Collaboration and Co-creation: The Future of Student Affairs Post-COVID-19

The past year has undoubtedly been a roller coaster ride for everyone who is engaged in higher education across Canada. If someone had told me 20 years ago when I got started in student affairs that we would be faced these types of challenges, I am not so sure that would have signed my offer letter.

Yet here we are.

There have been massive highs and the lowest of lows as we all have dealt with the challenges both professionally and personally, but I can truly say that I couldn’t be more proud of the colleagues and friends who have literally moved mountains to make the academic year happen, albeit very differently.

As my focus remains on the present and our students, we are all starting to peer over the fence and think about the Fall academic term and post-COVID-19 life. If your institution is anything like mine, you’re looking at all the lessons learned, debriefing with co-workers, and diving into research to see what worked well and what continues to give us challenges. As a Student Affairs professional, I have some thoughts about what we might need to consider as we look toward the future campus, and what has become clear to me is that partnerships and collaborations will be more important than ever.

COVID-19 has not been equitable in its impact across the students or broader community we serve. Certainly, for those who society has put in the margins – including members of the BIPOC communities, people with disabilities, and those with caregiving responsibilities – COVID-19 has put on massive spotlight on the inequities that still exist. So front and center now with me is: How do we take real equity lenses to our development, planning, and assessment of programming in student affairs and more broadly our whole campus. We will need to actively collaborate with student leaders to co-create new equity focused opportunities and re-envision at campus experience that is truly inclusive.

The mental health file on campus continues to challenge our communities. While the research has been released about the impact of COVID-19, there is little doubt in my mind that access to care, evidence based practices and lessening stigma around mental illness will remain far beyond the end of the pandemic. Internal partnerships across units at King’s and Western and external relationships with organizations like those that we have in London reinforces the need to create “campuses and communities of care”. We must continue to create campus to community systems and environments that promote healthy living, wellness, sustainability and stigma reduction. These are goals that have already been set out in the Okanagan Charter, here in Canada.

In looking at students, although employment is not the only outcome for students when it comes to postsecondary education, access to jobs and the economic recovery of our community will be central. In London, where I work, postsecondary institutions have been at the table as part of the Mayor’s COVID-19 recovery task force or CityStudio London where faculty, students and city staff have been collaborating on a post-pandemic future for our City. Additionally, working with collaborators such as the London Economic Development Corporation and organizations that support newcomers and international students like Academica’s Devant will be crucial to helping these student gain access meaningful employment and building up our communities across Canada

Finally, we are all thinking about what a return to our physical campus might look like. So far, this has required us to further reinforce the partnerships with Physical Plant, Food Services, Residence Life and Security staff who have been on site daily to keep the campus safe. When we all get back to campus, let’s make sure we can continue to honour these people who have been on our front lines, often without much fanfare or appreciation.

COVID-19 will have a generational impact and our communities will be forever shaped by this experience. My hope the lesson learned will be truly be incorporated into our work and that we can show that despite the many challenges, we have become resilient, more equitable, and more focused on our goals in higher education than ever, namely to make our society better each and every day.