Creating Lifelong Success – One Student at a Time

For some college students, a bump in the road can not only be difficult to navigate, but can also derail educational goals altogether.

“That’s why it’s so important that we’re proactive and reach students before a challenge comes up,” says Starr Hayes, TCL’s new Director of Student Support Services.

In fact, you might say Hayes, who joined TCL in April, is on a mission to get the word out – not only about the services her office offers, but exactly what the program does and how it can make a difference in the lives of students.

So much so that Hayes has joined forces with other departments in the college such as Admissions and Financial Aid to take a somewhat different approach at reaching students.

“We know that many students, and even some faculty and staff, are unaware of our services and we’re working to change that,” Hayes says.

Before this shift in strategy, students would often wait until a situation had become critical before seeking help, she explained, if they sought help at all.

Now, students who may be at risk or need more customized support are identified as early as possible. The idea, Hayes says, is to catch them before their academic performance is affected or worse – before they drop out.

“So we might say, what are some of the previous struggles you’ve had?” she says. “Or we might ask, ‘Are your basic needs being met?’”

But what exactly is Student Support Services and how does the program work?

Key to Success and Retention

Part of TRIO, or a group of federally funded programs, Student Support Services (SSS) are specifically designed to raise college retention and completion rates among first-generation or low-income students or students with a disability. Services can run the gamut from academic advising to financial literacy education and more.

As higher education experts agree, offering these resources or student services in general, is critical to student success and retention. Now, as it turns out, making sure students are aware of these services is also key.

According to a new report released in July, two out of three students surveyed were unaware of the student support resources their college or university offered, including academic advising, career advising or academic registration.

Even more significantly, the report found “a direct correlation between awareness of support services and feelings of belonging.” In other words, “students who had higher levels of resource awareness also felt higher levels of belonging in their community.”

Hayes wholeheartedly endorses the report’s findings. In fact, she often stresses the importance of building a network comprised of those who can help you – no matter what stage of life you’re in.

“I tell our students, the more people you can go to who understand your perspective and can help guide or mentor you, the more likely you are to succeed,” she says.

No one knows this better than Hayes.

Helping a Younger Version of Herself

A Lowcountry native and graduate of Beaufort High School, Hayes started her professional life working with students as a live-in counselor at the North Carolina School of Science and Math, a public residential high school in Durham.

After a “wonderful mentor” steered her toward school counseling, Hayes went on to complete her Master of Science in Counseling from the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2010, while working as a graduate assistant for the college.

For the next five years, Hayes worked as a high school guidance counselor for several Title 1 public schools, or schools that receive federal funding for low-income students. It was there, she says, that she saw the economic disparities that would become a recurring theme throughout her career and help shape the type of counselor she wanted to be.

“It really helped put things into perspective,” she says. “This ‘have and have nots’ ended up being a real consistency in my life of me seeing this over and over again.”

It was also during this time, that Hayes began thinking more about such issues as access, the application process and exactly how people reach their goals. As a first-generation college student herself, she remembered what that struggle felt like.

“I have and have had some really amazing mentors, but the one thing I always lacked was the practical,” she says. “I knew what I wanted to do, but I would often find myself wondering, ‘How do I actually do it?’”

For first generation students in particular, college can often be the great unknown, she says.

“If you don’t have any parameters or concrete connection, you can make college be anything. For many, it’s just this ethereal, nebulous idea,” she says.

It was this passion for demystifying the process and helping others do the same, that drove her to spend more time studying the issues that affect low-income and first-generation college students. She found herself spending extra time with her students going over the things they needed to do to find their place in the world, or a college program that was right for them. Then together they would locate the resources to match those pursuits.

In 2016, Hayes moved back to Beaufort and began working as a guidance counselor for the Beaufort County School District. She then shifted to the private sector, but thoughts of helping students succeed in college were never far from her mind.

After spotting the position description for Student Support Services Director at TCL earlier this year, Hayes thought this was it – the perfect opportunity to put all her collective experience and expertise to work.

“This is the first time in my career that I’m in a place where I feel like I can really make a difference,” she says.

Now when she thinks about how to reach students or how her office can help in a way that’s going to have the biggest impact, she thinks about her younger self and what she wishes she had known all those years ago..

“I think I’ve spent my working life trying to help a younger version of myself,” she says.

Innovative Programs & Services

At TCL, students who may be eligible for SSS programs and services come from all walks of life.

“As we know, our students don’t just come to us as students,” Hayes says. “They are also parents or spouses or military or spouses of military. They come to us with many titles.”

That means the road to college, and ultimately moving beyond having one’s basic needs met, may not follow what was once viewed as the traditional path.

“I like to communicate to students that your career path, much like your path in life, is not always a linear thing, so we like to think about that and plan for it,” she says.

After an eligible student is identified, a needs assessment is conducted by counselors in her office and a plan is formed to help that student with any issues that could interfere with reaching goals. Issues can range from housing insecurity to transportation to unexpected bills or childcare challenges.

Working with the student, SSS helps solve those challenges. Those with housing or transportation issues, for example, may be offered a short-term grant or a bus voucher through TCL’s partnership with Palmetto Breeze. Those experiencing a sudden financial setback, may qualify for a one-time grant. But Hayes and her staff don’t stop there. They stress the importance of long-term solutions over the quick fix.

“What I want students to know about our program is not, ‘Oh I’m going to dip my foot in the water and see what SSS has to offer.’ No this is, ‘I’m jumping into my education, and I want there to be a circle of support when I get into that water,’” she says. “College is a serious commitment. And I can want everything for you, but I cannot work harder for your success than you are willing to.”

Part of that is discussing what Hayes calls “tangible actions” which often entails a plan that may include written steps a student needs to complete in order to overcome an issue or challenge.

“We want them to have information, but we also want them to have tangible actions as well,” she says.

In addition to one-on-one counseling or customized services, SSS also offers a range of innovative programs and initiatives. For example, students who are interested in transferring to a four-year college or university are exposed to those colleges early on through planned events.

Case in point: SSS recently took a group of students to the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s College Fair in Jacksonville, Florida. There, students interested in transferring or furthering their education after TCL had the opportunity to meet with representatives from hundreds of schools – from small, private colleges to large, public universities – from all over.

For those who are interested in going to work once they’ve completed their workforce certification or associate degree, TCL and SSS provide networking and internship opportunities with potential employers.

All of these things work together, Hayes says, to increase the likelihood that students will not only be successful but will graduate from TCL with the keys to lifelong success. In some ways it’s a mindset or change of perspective, she says, and it’s something she actively works to help her students realize while they’re at TCL.

“Because your time here is sacred,” she says. “And so I often say, ‘Once you leave this office, you’re going to have people or things pulling you in different directions. The momentum that you have right now is going to be defused, so let’s talk about what we can get done right now in this moment while we have you.”

Pausing she smiles and adds, “I do that because I wish that someone had done that for me.”

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TCL’s Director of Student Support Services Starr Hayes

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Who is Eligible?

To be eligible to participate in the SSS program, a TCL student needs to be seeking their first degree (diploma or certificate students are eligible) and either be a first-generation college student, low-income or student with a disability.

For more information, visit www.tcl.edu/sss.

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