As a Student Aid Coordinator at Penn State Harrisburg, Olivia Werner spends her days doing what she has always wanted to do – working with students. Though first set on becoming a teacher, her undergraduate connections at Bloomsburg University opened slightly different doors. While utilizing her campus’s tutoring center, Olivia met a grad assistant who was in her school’s Higher Ed graduate program. Olivia realized she, too, could pursue a career in student affairs. “Even though it wasn’t my original path to work with students, it was still a way for me to connect and work with them. I thought to myself, I think I’d be really good at this,” Olivia told Navengage.
Fast forward seven years, Olivia has now engaged with students in several roles, from providing holistic support services as a Success Coach at Millersville University of Pennsylvania to guiding students as an Academic Advisor at Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
We sat down with Olivia to discuss her array of experiences and the current state of student engagement and campus life today.
Pandemic effects on student life
The in-person connection that students lost during the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way students approach engagement today. In Olivia’s experience, students who got the chance to take classes before the pandemic have been able to bounce back to in-person meetings and events. But for the group of students who began their college careers during the pandemic, especially those who struggled with online classes, the adjustment has been far more challenging. “Students who struggled academically now have to learn how to experience in-person life while also having to get their grades in order,” she shared. “They’re still trying to figure out how to get connected. Their social skills are hindered.”
Connecting with students through technology
One of Olivia’s top goals is to listen to what students need and make them feel comfortable. She and her colleagues offer students multiple ways to participate in events through in-person and virtual options, and they also utilize technology as a way to connect more with students. “This generation likes technology, so meeting them where they are is important,” she shared. Olivia created an Instagram account for her office to promote their resources to students. She explained, “I’m just trying to connect with them in places where they would want to find the information.”
Breaking down student barriers
For Olivia, authenticity and being as genuine as possible when working with students is critical. She hopes to break down the walls that many students have built in and around themselves. “As a student affairs professional, you may be the only person a student has on campus–especially at a big campus–where students are from all over the place. So I want to make them feel as comfortable as possible to be their vulnerable selves in front of me,” she explained.
Olivia takes a holistic approach to supporting students, encouraging them to share more about their everyday lives. She explained, “My goal is to make them feel like someone from the university is on their side and is listening to them, to make students feel heard and seen.”
Peer mentorship and reducing stigmas
Utilizing resources on campus can be challenging for students who don’t know how to find what they need, but the challenge doesn’t stop there. Olivia has experienced students’ reservations using resources such as tutoring centers or disability resources because of perceived social stigmas surrounding them. “It’s important for us to empower students to take advantage of resources that will help them personally, and emphasize that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
One way Olivia empowers students to utilize campus resources is through peer mentorship. “When students hear about resources from a supervisor, they don’t always take action. But when they hear it from a peer, it’s different,” Olivia explained. “If they’re not understanding it from a faculty member, maybe they’ll understand it better from a peer.”
Student belonging and retention
Olivia centers student belonging as crucial for students’ academic and personal development. In her experience, “the more involved and the more engaged a student feels at the university, the more likely they are going to stay at the university.”
She believes belonging can stem from any experience, big or small. “Connection can start well before getting involved in clubs on campus. It can happen when a tour guide says something, or when the student moves into their residence hall.”
Olivia plans to adapt to whatever students need to feel welcomed and connected as higher ed continues to recognize post-pandemic norms on campus. She finds this generation of students to be resilient and feels motivated to support them. She shared, “In any way that higher ed professionals like myself can help students feel connected to the university and keep them there, that is a success for us.”
About Navengage
Navengage Inc. delivers leading-edge, mobile-first student engagement software that helps higher ed institutions increase student engagement and boost retention. We aim to advance student engagement technology so that colleges and universities have comprehensive, accurate, and readily available data for decision making. We are committed to engaging today's students with tomorrow's cutting-edge education technology and envision a world where every student has the opportunity to safely and successfully pursue their education. Learn more by visiting www.navengage.com
Navengage: Jan 9, 2024
Navengage