{"id":62713,"date":"2021-11-13T08:23:55","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T15:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=62713"},"modified":"2021-11-13T08:23:55","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T15:23:55","slug":"demand-for-guidance-increases-at-sait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2021\/11\/13\/demand-for-guidance-increases-at-sait\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand for guidance increases at SAIT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Busy Body:<\/strong> Lenore Norris is the manager of the Lamb Learner Success Centre at SAIT. (Photo by Alejandro Melgar\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span>s SAIT students reach out for help with their online classes, SAIT Student Services are busier than ever before.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Our numbers for accessibility have more than doubled from last year,\u201d said Lenore Norris, manager of the Lamb Learner Success Centre.<\/p>\n

According to Norris, students requesting guidance after classes start is typical; however, the uptick was noticeable because the year before saw about a 20 per cent drop in students accessing their services and in the overall attendance at SAIT.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of people that deferred coming to school,\u201d said Norris. \u201cI think our numbers dropped all around [SAIT].\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Hudson, an academic coach with SAIT who works out of the Lamb Learner Success Centre, said he hasn\u2019t seen a decrease in his meetings with students, but rather the focus of his sessions has been about adapting to online learning.<\/p>\n

Hudson said that there is an even split of students that enjoy online learning versus those that have a hard time learning online, with a few more students saying they\u2019ve had a hard time adjusting to the online world.<\/p>\n

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Coach for Students:<\/strong> Joseph Hudson is an academic coach for the Lamb Learner Success Centre at SAIT. (Photo by Alejandro Melgar\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mature students and those fresh out of high school struggle with online learning due to technological challenges and different approaches to online learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome students don’t go through that same level of preparation for online [learning] than they would have if it was face-to-face,” said Hudson.<\/p>\n

“Students may have an 8 a.m. class, so if they were coming to campus, they’d be getting up at 5-6 o’clock, going through their routine, getting their coffee, having their breakfast, taking a shower, commuting to SAIT, and all along they’re mentally preparing themselves to walk into the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hudson added that with online learning, some students can roll out of bed minutes before the class, still half asleep, and keep their cameras off while they go about their routine, appearing to be in class without being present.<\/p>\n

Hudson does his part to help the students that see him, and when asked about the connections and benefits he has made, he said, \u201cI’ve got students that have graduated that still write to me on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health stigma is still so real to a lot of students. The fear of going to counselling and not feeling safe in that space does prevent a lot of people from actively seeking help,\u201d said Colleen Burnett, manager of Student Experiences with SAITSA.<\/p>\n

Norris, however, believes that mental health stigma has changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve normalized [mental health], and I think that’s what’s so important. You don’t have to wait until you’re absolutely in trouble to come get some support. You can do it even if you’re a straight-A student,\u201d said Norris.<\/p>\n

When asked about what to say to someone who is hesitant about accessing their services, Hudson said, \u201cWhat have you got to lose?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a little bit of time, of course, but what you have to gain is a lot less frustration [with classes] and a lot better use of your time with getting to the goals that you want to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Guides at SAIT:<\/strong> Lenore Norris, right, and Joseph Hudson. (Photo by Alejandro Melgar\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAIT students reach out for help with their online classes, and with an increased demand, SAIT Student Services are busier than ever before. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":713,"featured_media":62771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Students seek guidance AM","footnotes":""},"categories":[1560,1580,2,1587],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-62713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pandemic","8":"category-post-secondary","9":"category-campus-2","10":"category-sait-learning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/713"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62713"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63134,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62713\/revisions\/63134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}