If you run a college or university then it is understandable that you’d want every student to come away with a positive experience. There are numerous things you can do to make sure that this is the case. If you want to find out more then simply take a look below.
Implement A Creative Initiative
The first thing you need to do is focus on the well-being of your students. This plays a major role in the college experience as a whole. Sure, you may have campaigns that raise awareness for certain issues, such as mental health, and this is great. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to think outside the box and come up with more creative ideas. Think about having a confidence workshop or starting a walking group. Mentorship classes are great here too, so make sure that you give some serious thought to them. Ideas like this can feel way more personal to your students and it also offers them a unique outlet, compared to the support they are probably receiving right now. If you want to help your college or university even more, then now could be the time for you to explore higher education ERP solutions.
Offer Engagement Opportunities
Studies have shown that up to 45% of college students debate dropping out at some point. There are a lot of different reasons for this, it may be that they are under a lot of financial pressure or that they are lonely. Being homesick is another issue that you need to be aware of. Students may also be uncertain as to what is coming next. Are they going to be able to graduate? Are they going to be able to find a good career? Is this career going to help them to earn a living? Students do want to see the potential for both success and growth, so consider setting up avenues where they can connect with alumni. This is a great way for you to help them celebrate their achievements.
Online Forums
Not every student wants to speak up in a workshop, seminar or lecture. They may be far more comfortable within their setting or even behind a keyboard where they can put all of their thoughts into a format that makes sense to them. If you do want to allow students to come together then one positive thing you can do is try and set up an online forum, so you can foster ties to lecture theatres. With online forums, students can find it easy to learn at their own pace, and they can also create much stronger ties with their peers. Create a platform and then promote it so that a good amount of awareness can be raised. As students begin to use the platform, you may find that it helps to foster a sense of togetherness, and this is great, to say the least.
Embrace Diversity
If you want to make sure that you are offering a complete experience for your students, then the first thing you need to do is consider them at your institution. Do you have ethnic minority students? Do you have students who come from low-income backgrounds? If so, then it is so important that you focus on ways to help them with their progression and that you give them the chance to excel. Hate crime is often a big issue, so talk with your students to make sure that they are not being affected by this in any way when in the educational setting.
Offering Additional Support
Another thing you need to do is offer additional support that caters to minorities and the needs that they have. It may be that you create dedicated offices or that you create support for those from multicultural backgrounds. This is a great way for you to give your students a sense of belonging. Carrying out surveys to support inclusivity is great as well, so you can see where you stand. Little things like this can help you to make the most out of your university offerings and it can also help you to include everyone equally, which is so important when it comes to your educational setting.
If you want to take additional steps to make your university more inclusive for students, why not see if you can appoint students and give them a specific role so that they can be responsible for the well-being of their peers? If you can do this, then you’ll soon see that you can come out on top.