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Loneliness

Technologies and apps

An app that integrates all safety plans and resources into a single, accessible platform

An online space that enables students to access all the student services they need at any time over Zoom, Discord, or other platforms

A platform that helps doctoral and postdoc candidates identify career paths that match their skills, interests, and values.

Guidelines

A set of tools around storytelling and art to help diverse students develop resilience

James Cook University: Safe App

An app that integrates all safety plans and

resources into a single, accessible platform

James Cook University in Australia have developed an app that encompasses all their safety plans and resources.  To illustrate, in one app, students can

 

  • initiate a feature in which the app will call security, family, or friends if a student fails to check in at a pre-determined time

  • contact and converse with the Security Control Room whenever needed

  • share their GPS location with the university, friends, or family whenever necessary

  • easily report critical incidents, such as suspicious activity or sexual misconduct

  • activate a virtual security escort service on campus

  • promptly access emergency contact information to security, police, crises lines, and so forth

  • receive emergency action plans in relevant circumstances

 

Further reading

https://www.jcu.edu.au/safety-and-wellbeing/emergency/jcusafe-app

JCU.png
Image by LinkedIn Sales Solutions

Lane Community College: Lane Support Hub

An online space that enables students to access all the student

services they need at any time over Zoom, Discord, or other platforms

The Lane Support Hub is designed to integrate all student services into a unified online space—and is accessible from the Learning Management System: Moodle.  When students access this site, they can text or speak to all the specialists that are relevant to their needs.  For example, they can choose a range of Zoom links to converse with specialists in career planning, financial assistance, mental health, technology, and other services as well as to interact with peer mentors or tutors to facilitate their learning.  If uncertain who to contact, they can instead visit a Zoom room that operates like a front desk or triage.  Besides Zoom, the hub also includes a Discord server and other features in which students can chat or contribute to discussion forums. 

 

Further reading

This webpage about the award this hub received

A platform that helps doctoral and postdoc candidates identify

career paths that match their skills, interests, and values.

In 2022, Science Careers launched myIDP, an online website that identifies suitable careers that doctoral and postdoc candidates should pursue, customized to their skills, interests, and values.   Specifically, participants first complete three questionnaires:

 

  • the skills assessment invites users to indicate, on a scale from 1 to 5, the degree to which they have developed various skills, such as statistical analysis or negotiation skills

  • the assessment of interests invites users to indicate the extent to which they like to complete various tasks at work, such as write scientific manuscripts, travel, or plan events

  • the assessment of values invites users to indicate the degree to which they perceive various priorities, such as variety, competition, and friendships, as important

 

After users complete the assessments, a table appears, specifying the degree to which the skills and interests match various roles, such as science writer, marketer of science products, compliance officer, patent attorney, investment analyst, management consultant, public outreach specialist, epidemiologist, policy advisor, product development scientist, or entrepreneur.  Next, users can

 

  • read more information about each role

  • specify which skills they would like to develop and which avenues they would like to explore to develop these skills—primarily by choosing from a range of options

  • seek a mentor to help implement this plan

 

Further reading

The website

Image by Firmbee.com
Painter in Studio

Kingston University: Storytelling tools to promote resilience

A set of tools around storytelling and art to

help diverse students develop resilience

Judith Francois, a senior lecturer in nursing and clinical leadership at Kingston University, developed a set of tools to help students develop a sense of confidence, direction, and resilience.  These tools were developed primarily to assist black and ethnic minority students in the studies, careers, and lives. 

 

In collaboration with students, she co-created a program in clinical leadership that was designed to enable these students to explore and express themselves, such as their experiences, communities, motivations, and obstacles.  To illustrate, during this program

 

  • students were encouraged to collate some photographs of themselves—and to discuss the significance of these photographs

  • students learned how to construct and to recount stories about their lives—such as how their background affect their choices

  • about 50 community artists developed pictorial resources, in collaboration with students, to represent these stories

  • the students learn how to lead these sessions, enabling these individuals to develop skills in leadership and decision making

  • tutors learn how to grant students the opportunity or space to recount and explore these stories

 

This program thus enabled students to clarify their values, goals, and motivations, to express themselves more fully and genuinely, and to learn from the experiences of one another in a safe but creative environment.

 

Further information

This video

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