More Than Food for Thought

Renee Tastad says HCC’s vision centers around helping students overcome barriers to success.

Renee Tastad says Holyoke Community College (HCC) takes it seriously when a student withdraws from classes, whether for a semester or permanently.

But the conversations that followed those withdrawals, over the years, have helped many more students avoid that path.

“I think it comes down to our vision, which is to be a college of academic excellence known for helping students overcome barriers to success,” said Tastad, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and dean of Enrollment Management at HCC. “So we’ve called those students to find out, ‘what prevented you from being successful? And how can we get you back on track?’

“Primarily, their concerns were childcare, transportation, cost of living expenses — ‘I had to take on extra hours at work that prevented me from committing all of my time to my studies,’” she went on. “With the help of the HCC Foundation, which has been really tremendous, we’ve been able to say, ‘OK, what can we assist with? What are things that we can reasonably do to help lessen the burden on the student to have to work those extra hours, which takes them away from their studies?’”

What has emerged from those conversations is an evolving array of student supports at HCC, from the Thrive Center food pantry to the Itsy Bitsy Child Watch service to the President’s Student Emergency Fund, which helps students with unexpected expenses.

“We’ve called those students to find out, ‘what prevented you from being successful? And how can we get you back on track?’”

“If a student’s car breaks down, that expense could derail them — they have to determine, ‘am I going to put the rent money that I had set aside toward this car repair so I can get to class? Then I’m going to be behind on rent,’” Tastad said. “So the emergency fund is one of those ways to bridge that gap for these unexpected situations that could derail their progress in school.”

American International College (AIC) in Springfield also maintains an emergency fund for students to access in times of unexpected need.

Melisa Loa says AIC leaders don’t want students going to class hungry and unable to focus on learning.

“Students may request funds for emergency situations or unanticipated circumstances that make it difficult to continue in school,” said Melisa Loa, dean of students and director of Residence Life. “They’re able to request anywhere from $100 to $1,000, depending on need. We just ask that they’re currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student. We review those on an ongoing basis, and we’re able to help students through that fund.”

AIC maintains numerous other non-academic student supports, from its recently opened Buzz Stop food pantry to a program called the CARE Team (the acronym stands for Concerns, Assessment, Referral, and Education) that reviews concerns around mental health and helps students struggling with such issues to access the help they need to address them.

“It’s a robust team that does a lot of great work,” Loa said. “We’re following up with students to make sure they have appropriate resources, both on and off campus. We work really hard to make sure students’ mental health concerns are addressed in a timely manner.”

Just down the road, the Center for Access Services (CAS) at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) provides students with a broad range of non-academic supports, helping them overcome barriers that stand in the way of self-sufficiency, allowing them to succeed and stay in school.

Specifically, the CAS office houses a variety of services and initiatives, including free school supplies and the RAM Mini Mart, which provides groceries and meals to students facing food insecurity. CAS staff also connect students to on-campus resources and provides referrals to community agencies that assist with financial challenges, food insecurity, homelessness, substance abuse, and various state and federal benefits.

“STCC is a contemporary community college in that there are so many non-academic supports that we provide students,” the college notes. “These range from an on-campus food pantry and food lockers to housing agreements with Elms College and AIC, a mental health counseling partnership with Uwill, and a long-standing, federally funded TRIO program investing in first-generation college students.”

“We’re following up with students to make sure they have appropriate resources, both on and off campus. We work really hard to make sure students’ mental health concerns are addressed in a timely manner.”

In short, colleges are invested in student success, and that begins with making sure they stay in school, and have the resources they need to do just that.

Hunger to Learn

At a time when food insecurity has been in the news, the food pantries available on area campuses take on greater importance. HCC and AIC both have partnerships with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, which provides many staples. HCC’s Thrive pantry also receives funding from Stop & Shop for food and personal care items, and the campus community has been generous in donating as well, Tastad said.

“We give out thousands of pounds of food every month to any students, faculty, or staff who has a food need. You don’t have to demonstrate your need; you just have to say, ‘I need some food today.’ And we got an earmark in last year’s budget to purchase refrigerated lockers outside Thrive, for non-perishable food. That’s really helpful because a student or anybody can put their order in, and our pantry staff will fill the order and put it in the refrigerated locker, and they can pick it up anytime the building is open, not just during the hours the pantry is open. That’s been really fabulous.”

At AIC, the Buzz Stop also provides perishable and non-perishable food as well as self-care items, which can be accessed outside normal pantry hours, Loa explained. “If a student needs an item in the middle of the night, they can contact the campus police, and the police will open it for them.”

“Their primary identifier is not necessarily a student — they’re a parent, they’re an employee, or they’re a caregiver, something other than a student. So we want to make sure that we’re respecting the time that they have here on campus.”

Like HCC, supplies from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts have been supplemented by numerous monetary donations at AIC. “That’s really helpful to keep the pantry going, especially for items we’re not able to get from the Food Bank.”

Loa emphasized the importance of this simple service.

“We don’t want students going to class thinking about where their next meal is coming from, whether they’re residential or commuter. We want students to be happy, healthy, and fed, and able to focus on their academics. We want their basic needs to be met. That’s what these resources are for — to meet those needs so they can come to school and focus on their academics.”

Many students have become regular users of the Buzz Stop, she added, and many off-campus students who are food-insecure have said other community pantries don’t always offer the same amount of food.

“In the last couple of months, with things happening with SNAP, we’ve been very thankful that we’re able to provide food, and they’re really thankful and appreciative that this is a resource on campus.”

At HCC, the Thrive Center also helps students access housing in the area, Tastad told BusinessWest, partnering with AIC and Elms College to have students live on those campuses, and maintaining housing agreements with the Holyoke Housing Authority, with vouchers reserved just for HCC students to access Section 8 housing, among other options, including housing available through Gándara Center and at Westfield State University under a state homeless youth initiative.

Meanwhile, HCC recently expanded its Itsy Bitsy Child Watch Center, doubling its capacity. The center is a free, drop-in service for student parents who need short-term child care while they attend classes, study, or meet with tutors and advisers. It opened as a pilot program in fall 2022 after a $100,000 state allocation, and expanded with the help of a $600,000 grant from the Davis Foundation in late 2023.

The Itsy Bitsy Child Watch Center is now located next to the HCC Parent Learning Center, a study lounge and play area for parents and their children, and the Marieb Adult Learner Success Center, a support program for student parents and students ages 24 and older.

“So the students, when they’re in class, can drop their kids off at the child watch, but when they’re not in class, they sometimes go over to the Parent Learning Center because they can be in that space with their kids,” Tastad explained.

Springboard to Success

The throughline in all these efforts, again, is identifying what might derail a student from completing their degree, and then filling those gaps, Tastad said, all with the understanding that many students aren’t traditional, full-time attendees, but older part-time students with families, jobs, and other responsibilities to juggle.

“Their primary identifier is not necessarily a student — they’re a parent, they’re an employee, or they’re a caregiver, something other than a student. So we want to make sure that we’re respecting the time that they have here on campus.”

And make sure their studies continue — which not only helps the college and the student, but a regional economy that, in many cases, is struggling to recruit skilled talent in many fields.

“We take it seriously,” Tastad said. “We are a part of the Greater Holyoke community, and everything we can do to support the students and create that network is going to help everyone prosper. Student success is built into our strategic plan. We’ve put it out there that this is what we are known for, and it’s true.”