Supporting Modern Learners: Real Examples from College Campuses

Speakers

• Jesus Perales — Program Officer, Trellis Foundation
• Dr. Christy Ponce — President, Temple College
• Dr. Kristina Ramirez Wilson — Chief of Performance Excellence and Strategy, Texas A&M University–Kingsville
• Ken Sherwood — Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Caring Campus, Institute for Evidence-Based Change

Editor’s note: This transcript should be lightly formatted for readability while preserving the substance of the webinar. Speaker attribution and timestamps should be verified against the source transcription.

[00:00] Welcome and Introduction

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Supporting Modern Learners: Real Examples from College Campuses.

Today we’re going to talk about what it means to support the modern learner and, more importantly, what that looks like in practice on college campuses.

Students today are balancing a wide range of responsibilities. They may be working while enrolled, caring for children or other family members, managing financial challenges, or navigating college as the first person in their family to do so.

Those realities make it increasingly important for institutions to think intentionally about the student experience and how we create environments where students feel welcomed, supported, and connected.

Today, we’re going to hear from leaders who are putting those ideas into practice and explore strategies that other institutions can consider adapting for their own campuses.

[03:00] Understanding the Modern Learner

When we talk about modern learners, we’re talking about students whose lives may look very different from the traditional image of a college student.

Many students are balancing school with employment and family responsibilities. Some are first-generation students who may not have someone in their immediate family who can help them understand how college works.

Others may be returning to college after time away or trying to complete a credential while already established in the workforce.

All of those circumstances influence how students experience an institution.

It means that colleges need to think about more than simply providing access to courses. We also need to think about whether students know where to go for help, whether they feel comfortable asking questions, whether they have relationships with faculty and staff, and whether they feel like they belong at the institution.

[05:30] Why Student Belonging Matters

One of the important themes in this work is belonging.

Students need to know that there are people at their institution who care about whether they succeed.

Research has consistently demonstrated the importance of the relationships students build with faculty, staff, and their peers.

Those relationships influence students’ academic self-concept, motivation, and persistence.

This is especially important for students who may already be questioning whether they belong in college.

A student may arrive on campus experiencing imposter syndrome or feeling like everyone else understands how to navigate college except them.

An interaction with a faculty or staff member can reinforce that uncertainty, or it can communicate: You belong here. We expected you. We want you to succeed.

[08:00] Introducing the Caring Campus Approach

Caring Campus is centered on creating those intentional connections.

The approach asks faculty and staff to think about the behaviors they can use every day to make students feel more connected to their institution.

It isn’t necessarily about creating another program or another office.

Instead, it’s about examining the interactions that are already taking place across campus and identifying behaviors that can make those interactions more meaningful for students.

It’s also about identifying policies and practices that may unintentionally create barriers.

Sometimes institutions develop processes because they make sense administratively, but those same processes may be difficult for students to navigate.

Caring Campus encourages us to look at those experiences from the student’s perspective.

[11:00] Small Behaviors Can Make a Difference

Some of these behaviors can seem very simple.

Learning and using a student’s name is one example.

Welcoming students intentionally at the beginning of a course is another.

Creating opportunities to learn something about each student can also make a difference.

These aren’t necessarily expensive interventions. They don’t require building a new facility or purchasing a new technology.

But when those behaviors occur consistently across an institution, they can change the way students experience college.

Students begin to see that faculty and staff know who they are and care whether they are successful.

[14:00] Creating an Intentional Welcome

The beginning of the student experience matters.

That includes the student’s first interaction with the institution as well as the first day of a particular course.

We want students to feel welcomed from the beginning.

Faculty can think intentionally about what happens on the first day of class.

Rather than focusing exclusively on policies and requirements, the first day can also create opportunities for students to interact with their instructor and with one another.

That can happen in face-to-face courses and in online environments.

Welcome letters, introductory activities, interviews, icebreakers, scavenger hunts, and team-building activities are all ways instructors can begin establishing those connections.

[17:00] Creating Moments That Matter

Another Caring Campus behavior involves creating moments that matter.

These are opportunities for faculty or staff members to connect individually with students.

The interaction does not necessarily have to be long.

Sometimes a brief conversation can communicate that a faculty member recognizes a student and is interested in their goals.

These interactions can also help faculty understand what’s happening in a student’s life.

When a problem arises later in the semester, that existing relationship may make the student more comfortable reaching out and asking for help.

[20:00] Providing Early Feedback

Providing assignments and feedback early in the semester is another important strategy.

Students need to understand how they’re doing before they reach a point where recovery becomes difficult.

An early assignment gives both the student and the instructor information.

Students can determine whether they understand the material and expectations.

Faculty can identify students who may be struggling and reach out.

Waiting until the middle or end of the semester to communicate that a student is in trouble limits the institution’s ability to intervene.

