New high school graduates, connected at the end of the line
From November 2 to December 18, UM is setting up an original telephone monitoring system for students who have recently obtained their high school diploma. Its name: Connect: first contact. Its mission: to listen to, inform, and guide students, then identify any difficulties they may encounter. Why is it original? Because it is based on peer relationships. Ten days after its launch, it has already proven to be a success.
Due to the health crisis, the 2020 edition of JANE, the New Student Welcome Day, could not take place this year. However, there was no question of leaving the 5,387 new UM graduates alone during this delicate transition from high school to university. In this context, and inspired by an initiative set up at the University of Sherbrooke, a partner of UM, the student life department—part of the campus life division—and Alexis Vandeventer, student vice president, came up with an original concept that is unprecedented in France: the Connect telephone monitoring system, run by students for students. " We thought that these young students would find it easier to talk to their peers than to agents. " explains Jérémy Estèves, head of student services.
Forty students from different departments, seven in this pilot version, were recruited. Their mission: to contact, one by one, new bachelor's degree students enrolled in the same programs as them, in order to initially assess their knowledge of student services and living spaces and thus compensate for any lack of information when it arises. The second objective, which is particularly important in the current situation, was to identify students facing financial, social, or psychological difficulties in order to better direct them to the appropriate services, such as the Handiversité service or preventive medicine services, or to call on the Student Initiative Solidarity and Development Fund to provide them with financial assistance.
A comprehensive questionnaire
"The students received training to help them feel more comfortable with this process, and it was very important to us that only law students, for example, contact new bachelor's degree holders enrolled in law, because they will be more competent and feel more legitimate in giving them practical advice," explains Jérémy Estèves. To better guide them throughout these calls, the student services department developed a comprehensive six-point questionnaire. The first section focuses on education, aiming to gauge the student's mindset and motivation. Was their enrollment their first or second choice? Are they satisfied with it? The second section focuses on daily life, where issues such as housing, resources, health, or disability can be addressed.
Information about services beyond SUAPS (the university sports and leisure service) and medical services, which are generally well known to new graduates, comes in third place. "It is sometimes important to remind them that they have access to all facilities, not just those on their respective campuses," explains Jérémy Estèves. Next come the means of communication preferred by students for communicating with the university, their current concerns, generally centered around Covid and lockdown, and finally the evaluation of the Connect system.
"Very positive" feedback
After ten days of operation and 2,312 calls made, the initial resultsare"very positive," says the manager. Many of the new graduates expressed their "pleasure at knowing that the University is interested in the well-being of its students," continues Jérémy Estèves. None ofthem expressed a negative opinion." The students recruited to make the calls are equally satisfied. "They are very committed, and we assist them with sensitive issues such as housing difficulties or disabilities. All of this proves to us that this system really meets a need. The student services department is already planning to repeat the experiment next year, in addition to the eagerly awaited return of JANE.