One of Northwest Vista College’s Touchstones is Caring. This Touchstone will take center stage starting at Convocation in August when the NVC Caring Committee unveils Caring Campus, a movement that focuses on personal, human interactions (not just transactional) with both students and employees.
What does that mean? For a student, it means saying, “Hi, Hello, How are you” or walking a lost student to another building if that means an employee may be late for a meeting. For employees, it means more cross-department awareness of what each other do so we are able to make referrals to students without them getting passed on to several people.
The Caring Campus Initiative, developed by the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) is designed to create a college environment that increases students’ sense of connectedness and belonging and, in turn, completion of each student’s education goals.
Students come where they are welcome and stay where they feel cared about. If students don’t feel connected to the college they attend, they are far less likely to persist and succeed, regardless of the academic interventions and support services the college has provided. As the Aspen Institute notes, “A culture of caring has become a hallmark of excellent community colleges.”
The goal is for the NVC Caring Campus to launch the plan in the fall semester with the intention of focusing on seven behaviors that will influence culture change across the campus.
These behaviors are:
Contact each student shortly after they enroll.
Cross department awareness
10’ Rule (If within 10 feet of a student, make eye contact, say hello)
First week greetings for students
Name tags/identification worn by employee.
Warm referrals – Helping students find the right area or employee.
Contact students to check in.