UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State advisers provide critical support to their undergraduate advisees during the best of times, and this is even more true during the coronavirus pandemic.
As current circumstances present Penn State students with a range of challenges, from housing and food insecurity to technological difficulties, advisers in the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) are going the extra mile to support their advisees — even as they contend with new challenges of their own.
“The role that advisers play in connecting students with resources they need is more important than ever,” said Janet Schulenberg, senior director in the Division of Undergraduate Studies. “College life can be challenging to navigate under normal circumstances, and this is even more true when students are at a physical distance from campus. In many cases, advisers are serving as students’ main connection to Penn State during this period of remote teaching and learning.”
The pandemic has amplified challenges for students who were in vulnerable positions beforehand, Schulenberg explained. She cited a survey of U.S. college students conducted this year by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice which found that 39% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days and 46% were housing insecure in the previous year. These students are even more at risk as the pandemic separates them from campus resources and presents many families with new economic pressures.
To mitigate these challenges, advisers are actively reaching out to their advisees to ask how they are doing and to connect them to needed resources, explained Schulenberg. For students in rural areas who lack adequate internet service or laptops, Penn State’s Teaching and Learning with Technology group is creating hotspots and lending out machines. For students facing food and housing insecurity, both the Student Care and Advocacy office and Complete Penn State programs are offering emergency financial aid.
Advisers are also playing an important role as advocates for students, explained David Smith, associate dean for advising and executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies. Advisers can see firsthand how Penn State policies impact students, and their advocacy among Penn State leadership can help to influence these policies. For instance, DUS advisers recently played an important role in informing the alternative grading system which will enable students to protect their GPAs and remain eligible for financial aid despite dips in their academic performance.
Even as students are requiring more support from their advisers, advisers are facing unprecedented pressures of their own.
“Staff are having to blend their work lives and their family lives in a way many never have before, and they are also having to contend with isolation and concerns about the health of extended family members,” said Smith. “Yet advisers must remain well themselves in order to be fully present for students.”
Smith explained that he is helping his team to maintain their well-being by keeping expectations manageable, allowing for flexible schedules and encouraging staff to remain connected with one another remotely.
Brian Petrosky, a DUS adviser who is currently working from home with his spouse while caring for their two children, ages 4 and 5, provided a glimpse into a workday spent balancing advising with family responsibilities.