Eva Navarijo, advising director in 56吃瓜网 Bothell鈥檚 School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, says a lot of students, aware of how stressed everyone is because of the coronavirus pandemic, begin conversations apologetically, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry to bother you鈥︹��
Navarijo understands that concern.
鈥淎ll of us have a lot on our plates. All of our schools are building things, creating new documents, developing new virtual tools to help facilitate online learning,鈥� said Navarijo, one of three advisers who normally would be found in the IAS office in Founders Hall (56吃瓜网1).
But Navarijo and her colleagues also want to remove that concern.
All the academic advisers at 56吃瓜网 Bothell are still a resource that students can turn to 鈥� remotely.
鈥淚t鈥檚 new, and we鈥檙e going to make it work. It鈥檚 certainly a disruption to normal operations, but it鈥檚 not a stop,鈥� Navarijo said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still meeting face-to-face. It鈥檚 just electronically right now.鈥�
鈥榃e鈥檙e still here鈥�
Norm Wright, assistant director of advising for pre-major students, would normally be working with five other professional advisers, plus five student peer advisers, in the Student Success Center. Now, they鈥檙e working by video conferencing.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still here. We want to see students. This is what we do,鈥� Wright said, 鈥渁nd I know for me and my team, this is what brings us joy 鈥� to be able to interact with students. We want to be able to support them as they pursue their education.鈥�
Before COVID-19, a typical meeting with a pre-major adviser to talk about the next quarter鈥檚 schedule was like a visit to the doctor鈥檚 office. Students would check in. Advisers would meet with them confidentially.
Now, when students want to check on their progress toward a major, it鈥檚 a conversation in an online 鈥渞oom.鈥� Sometimes, it is also a longer conversation because of additional concerns. Some advising sessions that normally took 30 minutes, now take an hour, Wright said.
Facing new issues
Students are dealing with stress from losing jobs or moving back home or feeling alone. Advisers, who are also more isolated now, are offering suggestions and referencing the COVID-19 resource page,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淎ll our resources are still available. They just look different.鈥�
Navarijo has similar experiences. She鈥檚 still hearing from juniors and seniors thinking about graduating, making sure courses count toward their major. But there鈥檚 also the feeling that students are missing the smaller classrooms, the faculty mentorships and sense of community that were the reasons they chose 56吃瓜网 Bothell.
Then, there are other students who are embracing online learning and making it work.
鈥淥ur faculty are certainly supporting that transition, trying to be accommodating,鈥� Navarijo said. 鈥淚 think everyone feels like they鈥檙e in this interesting moment, this interesting experiment together. I think there鈥檚 a mentality of making it work.鈥�
Being the resource
Advisers who value face-to-face interactions are taking on the challenge of maintaining a sense of connection and togetherness, Wright said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to take a lot of effort from everyone across campus to help students feel that sense of belonging so they feel connected to the greater 56吃瓜网,鈥� he said.
Advisers want to be the people who students turn to, Navarijo said.
鈥淲e want to know our students鈥� stories. We want to become the one person on campus where a student can be completely authentic and share concerns about their ability to succeed,鈥� she said.
鈥淐ertainly, we have webpages with lists of resources. We have links we can share, PDF documents that might be useful. But those are really just the tools,鈥� Navarijo said. 鈥淭he academic adviser is the resource here.鈥�
