1. Conceptualizing a Coordinated Culture of Care
Good morning. My name is Cynthia Demetriou and I am the Associate Dean and Director for the Office of Undergraduate Retention.
Thank you for joining us for this important gathering. It is so wonderful to all be together talking about student success.
I am going to briefly provide some background on today’s discussion of care and provide a basic foundation from which I hope you will build and expand as the day unfolds.
8th Annual Student Success Conference
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Cynthia Demetriou, Ph.D.

2. About a year ago, I had the opportunity to conduct some research with colleagues on campus as part of the Blue Sky Advising group. Part of our work was to characterize the experience of current undergraduates. Students shared that they frequently did not feel cared for. Students that they want to be know. They want an adult on campus who knows their name and knows their story.
Students also reported that they want community – they want to feel like they belong to a community.

3. “It is very simple to come to this university and never be a person – to just be a name and a number – students need to feel like people, engage in community, be known and supported.”
One student summed up the students reflections on care very succinctly. He said: “It is very simple to come to this university and never be a person – to just be a name and a number – students need to feel like people, engage in community, be known and supported.”
The concept of a coordinated culture of care grew of the blue sky initiative.

4. “[Student success] efforts are often described in terms of programs and strategies. While such initiatives contribute to the success and persistence of students, alone they possess marginal power to impact retention outcomes. The true power any institution has to affect academic performance and enrollment behavior is the campus culture.” -Black (2010) Creating a Retention Culture
After we characterized the student experience, we envisioned what a totally different approach – a blue sky approach – to student success would look like.
We reviewed the data we collected from students and we reviewed the literature. We talked a lot about campus culture. One piece that really stuck with me from this time was from “Creating a Retention Culture.”
Dr. Jim Black wrote [ANIMATION]:
“[Student success] efforts are often described in terms of programs and strategies. While such initiatives contribute to the success and persistence of students, alone they possess marginal power to impact retention outcomes. The true power any institution has to affect academic performance and enrollment behavior is the campus culture.”

5. We believed that what we have to do at Carolina is create a culture of care.
And over the last year we have been trying to figure out – well what exactly would a culture of care look like? And how can we be coordinated within this culture so that we are providing the best support to all students.
So this is, in part, how we ended up here today. We need your help figuring this out. This room is full of experts. You are the advisors, faculty, instructors, leaders, and mentors who care deeply about students and who want to see every student thrive on this campus.

6. Today I hope you will envision a blue sky
Today I hope you will envision a blue sky. With your colleagues and the excellent presenters we have with us today, drive us to further imagine what a coordinated culture of care could look like. Let’s really dig in to this work today.
We can start to craft this vision together and the coordinate to make it a reality for our students.

7. 1. We envision a coordinated culture of care as a culture where every member of the Carolina community is called upon to support and facilitate student success.
2. It is a culture where undergraduates are seen as the heart of this university and it is everyone’s job to care for students.
3. This means that every interaction a student has on this campus is a learning opportunity and has the potential to influence success.
Here are some foundational thoughts that might be helpful.
We envision a coordinated culture of care as a culture where every member of the Carolina community is called upon to support and facilitate student success.
It is a culture where undergraduates are seen as the heart of this university and it is everyone’s job to care for students.
This means that every interaction a student has on this campus is a learning opportunity and has the potential to influence success.

8. 4. All employees – faculty, staff, administrators, healthcare providers, service workers – must be a part of this culture dedicated to care and education even if one’s functional job responsibilities are not education focused.
5. To cultivate a culture of care, each person within our community must possess cultural competence and create safe spaces for students to explore academically and personally.
Here are some foundational thoughts that might be helpful.
4. All employees – faculty, staff, administrators, healthcare providers, service workers – must be a part of this culture dedicated to care and education even if one’s functional job responsibilities are not education focused.
5. To cultivate a culture of care, each person within our community must possess cultural competence and create safe spaces for students to explore academically and personally.

9. So sometimes you go to a conference and you get a day out of the office. You get to sit back and hear some people talk and hopefully learn a couple of things. That’s great – but that is not what today is about.
We have students that need us right now. They feel like no one cares and it is our imperative to change the culture.
So we cannot sit back and have just another conference today. We need to really do some work. We need you to figure how we create a culture of care for student success. We need you to talk and think and throw out ideas so we can get this right for our students and for our campus.
It’s going to take all of us. All of us in this room and…

10. Facilities Management Grounds Keeper Bus Driver Trustee Teaching
Benefits Administrator
Postdoc
Nurse
Professor
Caterer
Event Planner
Facilities Management
Learning Specialist
Grounds Keeper
Visitor
Housekeeping
Pharmacist
Bus Driver
Construction Worker
Trustee
Psychologist
Mail Delivery
Librarian
Teaching
Food Server
Doctor
Assistant
Chancellor
University Counsel
Painter
Public Relations Specialist
Administrative
Lab Tech
Specialist
Accountant
Provost
Coach
Administrator
Grants Officer
Advisor
Public Safety Officer
Instructor
Chair
Counselor
Student
Sales Clerk
Researcher
IT Support
Residence Hall Staff
Media Specialist
Cashier
Auditor
Registrar
…all of us on campus. What need to create a culture where care is everyone’s responsibility.
Every single interaction a student has on campus is a potential learning opportunity – it doesn’t matter if it is with a distinguished professor, a public safety officer, or a cashier at Alpine Bagel – all are opportunities to care. To put people first. To ask how each interaction can help someone learn and grow –
When we care whether or not someone grows – whether or not they are becoming a better barista at the new Starbucks in Student Stores or a better doctor in the Cancer Hospital – we affirm the potential inherent in all people.
Thank you and have a great day!