Student homelessness and food insecurity was already a growing crisis before coronavirus, but the pandemic is making the situation even worse. The 2019 Report (before coronavirus) found that 39% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days; 46% of respondents were housing insecure in the previous year; and 17% of respondents were homeless in the previous year.

The #RealCollege survey is the nation’s largest annual assessment of access to affordable food and housing among college students. Results can be broken down by state and institution, which state systems and individual colleges can use to better understand the degree of housing and food insecurity among their own students. This important information can help in designing appropriate supports for students in need.

Join SREB and The Hope Center at Temple University to learn about findings from the new #RealCollege During the Pandemic report, what you can learn from the upcoming 2020 survey, and how institutions and state systems can distribute the survey to their own students.

PRESENTERS
Liz Looker is a senior research project manager at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. Prior to joining the Hope Center, Liz worked in academic and student affairs as the associate director of undergraduate education at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before working with undergraduates, Liz was the program coordinator of student life and learning in the Executive MBA Program at MIT Sloan. Liz earned an M.Ed. in higher education administration from Suffolk University and a bachelor’s in sociology and fine art from Hampshire College.

Sarah Magnelia is a research project manager at the Hope Center for Community, College, and Justice. Prior to joining the Hope Center, Sarah worked with the College Advising Corps, at KIPP Philadelphia Schools, and in the Office of the Superintendent at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). Most recently, Sarah served as a project manager in SDP’s Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs. Originally from Texas, Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and geography from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Register Now: https://www.sreb.org/webinar/realcollege-survey

During this webinar, Nicole Lynn Lewis of Generation Hope, a nonprofit focused on college completion and early childhood success for teen parents in the Washington, DC-area, will share new data from their recently-published report on the higher ed experiences of student parents, along with recommendations for institutions and policymakers to boost outcomes for the population derived from their ten years of direct service work with young families.

View the report here: http://supportgenerationhope.org/student-parents-report?utm_source=webinar-SREB&utm_campaign=national-impact&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=student-parents-report

Date and Time: June 11, 2020, 1-2 PM

Register: https://www.sreb.org/webinar/one-five

The global COVID-19 pandemic hit campuses across the country in the blink of an eye. In rapid succession, campuses closed, courses moved online, and our lives—personally and professionally—were permanently altered. Campus Sonar started tracking public online conversations from current and admitted college students in early March. We analyzed over 5 million conversations in six weeks, including over 100,000 first-person mentions from current, prospective, and admitted students. In this webinar, Liz Gross and Steve App share takeaways from this research. You’ll learn what students have been talking about and how you can find these conversations yourself. We’ll examine how the conversation shifted since the arrival of the coronavirus, and what admissions professionals can do right now to support students enrolled in your institution and those who will be in the future.

Date: April 30, 2020
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT

Register here: https://www.sreb.org/workshops-webinars

The sudden onset and rapid spread of the coronavirus has caused many sudden changes to student and family finances. At the same time, students may not have the same level access to counselors and advisers that they did prior to social distancing. Yet research shows that students and their families know very little about their right to appeal financial aid awards as well as the process for doing so. This webinar will provide an overview of the new SwiftStudent digital tool, a free resource designed to hep college students through the formal process of requesting additional financial aid when their economic circumstances have changed. SwiftStudent was created by the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation in partnership with 18 higher education organizations. SwiftStudent is available to all students receiving federal student aid, free to use, and does not share or sell personal data. The tool guides users through the appeal process focusing on numerous special circumstances that may warrant a student requesting an adjustment to their financial aid, such as recent job loss of a parent, a medical crisis, and loss of childcare or housing. SwiftStudent offers templates that address over 14 types of appeals, accompanied by an extensive resource guide.

Date: April 23, 2020
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT

Register here: https://www.sreb.org/workshops-webinars

Social distancing in response to the coronavirus crisis has caused the loss of many students’ employment and impacted financial situation of many families. In this webinar, Dr. Andrew Moe, Director of Admissions at Swarthmore, will provide an overview of access issues in the admissions process as well as the many other micro-barriers students from low-income backgrounds face when applying to college. He will also provide recommendations to school counselors, access advisors, and enrollment professionals on how they can help more students enroll in education after high school, including using the new NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) enrollment deposit fee waiver form. Similar to NACAC’s current application fee waiver, the enrollment deposit waiver can be used by students to request a deposit fee waiver or deferral. Dr. Moe will then share additional ways students can advocate for themselves to get the support they need. A discussion, question and answer session will be held at the conclusion of the webinar.

Date: April 22, 2020
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Register here: https://www.sreb.org/workshops-webinars