Students who haven’t been on campus in the past year and a half, or possibly ever, might not realize how accessible student services are to them—whether on campus or remotely. Some services, such as meeting with advisors who can help you stay on track, are crucial to a student’s survival to graduation. Others, like basic needs, particularly during the pandemic, are crucial to the literal survival of some students.

Many campus services, which had been remote since last fall of 2020, began transitioning back to in-person prior to the fall 2021 semester in early August.

More than 1,100 students coming to campus are approved for face-to-face classes, plus athletes and campus residents. Numerous services have been in full swing since well before fall classes started, explained Jennifer Humphrey, Assistant Vice President for Operations, Planning and Assessment for Student Affairs.

“The majority of the direct student services departments are open Monday through Friday, at least 8-5, to walk in,” Humphrey said. “We knew that there would be students needing to come to campus to access things like Wi-Fi and have places to study.”
These include services within departments such as Enrollment Services, OIT, Financial Aid, Academic Success, Basic Needs, library services and more.

While some services within certain departments are still remote, the physical buildings are open for students to utilize. Humphrey also noted that for the most part, the walk-in and virtual hours for the ones that are open are exactly the same.

One of the biggest barriers to students being able to utilize services, according to Humphrey, has been as simple as students not realizing they are allowed to come to campus before the October 1 repopulation date.

“I think a lot more students would probably go into the library to study or to get some space or to get Wi-Fi, if they knew that,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey noted that while she recognizes students receive a lot of emails every week, if they took the time to read informational emails from the University, they would find a lot of this information available to them. Her department is always working on improving that communication.

Often, the source of this information comes from the input of students, including a student representative within the Student Affairs department, which she explained is a way they try to be as inclusive as possible in what they’re providing.

“She’s always giving us really good feedback about things,” Humphrey said of her department’s student representative, “like where we should put information, what do students want to know, are we sending out too much, do we need to slow it down?”

In addition to a student representative, ideas about what services matter most to students come from general feedback from student government representatives and the student population itself. One of the best tools available to students to find a service is on the Student Services page of the Stanislaus State Website, Humphrey added.

With the September 20 Census date approaching next week, some services are of a timelier nature.

Lisa Bernardo, Director of Admissions/Registrar of Student Records, said help is available now for students who need to make crucial class decisions before the census deadline to add or drop classes on Monday, September 20.

“As the census date approaches, many offices on campus, including Enrollment Services, Financial Aid and the Academic Success Center, continue to make services accessible to students taking in-person classes and remote learning classes,” Bernardo said.

Other important dates coming up, she noted, include winter intersession registration beginning on September 27, and starting in early October, spring registration appointments will be available on MyStanState with spring classes also becoming available.

Bernardo also encourages students to check out WarriorConnect, which allows them to make virtual advising appointments and connect with various services on campus.

Morley Brown (senior, English) said she knew some of these services existed, but didn’t realize the extent of what was available to her while classes were still remote.

“When the campus reopens, I can definitely see myself utilizing the library as much as possible,” said Brown.

Brown explained that the library had been a go-to spot for her studies prior to COVID-19 pandemic, and while the organization of the website has made it easy to find the materials she’s needed, knowing the full extent of what’s available would have been helpful this semester.

“I think it would have helped the transition to online learning and maintaining that ‘college-atmosphere’ experience,” she said.

A full list of student services and hours are available on the Student Services web page. Stanislaus State officials remind anyone coming to campus to fill out a COVID-19 screening form at the bottom of the homepage before every campus visit, and that masks must be worn inside all buildings at all times.