Nathan Moses, Oregon State University-Cascades’ interim director of student success, wants to make sure students receive the help they need, whether that’s arranging a virtual therapy session at nine at night or getting them involved in a campus club or trip.

For years, Central Oregon Community College and OSU-Cascades have had support services in place to help students settle into college. These supports have seen increased use this September, said college officials.

Even though schools have been open and in-person for a few years now, the effects from the pandemic have lingered. This academic term is yet another chance for students to start fresh, and for new students in particular, that transition to college can be a challenge.

These supports range from academic advising and help with financial aid to basic needs such as food and clothing for an internship.

Welcoming students into the university socially

Moses wants to help students relearn how to be social and to know that their ideas are heard.

“(I want to make sure) the student voice is heard, and providing those opportunities to show the behind the scenes work of what it takes to pull off a new idea or new program or whatever else,” said Moses.

OSU-Cascades’ orientation remains online, though two sessions for first-year students and a session for transfer students were held on campus over the summer. These sessions showed students how to navigate Canvas, how to work with disability services and financial aid and more. Each session had around 40 students, said Moses.

“We ended up getting a lot more questions earlier than we typically do. I look at that as a transitional support piece,” he said.

The Cascades Adventures program ran the Headwaters trips for first-year students, which included rock climbing, backpacking, and stand-up paddleboarding trips before the fall term started. The trips gave new students the opportunity to form friendships while exploring the natural areas around Bend.

“The biggest thing coming out of the pandemic is, that first year, people were used to being remote for everything, and it was, like, how do you make friends again? How do you socialize?” said Moses. “We haven’t had this for two years, and now you’re asking me to be an adult in college and not knowing how to meet these new folks. So these are opportunities in which they can do that.”

The college put more thought into social events during the first week after move-in, including evening events on every floor of the residence hall one night and info sessions from Student Government on what student fees pay for.

“We’ve never done it that intentionally before, and it was really successful,” said Moses.

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The university has a campus care team, and will soon gain a direct care coordinator as well. Faculty and other students can let the team know if a student is struggling, and Moses said officials have been seeing more care reports come in now that people know what to look for.

The university organized a family and parent weekend early on in the fall semester, which was coupled with Discovery Day. The event included a well-attended brunch, a walk/run/roll event for students, families, and community members, as well as community events with Warm Springs residents.

“This sort of gives it that nice intentional time to come back, revisit campus in a short period of time (and) get some of those other things you need,” said Moses. “So it was nice to have that built in, when you typically would have done some of those activities in winter.”

Moses said parents appreciated that the event was early in the semester for the chance to reconnect with their children.

OSU-Cascades is also working with Telus Health to provide mental health assistance, which is available 24/7 whenever needed.

Moses said he and his team members are looking forward to getting time to develop student leaders in their positions. As he put it, they originally got into the field because a supervisor or a team took the time to train them and develop them as people and good community members, and they want to pass that on to their own students.

“(I’m excited to) make good on the things that we were delivering years ago when we were still up at Cascades Hall,” he said. “Building out those programs that make the students feel alive and have that co-curricular piece that they’ve always wanted.”

Moses is also excited for the next stage of campus buildings, especially considering the student success center is set to break ground this fall.

Welcoming students before the year begins

COCC, meanwhile, welcomes students before the term begins with their new student onboarding process. Alicia Moore, vice president of student affairs, made it clear that belonging and success are emphasized in the program.

“One of the things we talk with students about in Bobcat orientation is that this is a little different than high school,” said Moore. “In a college level, part of what students need to do is learn to advocate for themselves and reach out for help.”

The writing and math placement tests that follow orientation support students academically, and Moore noted that students are placing higher than they have in years previously. The tests were put in place just before the pandemic.

In the first few weeks, COCC has mandatory academic advising to help students make a plan, as well as a student resource fair and Ask Us Anything booth.

COCC has specific supports for veterans, Latinx, Indigenous and Black students as well.

For students who need help with basic needs, the college has a food bank, a clothing closet, emergency assistance funds to help with housing, medical care and food; a campus dental clinic and technology support services.

“The one I think that I’m most proud of, that has grown the most, especially post pandemic, are all the basic needs supports that we have for students,” said Moore.

During the pandemic, the college also started a course to teach students how to be successful in an online class. Moore said the college encourages students who are unsure about what they want to study to take a student success or career-planning class, which are focused on strategies to be successful in college.

“Typically, we have about 60% of our new students who take one of those courses, so it’s a great opportunity to put that foundation into play,” said Moore. “We know that students who go through those classes are wildly more successful than students who do not.”

The Early Assistance program, which was put into place a year ago, lets faculty who notice that students are struggling reach out to services on their behalf. It will be expanded this year, said Moore.

“It’s been a fantastic term. It’s so exciting to have a larger physical presence of students on campus,” she said. “The energy is exciting, students are engaged and happy, they’re reaching out for help and support when they need it. We’ve seen a much larger volume of students accessing some of these support services than we’ve seen in recent years. Even before the pandemic. That to me is a very exciting shift.”