A Kaleidoscope of Support
The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) has recently embarked on new efforts to enhance their internal communications. The College’s Office of Communications and Marketing and the DSA have been collaborating to revitalize resources that impact student experience.
The DSA is made up of eight components that provide an array of services for students. JC Lopez, vice president of Student Affairs, proposed this project in response to the realization that many students were unfamiliar with the breadth of services offered by the DSA.
A large component of this effort has been the introduction of design elements that capture the DSA's goals at the college. According to Bruce Yang, Designer for the College’s Office of Communications and Marketing, the new design echoes a kaleidoscope image whose intricate overlapping patterns and fractals of light and color serve to represent the DSA as a multifaceted yet interconnected entity. Each color represents a different branch of the DSA: DSA Leadership (Red), Campus Safety (Light Blue), Residence Life (Yellow), Office of International Student Affairs (Light Green), Student Involvement (Purple), Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice (Blue), Student Health and Wellness (Teal), and Student Support and Advocacy (Orange).
Currently, the new design is prominently featured at the entrance of the DSA office and incorporated into other graphics. To enable students to quickly identify resources within DSA, the new design has also been gradually integrated into various divisional materials.
Lopez shares that “Each student navigates campus based on their own unique journey, and these visuals can serve as a ‘way-finder’ for students to connect to these resources, offices/departments, staff support, and identify resources that are interconnected.”
In addition to these new visuals, Residence Life has now fully launched its Grinnell College Residential Experience (G-CORE) curriculum. This curriculum aims to utilize strategies to further prioritize the educational goals of Residence Life which include Personal Growth and Awareness, Co-Creating Communities, and Civic Collaborations. Some of the core strategies include Residence Life Staff Support, Programs and Events, and Student Feedback. Students hired as Community Advisors will now host monthly events and have weekly one-on-one meetings with Residence Life Coordinators and weekly cluster meetings.
Supplemental strategies include monthly themes and incentives. Community Advisors will follow monthly themes for their floor which align with the goals of G-CORE. These themes will be reflected in the floor’s bulletin boards and monthly events. The introduction of incentives will allow students to receive “G-CORE points” for attending G-CORE events. Students must sign in using a QR code to earn points. These points will allow students to purchase different raffle tickets with corresponding prizes. Prizes include movie tickets, microwaves, AirPods, early room selection, and more.
These enhancements mark the result of a thoughtful and purposeful process conducted by the DSA and the Office of Communications and Marketing.