CREATING A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

It goes without saying that we want our students to feel like they are in a safe and trusting environment, whether they are on campus or taking courses virtually. There is a lot you can do to help establish this kind of environment, but first and foremost, we should address those things which the college considers clear obligations of all faculty. Below is information pertaining to FERPA, Early Alerts, and Incident Reporting. Even if these are topics that you have some familiarity with, we encourage you to go through this page so you are aware of how CVTC handles these topics and what actions you are expected to take.

FERPA

As an instructor at CVTC, it is important that you establish a level of trust with your learners. Not only will these lead to a healthier learning environment, it is an obligation given the sensitive information you have about your learners. If you are new to teaching, you may not realize what information is considered PII (Personal Identifiable Information) and how you should handle (and not handle) such information. CVTC's Registrars office oversees, among other things, training and information pertaining to FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). In the video below, you will learn exactly what FERPA is and how it is relevant to the work you do. It is critically important that you follow these guidelines to avoid serious issues down the road. Remember that you can always reach out to CVTC's Registrar's office if you have questions or concerns as it relates to student records and privacy.

Early Alerts & Incident Reporting

During your first few weeks in a course, you will be establishing norms, informing learners of expectations, and building a relationship with your learners. Being explicit about this can go a long way towards keeping your learners engaged and setting them up for success. Even so, there may be times when learners fall off the radar. Perhaps their grades take an unforeseen plunge or they just stop showing up and contributing. If you are hitting a wall when it comes to helping these learners, this is where the Early Alert system comes in. It is the safety net that is put in place to help ensure our learners get back on track.

In addition to Early Alerts, faculty are also obligated to file reports in the event that incidents transpire which put the safety of students or staff in jeopardy. These incidents would include sexual harassment, potential harm to self, violent/suspicious behavior, or theft.

In the video quiz below, Meghan Fisher from CVTC's Academic Advising & Student Success department goes into detail on both the Early Alert and Incident Reporting processes. You will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the content covered in the video by answering questions as they appear. If you are unsure of how to answer, you can use the Re-watch button to review the relevant portion of the video. You are free to re-watch and re-take the video quiz as many times as you would like. You can also access the non-quiz version of this video here.

CVTC Guidelines for Students in Distress

It may be hard to know how best to react in a situation where a student is either at risk of self-harm or is in some other circumstance that puts their well-bring in jeopardy. While you as an instructor may not have all the answers, it is critical that you take the initial steps to give your student support and guide them towards the appropriate resource. Refer to the Guidelines for Students in Distress flowchart to help decide on the best course of action if you feel a student is at risk of self-harm.

Community Resources

While you may not be able to solve every problem that your learners contend with, you can certainly still help. CVTC has a number of partnerships and information regarding resources in our local community. These resources can have a huge impact on the well-being of our learners. You can access a list of these Community Resources here. Given how long of a list it is, rather than trying to familiarize yourself with each resource, just remember the major topics that they can help to address:

Emotional & Crisis Support: Local resources to provide long short term or emotional support during a crisis, as well as sexual assault and domestic violence resources.
Education, Training & Employment: Disability and accessibility, diversity, employment, education, and training assistance, literacy, tutoring, and instruction, transportation and veteran resources.
Family: Resources include childcare, financial planning and debt management.
Health: Local nutritional support and free and reduced cost clinics and healthcare services.
Housing: Housing assistance programs, area homeless shelters, and resources to assist in maintaining household needs.
Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse: Local treatment programs and resource for individuals and families.

There is also a pamphlet version of this resource available here with a summary of what community resources are available to students along with CVTC resources. If you have questions about any of the resources in this list, or unsure if or how you should refer one of your learners to them, contact Diversity Resources or the Academic Advising & Student Success Department for information and advice.