A focus group consisting of students and undergraduate advisors met to evaluate the progress of recently implemented changes to the upperclassman UGA model, mainly with the goal of increasing interaction between residents and UGAs.
Wellness center interim co-director Caitlin Barthelmes said that in the winter of 2013, representatives from the offices for residential education and student health promotion and wellness decided to work together to revitalize the upperclassman residential living model through the role of the UGA.
Barthelmes said that previously, the upperclassman UGA model was based on programming for residents. Feedback from both UGAs and upperclassman residents, however, revealed that this model was not successful at the College due to poor attendance.
Barthelmes said that the changes were also inspired by approaches taken at other schools in their versions of the UGA model.
“We looked to some of the best practices and innovations that were happening at other places and saw that some people were moving toward strengthening one-on-one connections between [those in] the UGA role and their residents,” she said.
College representatives hoped to create more satisfaction among residents in the upperclassman communities and more job satisfaction among upperclassman UGAs, Barthelmes said. In addition, representatives from residential education and student health promotion and wellness wanted to shift the perception of the upperclassman UGA, she said.
“People previously didn’t really see the usefulness of their role and there was an assumption that they weren’t present,” Barthelmes said.
In 2013, UGAs began receiving additional training in conversational skills and in helpful communication techniques known as motivational interviewing, she said.
They were now expected to invite 100 percent of their residents to meet with them one-on-one, in a relaxed and informal environment over coffee or a meal, a model they named Coffee Talk.
Barthelmes said that the success of the program has been continually evaluated through two focus groups and termly surveys of both residents and UGAs.
The second focus group panel, which met on Thursday and Friday, was held to determine whether there has been any shift in feedback since the first focus group met last fall, she said, but the response has remained mostly positive and consistent.
Representatives from residential education and student health promotion and wellness were hoping to improve on aspects of residential life including student-UGA satisfaction and the frequency of UGA contact.
According to responses during the panel and results from a survey sent to upperclassmen and their UGAs, there has been an increase in both of these areas. The results showed that 93 percent of UGA respondents had better relationships with their residents after these one-on-one meetings. Eighty-four percent of resident respondents rated their conversations with their UGAs as a positive experience.
Data from surveys sent last term shows that 466 students had a Coffee Talk with their UGA, compared to 382 during winter term 2014.
John Damianos ’16, a former upperclassman UGA involved in the evaluation of the Coffee Talk program, said that he saw its benefits in the survey results, as residents reported that they were more likely to approach their UGAs for all types of issues.
Barthelmes said they hope to implement this program into the new residential housing model currently being developed as part of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiative.
“As residential education moves into the housing model, they’re certainly considering this moving forward,” she said. “We’re not really sure what this would look like, but it’s part of the conversation.”
Julia Pomerantz ’16, a current upperclassman UGA, said that she thinks this year’s Coffee Talk program has improved significantly compared to last year’s program.
She said that last year, following each meeting with residents, UGAs had to do a write-up for their community directors. Pomerantz said that both UGAs and their residents were often uncomfortable with both the length of these write-ups and their intrusion on residents’ privacy, as they required sharing the content of conversations. This year, however, Pomerantz said the write-ups are far more general in content and shorter in length, and that Coffee Talks remain an effective way to connect with residents.
Following the implementation of some of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiatives this term, some UGAs said the role has become more uncertain, in part due to increases in rounds of residential buildings.
Pomerantz has not committed to being a UGA next year, as she said she is uncertain about the changes being made to the role and would prefer to have a more structured idea of the job going into her senior year.
“I would say that the fact that the rounds structure is very unscheduled right now kind of freaked me out from committing to the job,” she said.
As a member of the presidential steering committee, Damianos said that he thinks the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” initiatives for UGAs are largely misunderstood by students.
“People see it as UGAs patrolling the halls during pregaming hours to bust people,” he said.
Damianos said that he sees the changes as UGA “office hours” and a way of increasing the presence of UGAs as a resource accessible to students.
Julieta Feltrin ’17, a UGA in the Global Village living learning community, said that the changes are still being finalized, but it appears that UGAs will have to commit to three additional hours of community engagement per week.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean looking for alcohol, it means engaging more with residents,” she said.
