Principles & Outcomes

The primary focus of The Office of Student Support & Outreach is to support students experiencing a variety of barriers to success at Goucher and to promote health, wellness, and student success across our campus. We work directly with students as they navigate the campus community, transitioning into and through college, and figure out solutions to problems throughout their college career. When working directly with students, our goals are to connect them to resources and provide ongoing accountability while fostering self-advocacy. Our approach is to work collaboratively and pro-actively with each student in order to both support their needs and foster self-advocacy and resilience. In addition, we provide training, consultation, and accountability support to faculty, student groups, and college staff.  We work directly with faculty and staff advisors to provide trainings on working with students in distress, motivational interviewing, and how to pro-actively support students to encourage strong relationships, self-advocacy, and resilience.

The main principles of our approach are:

Collaboration

We work collaboratively with students to identify issues, problem solve, and build support plans. We actively engage students in that process and encourage self-awareness and self-advocacy throughout.

Compassion

We are here to ensure that students receive the support they need, which we know requires compassion and respect. We care deeply about Goucher students, and our support & outreach approach prioritizes trust and relationship building.

Privacy

Support & outreach managers are not confidential resources on campus, however privacy is a fundamental component of our work. We will share information with other campus administrators and family members on strictly a need to know basis, with student safety and support at the forefront of that decision

Proactive Support

In line with the College’s overall mission, students who interact with our office are encouraged to advocate for themselves and to seek support proactively.  When we work with students, we help them develop success plans and execute these plans before these concerns become critical. If you’re concerned about a student, no matter how small the worry is, please reach out for consultation or to connect your student to our office.


Student Support & Outreach Learning Outcomes: 

  • Faculty, staff, students, and families will increase both their knowledge of common barriers to success and how these barriers can compound to affect a student’s mental health and wellbeing.
  • Faculty, staff, students, and families will understand how to appropriately support students in need and how to refer these individuals to campus resources when they are concerned about issues of wellbeing and/or behavior.
  • Students will increase their knowledge of the campus resources available to them and how to utilize these resources as necessary.
  • Students will develop skills and confidence to self-advocate for their needs within the campus community and beyond.