Early feedback creates an opportunity to connect students with resources while there’s still time to change the outcome.

[23:00] Compassionate Coaching for Modern Learners

Compassionate coaching is another important part of this approach.

Students have complicated lives.

A student may miss an assignment because of work, childcare, transportation, illness, or another unexpected circumstance.

That doesn’t mean academic standards disappear.

Instead, compassionate coaching asks us to understand the student’s circumstances and determine how we can help them continue moving forward while maintaining appropriate expectations.

Sometimes the first question should not be, “Why didn’t you do this?”

It may be, “What happened, and how can we help you get back on track?”

That change in approach can have a significant effect on whether a student remains engaged.

[26:00] Temple College’s Student-Centered Approach

Temple College provides an example of what this work can look like when it becomes part of a larger institutional strategy.

The college serves students across Central Texas and is connected with important regional industries including healthcare, logistics, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, technology, and artificial intelligence.

Supporting those students requires thinking holistically about their experience.

Caring Campus is one part of that work, but the institution has also examined onboarding, advising, course structure, mental health support, student gathering spaces, and professional development.

The objective is to create an environment where student success is everyone’s responsibility.

[29:00] Redesigning Student Onboarding

The onboarding experience is especially important because students are learning how the institution works at the same time they’re trying to make important academic and financial decisions.

If that process is confusing, students can encounter barriers before they ever enter a classroom.

Temple College has worked to create clearer entry points for students through its Welcome Center and enrollment advising.

That means thinking about what students experience from the moment they arrive.

Where do they go?

Who answers their questions?

How many different offices do they have to visit?

Do they understand what comes next?

Simplifying those experiences can reduce unnecessary friction in the student journey.

[32:00] Academic, Workforce, and Financial Planning

Advising also needs to reflect the realities of the modern learner.

Students are not making academic decisions in isolation.

They’re thinking about how long college will take, what it will cost, whether they can continue working, and what employment opportunities will be available when they finish.

That means advising can include an academic plan, a workforce plan, and a financial plan.

Those elements are interconnected.

When students understand how their courses connect to a credential, how that credential connects to employment, and how they’re going to finance the journey, they have a clearer pathway forward.

[35:00] Flexible Course Structures

Course structure is another area institutions can examine.

Temple College has focused on eight-week courses as one part of its student-success strategy.

Shorter terms can allow students to focus on fewer courses at a time.

They can also allow students to reach academic milestones more quickly.

For working learners and caregivers, that structure may offer advantages over a traditional semester model.

The broader lesson is that institutions should examine whether the way they’ve traditionally structured education aligns with the lives students are actually living today.

[38:00] Creating Spaces for Connection

Physical space can contribute to belonging as well.

Creating gathering spaces for students and faculty gives people opportunities to interact outside formal classroom or advising appointments.

Those informal interactions can help students develop relationships and feel connected to campus.

Not every student has time to participate in clubs or traditional extracurricular activities.

Working students may arrive shortly before class and leave immediately afterward because they need to return to work or family responsibilities.

Institutions therefore need to think creatively about how connection can happen within the time students already spend on campus.

[41:00] Supporting Students in Online Learning

The same principle applies to online education.

An online student should not automatically have a disconnected student experience.

Faculty can intentionally create opportunities for students to interact with one another and with their instructor.

First-day activities, interviews, icebreakers, collaborative exercises, and other strategies can create connection in virtual environments.

Faculty can also think carefully about deadlines and course policies.

Situational awareness matters.

A policy may seem neutral but have a very different impact on a student working full time or caring for a family member.

The goal is not to eliminate rigor. It is to make sure that policies support learning rather than create unnecessary barriers.

[44:00] Making Caring Campus Part of Institutional Culture

For this work to last, it has to become part of institutional culture.

A one-time training can generate enthusiasm, but sustaining change requires reinforcement.

That can include onboarding new faculty and staff, ongoing coaching, professional development, peer learning, and opportunities to revisit Caring Campus behaviors.

Institutions can also incorporate these expectations into hiring.

If caring for students is part of the institution’s identity, prospective employees should understand that expectation from the beginning.

[47:00] Listening to Student Feedback

Student feedback is essential.

Institutions may believe they’re creating a welcoming environment, but ultimately students determine whether that is what they experience.

Focus groups and surveys can help leaders understand what’s working and where barriers remain.

Institutions can also create opportunities for more immediate feedback.

Students shouldn’t always have to wait for an annual survey to tell the college about a problem.

Recognition can reinforce the culture as well.

When students have opportunities to recognize faculty and staff members who demonstrate caring behaviors, it highlights examples of what the institution values.

[50:00] Texas A&M University–Kingsville’s Institutional Transformation

Texas A&M University–Kingsville provides another example of how Caring Campus can fit into a larger institutional transformation.

The university serves students in South Texas and has both rural and urban communities within its region.

