Integrated Supports Project

Integrated specialists—librarians, academic strategists, career development specialists, and academic advisors—provide resources, host discussions, send timely email reminders, and provide other student supports from within course modules of the learning management system (LMS).

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Learn how to add an integrated support to your classroom

Overview

To facilitate student learning in the classroom and beyond, CTLI is spearheading a collaborative project between Student Advising, Career Development, the Learning Café, the Buchanan Library, the Learning Experience Design team, and faculty members.

As demonstrated by an extensive literature review, student support services work best when they’re integrated into learning environments (Dadgar et al., 2013).

Integrated specialists are uniquely poised to both proactively engage with students and respond promptly to student queries. They bring a wealth of expertise in information literacy and research, writing and study skills, and academic advising. In collaboration with faculty, integrated specialists determine how to best support student learning in a specific class and help students integrate into a wider campus learning community.

Timeline

Read through the timeline by clicking on each point.

Initial interest and implementation of embedded librarianship at Lethbridge College.

Learning Café begins to also embed strategists within courses as a response to instructor demand due to COVID-19.

Working team formation: Embedded Supports Project. Development of resources to support framework. Development of Embedded Supports Framework. Faculty outreach and cooperation. Working team finalizes strategists into LMS.

Launch of Lethbridge College Embedded supports project pilot. Implementation of Embedded supports project pilot.

Expanding course-Specific Integrated Supports

Evaluation and suggestions for expanded supports.

Partnering with CYC program to integrate Wellness Services into first-year courses

Deliverables

Integrated Supports Framework
Integrated supports template for Canvas
Pilot report on framework effectiveness

Alignments

Glossary

Integrated support specialists: Librarians, academic strategists, and academic advisors who are included in Canvas course to provide relevant and timely help to students.

Engagement

We believe that meaningful stakeholder engagement is essential to any good initiative. Below is a list of engaged stakeholders. (Classification based on CTLI engagement framework and IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum)

Inform

Our promise: We will keep you informed about the project and decisions that are made.

LC faculty
Associate deans
Students
CTLI

Consult

Our promise: We will consult with you to ensure your viewpoint is heard and considered when making decisions. We will communicate how this input and feedback influenced the decisions made.

Students (survey)

Involve

Our promise: We will work directly with you to ensure your viewpoints and concerns are reflected in the decisions made.

Media specialists (Michael Bandstra)

Collaborate

Our promise: We will partner directly with you throughout the project and decision making process. We will create joint solutions or recommendations.

Faculty (Connie Lyon, Julie Diemert, Kirsten Fantazir)
Learning Café (Jude Bialik, Diane Fjordbotten, Andrew Derksen)
Buchanan Library (Darel Bennedbaek, Ina Baczuk, Constance Sheriff)
Academic Advising (Greg Gibos, Deanna Gonnelly)

Empower

Our promise: We will abide by the decisions you make.

CTLI leaders
Associate deans

Project Lead: Tatiana Kloster & Ina Baczuk

Quotes from Faculty

Julie Deimert:

My interest in joining the Integrated Supports pilot stems from the great success in previous terms of incorporating an Integrated Librarian to support writing students in their research. Not only have designated class librarians assisted students, but they have also been instrumental by curating collections of relevant background readings. It makes perfect sense to extend the support network by connecting these same students to other areas of expertise, including advising and academic strategies.

Connie Lyon:

I have witnessed first-hand the positive and far-reaching impact that integrated supports have on Lethbridge College students. For example, the integrated librarian function offers the opportunity for our students to connect with a knowledgeable and helpful librarian, who not only is aware of the course research paper or assignment but is able to assist students in accessing and navigating the Lethbridge College database as well.

The integrated strategist invites students to meet with them to discuss and break down assignment instructions, identify and prioritize course assessments, and develop skills and tools to assist students throughout their post-secondary journey.

The addition of the integrated advisor makes this the “sweet suite” of student support at Lethbridge College! Having direct advisor access enables our students to connect with an advisor who is familiar with courses and program requirements.

Add the integrated librarian, the integrated strategist, and the integrated advisor supports together, and you have an incredibly strong, versatile, and multitalented team that is ready, willing, and more than able to assist students.

Kirsten Fantazir, PhD:

We are launching an entire online community for our online School of Justice Studies students. In the past, I have included support specialists in my individual courses. When given the opportunity to include an integrated librarian, academic strategist, and academic advisor into the community we were building for our online students and instructors, it was a natural fit. Through integrating student supports and offering a variety of resources in this Canvas-hosted community, we are hoping to further connect our non-traditional students to Lethbridge College.

Relevant Statistics

LC data (Student Success Inventory, 2021)

27% are receptive towards academic assistance
37% are receptive towards career guidance
26% predicted academic difficulty

References

Dadgar, M., Nodine, T., Bracco, K. R., and Venezia, A. (2013). Integrating student supports and academics [PDF file]. WestEd. https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1370976401resource12962-3.pdf

Student Success Inventory. (2021). Summary and Planning Report for Lethbridge College.

IN: Integrated supports project