CBT Students Don’t Just Enroll; They Stay Thanks to Intentional Relationship-Building at the LLC
Mandy Sand, who serves as coordinator for the Living Learning Community (LLC) at UNK’s College of Business and Technology, knows that the college experience is about much more than what is learned in the classroom. Through her leadership approach that is strategically designed to invest early in the lives of students, she stresses that “finding out the why behind the what” helps her get to the root of many of the pitfalls CBT freshmen face.
Support
She explains how it’s important for her to be there for her LLC students “from the first time they step onto campus” because she wants to make it clear that she is someone they can go to whenever they need anything. Sand doesn’t wait for them to fall behind though. She keeps “a pretty close on” on her students and reaches out when she sees that the realities of college life are “finally hitting them.”
This proactive approach is something her LLC students appreciate. As Colton Charbonneau, who is part of this year’s cohort, explains “Mandy Sand and the LLC mentors have done an incredible job of making (students) feel comfortable” through “check-ins, events, and just casual conversations.” He appreciates this leadership style and how it has been useful to help him “stay on top of (his) personal and academic life without feeling pressured.”
Student Outcomes
When asked why he has decided to return to the LLC for another semester, he shares that he appreciates the way the LLC “added value” to his college experience. Not only has he grown academically and personally, but he understands that there are still “benefits in being part of a community that supports that growth.” He explains that “staying another year felt like the right choice to continue building relationships, staying engaged, and setting (himself) up for success moving forward.”
That type of forward-moving success is something that Mandy Sand and her student mentors like Zoey Van Dyke take into consideration as part of their involvement in the Living Learning Community. Sand explains the need for student mentors to “be present, be available” to help give their fellow students “more of an edge” as they navigate their early years of college. For Van Dyke, who initially joined the LLC because she “loved the idea of being part of a small community within the College of Business and Technology,” the way the LLC became a group that she could go to whenever she needed help was the perfect reason for her to become a mentor to her peers.
She admits that originally "the idea of being a mentor was a little nerve-wracking.” She credits Sand’s leadership for inspiring her to embrace the role of mentor despite Van Dyke’s rocky start. She shares that she felt quite a bit of apprehension and saw herself as “one of the students who would have possibly dropped out if they had not been a part of the LLC.” Due to the fact that her “first semester was hard” in general coupled by the loss of a close family member, she was faced with anxiety which caused her to have “doubts of whether or not college was the right place for me to be.” Thanks to Mandy Sand’s determination to find out “the why behind the what,” Van Dyke received the help she needed to “push through” a truly tough situation which helped her see that she belonged at UNK. Her current desire as a student mentor is to “repay the kindness” she received from the LLC.
Intentional Relationship-Building
Balancing academics with personal issues is a concept Van Dyke knows all students can relate to. For Ellen Wells, who is on the UNK swim team, college life is very demanding. She shares how she practices four hours a day because “there is a lot of time and energy that goes into swimming.” This dedication as an athlete has required Wells to strike a balance between her academics and her personal life. She credits the LLC for helping her find that balance because the staff has always been “helpful in understanding that (she) can’t be present in both places all the time” and have helped her to be as involved in activities as much she can be without feeling any pressure.
Wells explains how, at the beginning of her first semester, she had a meeting with Mandy Sand which “took the stress out of trying to balance so many things out.” She describes how Sand simply took the time to ask questions about her class and swim schedules which made Wells feel like part of a “strong community” within the campus of UNK. Because of her demanding schedule, Ellen is grateful that “from the first day of being on campus” she knew she had “people (she) could reach out to” for anything she might need.
Getting off to a great start is something Colton Charbonneau can certainly relate to as well. He explains how the “LLC really helped (him) in making the transition from high school to college life less intimidating.” He shares that, in addition to the activities Mandy Sand plans for the LLC students, simply living at the LLC made him feel like he had “a dorm community instead of a dorm room.” He knew his first year on campus could be isolating because if he lived in a regular dorm or off campus, he would “really have to go out of (his) way to build connections.” He’s grateful that, as part of the LLC, he never had to struggle to meet others because, as he explains, relationships have made all the difference for him as a student.
Student Retention
Colton stresses how this feeling of community started “the moment (he) stepped onto campus” which is Mandy Sand’s goal as LLC coordinator. She explains how she sees her students through “a parent’s perspective.” This means she practices “compassionate accountability” where students know she is there to help them while helping them to become independent and “build transferable skills” to use not only in college but in their future professional and personal life.
Mandy Sand explains it best when she shares that students are “out of their comfort zone” during their freshman year. Thanks to the way she has built a community for students at the LLC and even participation in LOPER 101, a freshmen class taught by Ryo Suzuki, these CBT students find a home at UNK. She knows, from her years of HR experience in the corporate world, that it’s not enough to recruit. It’s necessary to create the right environment to retain people. In this case, the 100% retention rate of UNK’s CBT Living Learning Community is proof that students are not only attracted to campus but find a reason to stay and to thrive.
To learn more about this unique living and learning experience, visit the second floor of Centennial Towers West where the LLC is housed. This opportunity for meaningful mentor support, a strong community, and the chance to find the right balance between structure and independence bridges the gap for incoming freshmen. It might make all the difference between enrolling in college and staying.
