Sustaining Essential Social Connection at Trent Durham
When COVID-19 effected campuses across the country, the Student Engagement Team at Trent University Durham GTA rose to the challenge. With the goal of nurturing the social connections Trent Durham is known for, students quickly compiled informative and helpful resources on a new digital campus webpage to help keep the campus community together.
“Part of student life is having a connection to Trent both academically and socially that helps to build on their education, skills, interests, and personal lives in their quest to be successful,” stated Chris Nelan, student life coordinator at Trent Durham, who led the project with the help of student engagement assistants Phuong Nguyen and Mikayla Wilkinson.
The Student Engagement Team creates opportunities for students to build connections with each other and campus life. Located on the Trent Durham website, The Digital Campus webpage is organized into Engagement, Wellness and Resources sections, providing one-stop access for students to share stories, build resources, and find social connections.
Students can find health, safety and wellness info alongside resources to parent or learn at home. On the fun side, they can take a break with curated quarantine music playlists, embark on virtual tours of museums or watch the sharks eat at an aquarium. Talk about a live feed. From the Digital Campus webpage students can also access the Trent U Durham Student Life Blog.
“When the campus transitioned to running courses and exams remotely, the team felt that there was an opportunity to provide students with social outlets and to create a similar feel to our on-campus events by hosting a virtual platform where students can use the resources provided to continue building connections with each other,” explains Mr. Nelan.
Through the Digital Campus webpage, students have maintained their social connection with each other in the Trent community through video chats and online game platforms.
Mr. Nelan adds, “Many students have suggested additions to the page as a way of sharing all the great resources that are available in a virtual platform to be used by other students, staff, and faculty.”
Going forward, the platform will evolve as new ideas and technologies are introduced. Mirroring the ebb and flow of pandemic life Mr. Nelan said, “We will continue to modify the page to meet the demands as they change.”
Check out the Digital Campus at: https://www.trentu.ca/durham/student-life/digital-campus.
Posted on May 4, 2020