First-year students can expect a virtual house call to check in on their well-being
The University of Guelph’s House Calls program will look a little different this year, as it moves toward a more accommodating virtual format during the pandemic.
The program, which has been running consistently for the past four years, usually recruits volunteers to visit residences in person and check in with first-year students. This year, they will be using Microsoft Teams to virtually reach out from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29, with each call lasting about 15 minutes.
In previous years, volunteers would reach out to students in residence within a condensed two-hour blitz, which meant they would not be able to talk to everyone.
The move to a virtual platform allows them to give every first-year student the chance to connect online or by phone with a trained volunteer, including those who aren’t living in residence, which wasn’t a feature of the program before.
“Every student is going to get a call, and the kids who don’t pick up are going to get a follow-up email with resources and offering a conversation if they’d like one,” said Patrick Kelly, associate director of residence life, and one of the overseers of the House Calls program.
The program usually recruits around 80 volunteers, but this year they have closer to 130.
“The more volunteers, the better, for sure,” Kelly said.
The volunteers will go through an orientation that covers the structure of this year’s program, how to make calls on Microsoft Teams, some of the prompt questions they can ask the students to get the conversation started, and how to follow up with students afterwards.
The point of the call is to learn about the student’s experience with the U of G thus far, including any challenges and/or successes they’ve had. The calls will also be an opportunity for students to receive some information.
“It’s a good chance for them to hear about some of the resources we have on campus that are available to them, and how to get connected with them,” Kelly said.
According to Kelly, part of the house call will ask how students are doing through the changes and isolation brought about by the pandemic, but volunteers won’t be giving information on the university’s COVID practices and policies.
In the event that a student doesn’t seem to be doing well, or if they have a question that the volunteer can’t answer during the call, Kelly said they will receive a follow up later on “from one of our professional staff members that has some more training with wellness checks, connecting the individual with resources on campus, or just helping to build some personal connections with people.”
“This is a chance for our students to see that our staff and faculty care about them, want to see how they’re doing, and want to make sure they know they are a part of the U of G community.”
Kelly said that people often ask whether a 15 minute conversation can really make a difference.
“It’s hard to know, but I think it can for lots of students. I think it shows that we do care.”
To learn more, contact Kelly at pkelly03@uoguelph.ca.
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