Council for Nontraditional Students
COUNTS (Council for Nontraditional Students), a university-wide council comprised of faculty, staff, and students focused on supporting the success of underserved students through resource sharing, collaboration, and tracking emerging needs.
CEW+, the Council for Nontraditional Students (COUNTS), and University Human Resources Organizational Learning have come together to develop an online training module targeting student-facing staff. The COUNTS Toolkit for Student Success is designed to enhance how University staff engage and support nontraditional students.
The Toolkit highlights a variety of experiences, challenges, and topics that many nontraditional students face on the Ann Arbor campus. The Toolkit is intended for student-facing staff to 1) develop an increased awareness of nontraditional students and the common challenges they face; 2) learn about resources across campus that help address the needs of nontraditional students, and 3) build recognition of the many strengths nontraditional students bring to campus. Module topics include impostorism, wayfinding, navigating the hidden curriculum, and addressing financial obstacles.
COUNTS is working to:
- Build community for underserved student populations by developing new programming and working to create a gathering space for underserved students on campus.
- Increase collaboration among units that support underserved students.
- Improve data collection across campus with regard to specific underserved student populations such as student parents and caregivers.
Recent successes include:
- Working with the Office of Budget and Planning to add a question to the UMAY survey about students with caregiving responsibilities
- LARC expansion to include gaps in education
- Partnering with Wolverine Wellness to have events for underserved students on CANVAS site
Interested in becoming a member of COUNTS? Complete this form
If you have questions, please contact Grace Christiansen at gracechr@umich.edu.