Isabel Bautista

Problem

Santa Monica College has been able to cultivate a support system to its students through the compassion of faculty members and just showing up for their students in and out of the classroom. To their students, SMC is a stepping stone that helps them succeed and feel supported. However, the online opportunities provided by the school falls short in extending a sense of community to its online students. Thus, the problem that is being addressed is how we might create community at Santa Monica College, more specifically, the arising issue regarding online students & community—a disconnect at Santa Monica College.

Insights

Through levels of research including student interviews, SMC students, particularly online students, are struggling to maintain a connection with not just faculty but the school overall.

Students have commented that “it's kinda hard to develop a relationship with your professor...when you can’t, it feels almost like a disconnect like you can’t reach out.”

Most students post COVID have had to continue their learning online due to personal circumstances and SMC has, unbeknownst to them, lost sight of this.

Solution

“Let’s Be Real!”, an online event inspired by online students at Santa Monica College. The event will be offered once a week for the duration of the school semesters where all students can attend this event based on their desired school/major and interact with the respective faculty members giving them the opportunity to meet their instructors and interact with them virtually through video and chat.

This virtual face-to-face event will have a zoom-like structure that will allow students and faculty to create sub-rooms to allow for smaller conversational groups and be able to message via chat no matter what room they’re in. Participants can also choose to add their school or personal email to get in contact with one another.