that would otherwise be required to be delivered by staff. In the short term, the office needs an additional full-time staff member to serve as an accommodations and volunteer coordinator this coming year (1.0 FTE, 2004-5). In the longer term and for the overall improvement of the service to students, AccessAbility should add one additional learning strategist plus two additional accommodations officers (3.0 FTE, 2006-2009), so that one staff member might be focused on intake and accommodations for each of three disability streams: • mobility and visual disabilities • learning disability disabilities
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psychiatric and hearing disabilities.
Residence Services This area is funded by the ancillary fees it generates. This department will complete and open the Phase 8 Residence in 2006, along with the associated dining hall and a mandatory residence dining plan. This may also provide opportunities for residence to adopt technologies being explored in UTM’s Grow Smart, Grow Green initiatives. Given the large number of returning students whose desire for residence cannot be met on campus, the department wishes to expand to include off-campus housing support services. This may include a matching service and listings, an off-campus don program, and lifestyle programming for commuters (healthy and cheap cooking, dealing with roommates, etc.). In its services to on-campus students, residence will implement Rez One, a comprehensive program for incoming students, offering the equivalent of a first-term student success course and related activities. This will also involve an expansion of the Living and Learning Centres after their successful trial in 2003-4, including the establishment of academic and other student-generated interest communities. Residence will continue to advance its programming and support for mature, graduate and family housing residents, particularly in response to the growing graduate student population on campus. This will require careful balancing of demands, as more than 80% of the campus’ undergraduate housing stock is anticipated to be taken by new undergraduate students even after Phase 8 opens. It is generally agreed that residences should have a higher percentage of returning students than our housing stock will allow for, leaving us without the casual mentoring that more balanced residence populations benefit from. Phys. Ed., Recreation and Athletics / Wellness This area is primarily funded by student fees. It will seek partnerships and donor opportunities to continue with the second and third phases of the Wellness Centre plan, namely the fieldhouse and the outdoor seasonal ice pad, plus an additional gymnasium. The department will complete and open the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre in 2006, and begin offering sport and fitness therapy services. It is seeking opportunities to host UT varsity teams and possibly take part in OCAA leagues. The department is also exploring partnerships with the Faculty of Physical Education and Health, which may result in fitness courses, graduate student placements, leadership training, and other joint ventures. Career Centre The Career Centre is student-fee funded and provides its services to all interested students. Acknowledging the need to provide a ‘value-added’ experience for students in deregulated programs, we propose that some portion of those tuition funds be used to develop specialized, program-based materials and workshops – the best of these new
offerings would then be rolled out for students in other programs. For example, an experimental workshop on creating CV’s for graduate school might first be designed and customized for Computer Science students, and if successful, might then be adapted for other populations. Health Service This area is primarily funded by student fees and provincial health fees for covered services. It will relocate to the Student Services Plaza in 2007 and expand staff and facilities in response to evolving needs. It is anticipated that the service will add a Health Educator or Nurse Educator in 2005-6 and additional nurse, physician, counselling and support staff beginning in 2007.