Holly Kolodziejczak

Project Portfolio Description

Anxiety-Informed Professional Development Course for Lane Community College Academic and Tutoring Services

Community college students represent a broad and diverse population who do not have access to the same resources as their university counterparts and student mental health is an increasing barrier to student success. Lane Community College (LCC) is a 2-year learning institution that serves students in Lane County, Oregon. Academic and Tutoring Services (ATS) is a department at LCC that directly supports students in achieving their academic goals. The work is done largely by a staff of peer tutors as well as a smaller group of more specialized academic coaches. The purpose of this project was to design and deliver an anxiety-informed training course to the ATS staff that works directly with students to help them serve the increasing number of students experiencing anxiety, addressing a need identified by the organization.

Peer tutors and academic coaches are a critical first point of contact for many students experiencing anxiety. This training course will help provide them with more tools for helping students cope with stress and anxiety. Barriers to this project include the ability to locate the appropriate level of information and the necessity of engaging with the topic at a surface level. Future researchers are advised to carefully consider search terminology, as “anxiety” is used as both a general term and to describe a type of psychological disorder. This training was presented live and recorded so the organization can continue to use it as part of their ongoing curriculum. Citations were provided so the work can be updated as necessary.