Like many institutions, it faced significant challenges, including enrollment pressures and leadership changes.

When new leadership arrived, the university began developing a clearer strategic direction.

That work included a new mission, vision, shared values, and strategic plan.

It also involved creating systems for execution so that strategic goals would translate into measurable action.

Caring Campus became one component of that larger transformation.

[53:00] Bringing Caring Campus to a Four-Year University

Texas A&M University–Kingsville became the first university to implement Caring Campus.

The institution began implementing Caring Campus behaviors with employees and later expanded the approach to faculty classroom behaviors.

That experience is important because it demonstrates that the underlying principles are not exclusive to community colleges.

Students at four-year institutions also need to feel welcomed, connected, and supported.

They may also be first-generation students, working learners, caregivers, or students navigating significant financial pressures.

The institutional setting may differ, but the importance of human connection remains.

[56:00] Connecting Strategy With Execution

One of the challenges institutions face is moving from strategic planning to execution.

A strategic plan can identify important goals, but those goals have to become part of everyday institutional behavior.

That requires clarity around priorities.

It also requires people throughout the institution to understand their role.

Caring Campus provides a practical example.

If an institution says student belonging is important, faculty and staff need to understand what they can actually do differently.

Specific behaviors turn a broad goal like belonging into something actionable.

[59:00] Measuring Retention and Student Success

Institutions also need to look at outcomes.

Texas A&M University–Kingsville reported improvements in student retention during its broader transformation.

Fall-to-spring retention increased by five percentage points over two years, reaching 92.7%.

Fall-to-fall retention increased by 6.5 percentage points in one year, reaching 71.1%.

Those results exist within a larger set of institutional changes, so they should not be attributed to one initiative alone.

But they demonstrate why student experience belongs in conversations about institutional performance.

Belonging, engagement, retention, and completion are interconnected.

[1:02:00] Student Success Is Everyone’s Responsibility

One of the broader lessons from these examples is that student success cannot belong to only one department.

It isn’t solely the responsibility of student affairs.

It isn’t solely the responsibility of faculty.

And it isn’t solely the responsibility of advisors.

Students experience the entire institution.

They interact with admissions, financial aid, faculty, advisors, administrative staff, and many other people along the way.

Every interaction can influence whether a student feels supported or frustrated.

Creating a student-centered institution therefore requires shared responsibility across campus.

[1:05:00] Removing Institutional Barriers

Supporting modern learners also means examining the barriers institutions may unintentionally create.

Colleges and universities have policies and processes that developed over many years.

Sometimes those practices continue because they’ve always been done that way.

But the needs of students change.

Technology changes.

The workforce changes.

The circumstances surrounding higher education change.

Institutions need to periodically ask whether their policies are still serving students effectively.

If a process creates unnecessary complexity without contributing to learning or institutional integrity, there may be an opportunity to redesign it.

[1:08:00] The Power of Small Changes

Large institutional transformations are important, but small changes matter too.

Learning a student’s name matters.

Sending an email when a student stops attending matters.

Explaining a confusing process matters.

Helping a student find the right office matters.

Providing feedback early matters.

Asking a student what happened before making an assumption matters.

Individually, these actions may seem small.

Collectively, they shape how students experience an institution.

That’s one of the most important ideas behind Caring Campus.

[1:11:00] Supporting the Whole Student

Modern learners bring their entire lives with them to college.

Work doesn’t disappear when they enter a classroom.

Family responsibilities don’t disappear.

Financial pressures don’t disappear.

Transportation challenges don’t disappear.

Mental health needs don’t disappear.

Institutions cannot solve every challenge students experience, but they can acknowledge those realities and build systems that help students navigate them.

That means connecting students with resources while also creating an environment where asking for help feels normal.

[1:14:00] Building a Sustainable Culture of Belonging

Ultimately, the goal is not simply to implement Caring Campus.

The goal is to create an institutional culture where students consistently experience care, connection, and belonging.

That requires leadership, but it also requires participation throughout the institution.

Faculty and staff need opportunities to learn, practice, and reinforce the behaviors.

Students need opportunities to provide feedback.

Institutions need to examine data and outcomes.

And the work has to continue as new students and employees enter the community.

[1:17:00] Closing Discussion

Supporting modern learners requires institutions to understand who their students are today and design the college experience around those realities.

The examples from Temple College and Texas A&M University–Kingsville demonstrate different ways institutions can approach that work.

There is no single intervention that creates student success.

Instead, institutions can combine strategic changes with intentional everyday behaviors.

They can redesign systems while also strengthening human relationships.

They can listen to students while examining outcomes.

And they can create environments where students understand that they belong and that there are people invested in helping them reach their goals.

The important question for institutions is not simply whether they care about students.

It’s whether students experience that care in the interactions, policies, classrooms, and systems they encounter every day.