麻豆传媒

By WGU Team

Strada Education Network recently released the results of its听, which听collected more than 4,000 responses from students at four-year education institutions across the country. The most unexpected finding of the survey was that 44% percent of students chose problems such as stress, anxiety, and loneliness as their biggest challenge this fall, rating their emotional wellbeing as far more of a concern than traditional barriers such as cost, academics, and digital access.

Consequently,听13% of听these听students say the effects of COVID-19 will delay their plans for听graduation,听听putting听their ability to finish degrees in jeopardy and听leaving career paths in doubt during one of the most difficult economic downturns听in听modern memory.

The听events of 2020 have听shown that,听in听addition to听helping students overcome听traditional barriers to education, educators and institutions听must听also听find ways to help听them听manage the emotional toll of uncertainty and unrest.听

In 2018, WGU implemented a new student support system called the Environmental Barriers Program (EVB). The purpose of the program is to track potentially harmful events such as natural disasters and then have听program听mentors work with impacted students to mitigate any negative effects.听The EVB听team听faced its biggest event to date with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.听听

The EVB team was already structured to respond to local disasters, and when the pandemic hit, they scaled their efforts to the entire student body, assessing impacts and developing mitigation plans.听As of June,听the EVB听team听found that听74% of WGU鈥檚 online听students鈥攎ore than 93,000鈥攈ad been impacted听by the pandemic听in some way.听Three students had experienced loss of life or home, 631 students had been displaced from their housing, and another 92,527 had been directly impacted by COVID-19听in other ways听(educational听field placements cancelled, testing and internet access barriers, tuition and financial concerns, personal impacts such as loss of wages or jobs, family and job stress, illness, loss of loved ones, etc.).

Data from the past seven months show that students who received听contact from mentors and other听interventions as part of the EVB program were 14% more likely to continue their studies than those who did not receive any type of intervention. (For more information on EVB and its response to COVID-19, refer to听WGU鈥檚 Academic Engagement听page for access to a free webinar entitled 鈥淐reating a Community of Care.鈥�)

However,听the EVB program鈥檚 success depends on several other student support systems which听WGU had听implemented听well before the arrival of COVID-19.听

• Program Mentors.听Each student is听assigned a program mentor听when they begin their studies at WGU. Mentors are experts in their field who help students with instruction, guidance, and support from enrollment to graduation. This year, program mentors have also been asked to assess students鈥� overall wellbeing听and record their findings in EVB records.听This one-on-one contact has proven essential in making sure students receive听.听

• Financial Aid.听At the beginning of the pandemic, WGU set aside听$10 million for emergency student aid听in addition to its regular financial aid and scholarship programs.听Funds were used to provide听emergency听scholarships and non-tuition aid for necessary expenses such as rent and groceries.

• Flexibility.听As students dealt with obstacles such as job loss or overtime, increased family demands, and the cancellation of testing and/or planned educational placements, WGU faculty adopted a more flexible approach to academic progress. Students听who needed it听were allowed more time to complete their studies and given alternative testing options, among other solutions. This flexibility proved to be crucial to retaining students and helping them progress toward their degrees.听

Our students face unimaginable pressure in their careers, academic pursuits, and personal lives.听WGU has used the EVB program to help students maintain progress toward a degree while balancing the needs of their families and employers.

It鈥檚 imperative that听higher ed institutions听look beyond finances and academics听to听consider the personal wellbeing of the students we serve.听Changing course is听difficult听but听it can be done, and听the success of our students, their families, their employers, and the economy depend on our willingness to make it happen.听