South Plains College has opened their doors to students for the 2022 school year and campus life has started to ramp up. In his second year as the Director of Student Life, Joshua Meredith has settled into the position and has worked hard to provide a place for students coming from of all walks of life at SPC. “Students are coming to campus, and they are all new,” said Meredith. “They are leaving their families, friend groups and that can cause a student to feel alone and anxious. They’re looking for a place to connect and that is the purpose of it all.” On the main campus in Levelland, welcome week is something that new and incoming students can look forward too. Different activities spread throughout the week, it gives students the opportunity to find themselves and create friendships which ultimately translate into a positive experience on campus.
“In the first half of the week, you can see kids often by themselves, but that begins to change towards the end of the week,” explained Meredith. “By the time the weekend starts, we will start to see kids begin to cluster and mingle. That is when we will see them come in pairs or groups to come play pool or hangout.”
While the goal for welcome week is to bring students together and establish a sense of familiarity, the fun doesn’t stop after welcome week. Getting students in touch with the right resources to succeed is the next step for any student.
The Student Life Department along with the college held an organization fair which include 35 to 40 groups. External partners include Covenant Health and internal clubs include student clubs, the tutoring center and anything that can be a resource for students.
Meredith explained that the welcome week and organization fair go together. Welcome week allows students to feel more comfortable in a new setting and the fair will give students the necessary tools to succeed during their time at SPC.
Ranging from clubs, subject tutoring and counseling, the college along with Meredith are wanting to put students in the best situation possible to succeed in every facet of their college career. While the success of students is top priority, Meredith is also trying to bring a connection between the college and Levelland community. “For some students they don’t step foot outside of the campus,” said Meredith. “In higher education, there can be a divide between the college and the town it resides in. Kids can, eat, workout and live within the ecosystem of the college, but there is no connection between the students and community.”
As a steppingstone to continue higher education, Meredith feels that all these aspects help students feel that they matter and that sets them up for success. Coming into his second year handling the student life department with a year of experience under his belt has made Meredith more aware and knowledgeable about what positively affects the students.
With events and the calendar set for the department in 2021, Meredith took over the director position a handful of days before the semester began. “It’s nice to have a summer and prepare compared to my first year in this position,” explained Meredith. “I spent the first year letting everything sink in and I weathered the storm due to the timing. Now that I have the time to plan, I can begin to ask questions and evaluate what works and what doesn’t.”
Asking himself where the areas for improvement are, what is working and what isn’t responding well to students allows for Meredith to put a plan and schedule in place that puts his department in a better position to help students reach their full potential in campus activities and in the classroom.
When planning and putting events and activities in place for the student body, Meredith has found that his greatest strength is the student’s willingness to give constant feedback about their likes and dislikes.
“I took a course on assessment during my time getting my master’s degree,” said Meredith. “We’re doing all these fun activities and events and we think were achieving certain outcomes, but how do we know? How do we truly know that were helping students grow?”
That is where feedback from the student body comes into play. Through the use of different social media platforms, students continually voice their thoughts and opinions on all the different activities Meredith provides to the students.
Social media has become a part of people’s lives and there are social media platforms that students gravitate toward. Utilizing the campus social media to help gain feedback and promote different activities throughout the year has been a useful tool for the college and Meredith. As year one was a play by ear situation, Meredith is prepared to utilize the lessons learned. Instead of flooding the calendar with countless activities and hoping one impacts a student in a positive manner, the goal is to focus on quality over quantity for year two. “We aren’t reinventing the wheel with what we plan,” explained Meredith. “We’re essentially following a play back from what is done before. However, the playbook was pre-COVID. This is a different generation of student, and every year brings a slight change. We have to adapt.” One thing that has been continually done is a scholarship pageant. Through a special Title XIV exemption, the activity is held each year and Meredith has worked on ways of improving the event and adapting it. “I went and did research and read an entire book on pageantry,” said Meredith. “When it comes to ideas and activities, I want to immerse myself in the subject to provide a higher quality product to our students.” The last thing Meredith wants to do, is holding an activity for the sake of doing it. Having time to think about every activity planned in an in-depth process to decide if these activties serve the students well. Since his time taking the position, Meredith has noticed the growing input and excitement from students about the activities.
“Open mic night is something that our students have continuously requested along with multiple activities and it’s exciting to see the interest and understanding of what these events are meant for,” explained Meredith. “During welcome week, there are multiple events to bring students closer, but the number of activities within the remainder of the semester are limited to a few. It’s just finding ways to deepen the meaning of the events we hold and have an impact and be thoughtful.”
The biggest thing Meredith learned from last year is to be more thoughtful in everything that is planned and ask important questions.
“Thankfully, SPC is an amazing school and our president Dr. Satterwhite has been supportive of what the Student Life department is trying to promote and accomplish,” said Meredith. “Recently we held a Pastry and Pool event with the president. He came down during the morning and had a great time and talked to students while playing pool.
For Meredith, his goal is to create an ecosystem or space for students that fosters an environment for students.
“Having this type of environment for students to succeed is vital,” explained Meredith. “For students who come to class and focus on their career, the ones who are own their own coming to us, this gives them a place to hang out, connect and find inclusion.