University Times

The original idea behind the Employee-Student Partnership (ESP) program, one of two new student-assistance programs initiated this fall by Pitt's Johnstown campus (UPJ), was to assist entering freshmen in adjusting to college life.

Under the program, UPJ staff and faculty volunteers help answer students' questions about campus procedures and services, meet with freshmen for one-on-one discussions about school-related adjustments and concerns, and assist students and parents on move-in day.

The program already looks like a success. Feedback from students and parents has been positive. In fact, says Bob Knipple, ESP coordinator and president of UPJ's Staff Activities and Concerns Association, the only complaints have come from staff and faculty volunteers who wish more students would utilize their expertise.

But students are not the only ones who have been helped by the program. ESP also has produced a totally unexpected benefit, one that nobody at UPJ had expected: It has increased the morale of staff and faculty.

"Over the summer we realized that there is really an employee morale problem on campus because of under-staffing and no salary increases," Knipple says. "Morale, I think, was really at an all-time low. I've been here 10 years and it was at the lowest I've ever seen it." Morale was so bad, according to Knipple, that one of his greatest concerns in launching the ESP program was whether enough UPJ employees would volunteer to take part.

He need not have worried. A total of 55 staff and faculty signed up for the program, or about 15 percent of UPJ's employees, which Knipple feels is "a pretty high number. We're very pleased with that number." Since the program was launched, one person has had to drop out for personal reasons, leaving 40 staff and 14 faculty in ESP.

The employees' increased contact with the students seems to have revitalized them by making them feel more appreciated. "The employees really feel like they are involved with the students more than ever before," says Knipple. "They just think it's great that the students are interacting with them more than they ever have." "The response to the program has been very positive," adds UPJ President Albert Etheridge. "Faculty and staff have enthusiastically endorsed the ESP program. They want to be of assistance to the students in a non-academic advising role with what I would call some of their everyday problems dealing with a new home and making adjustments to a new environment." While very welcome, Knipple says, the upsurge in morale caught everybody off-guard because the program actually involves increases in workload for staff and faculty volunteers.

Under the ESP program, staff and faculty volunteers are assigned 10-15 freshmen in a non-academic advisory capacity. At the beginning of August, volunteers send an introductory letter to each student in his or her group. The letter outlines the program and encourages the student to contact the volunteer any time he or she has a question about UPJ.

As a follow-up to the letter, the employee-volunteer again contacts each freshman student in his or her group about two weeks after the start of the term to inquire if they are having any problems.

"From there, it is up to the student," says Knipple. "If the student has a problem or something, they can come to the employee. We don't want to push ourselves onto the student. We just want the students to know that we're available if they have any problems." To further assist the students, program directors have put together a Point-of-Contact Directory that lists the addresses, telephone numbers and contact person for various departments on campus, such as academic affairs, the bookstore, career services and the library.

According to Knipple, the ESP program is almost as much for parents as for students. It is designed to help put the minds of parents at ease about the college environment their child is entering. As part of UPJ's freshman assembly conducted prior to the start of the fall term, parents and students were introduced to the ESP program.

"In many cases going to college is the student's first time away from home," Knipple explains. "The student is anxious and the parents are anxious. We wanted the parents to know that they are sending their children to an environment that is receptive and warm and hospitable.

"We don't want the parents to think we are just here to do our jobs from 9 to 5," he continues. "We want the parents to realize that we are here to be involved with their children." Knipple believes only one other university in the nation –Feris State in Michigan — has a similar employee-student assistance program. UPJ's ESP program is different than the one at Feris State, however, in that it being coordinated by employees at all levels. The Feris State program operates from the top down.

"Ours is unique because we have faculty at all ranks and staff at all levels who are working together for this," says Knipple. "This is really the first time the whole campus community has come together for something like this and interacted and planned something and got it up and running." Pam Sabol, a Human Resources' specialist, says she got involved in ESP because she feels University employees should serve students in every way possible. She also thinks that if staff and faculty can make freshmen feel part of the campus community, they will be more likely to continue their education at UPJ.

Like many other ESP volunteers, though, Sabol has had relatively little contact with the 11 students assigned to her. She has contacted them twice and plans to contact them a third time to determine if she might be of any assistance. "I am not sure how we can turn that around. This year is a learning experience," she notes. But she adds, "Even if we get five students out of all the freshman class that make some type of contact, it is worth our while being here for them." One ESP volunteer who has met with students is Kathryn Felix of the Office of Administrative Support. Three students have contacted her so far. Two of them simply stopped in her office to visit after receiving a letter from her; the third student, however, has returned almost weekly to talk. "I think he is a little bit homesick and just wants to chat," she says. "He's an animal lover, as I am, so we have a fairly good rapport." Like Sabol, Felix joined ESP because she thinks that the first year of college is difficult for many students and she wanted to be of help to them and make sure they continue at UPJ.

The other student assistance program launched by UPJ this fall is the Peer Assistance Leaders (PALS) program. Instead of employees, PALS uses upperclass students to assist freshmen in adjusting to college life.

Jacob Stiffler, UPJ director of Housing and Residence Life, developed PALS based on similar programs he had heard about at the University of Rochester and Notre Dame.

With help from faculty and staff, Stiffler identified upperclass students with at least a 2.5 grade point average who were likely to return to campus. He then sent them letters asking if they would be interested in participating in the PALS program.

Of the approximately 1,000 students contacted, more than 250 requested additional information on the program and about 125 ended up completing applications. After a series of interviews, the number of students was trimmed to 70. Over the summer, Stiffler assigned each PALS member a group of freshmen and the students began corresponding. Then the PALS volunteers were put through a training program and, along with ESP staff and faculty volunteers, assisted freshmen on move-in day.

Like the staff and faculty in the ESP program, the student volunteers in PALS serve as a resource for freshmen, answering whatever questions they might have about UPJ or at least pointing them in the right direction to obtain an answer. Being closer in age to the freshmen, they also help to counter the effects of homesickness, the biggest single reason for freshmen dropping out of school, according to Stiffler.

Although it is too early in the term for any supporting figures to have been compiled, Stiffler believes there has been a decrease this fall in the number of students visiting the Office of Housing and Residence Life with complaints.

"Typically, my September and my assistant's September is spent dealing with a lot of roommate conflicts and homesickness concerns," Stiffler says. "This fall, though, our workload has been dramatically decreased and, I think, it is because of our assistance programs." UPJ President Etheridge says they have become "very important components of our efforts to improve the atmosphere on campus and create a more positive learning environment and retain more of our students."

–Mike Sajna