Category Archives: Student Success

08.26.22

Sign up to participate in Early Alert

LLCC Student Success is continuing to grow participation in Early Alert, which was rebooted during the fall 2021 semester. Last academic year, we had approximately 25 faculty participate and would like to continue to increase participation.

In short, Early Alert is when faculty send out an alert (flag) or kudos for a student either doing well in their course or not so well. Your participation means that you would complete three campaign surveys about students in your courses for the regular term (and one campaign during eight-week courses if you happen to teach those). During the campaign, you can indicate any concerns or kudos you have for each student, then the success coach and student will receive an email. Once the success coach receives the notification, they will reach out to the student to discuss. They can make notes and then eventually close the flag (or kudo), and you will be able to see the notes made by the success coach. This ensures that we can work with students if they need additional support (or congratulate them for their hard work), that the success coach reinforces any messaging from faculty, and that communication and collaboration are enhanced.

If you wish to take part, please complete this Early Alert Participation Form by Sept. 1. After signing up, be on the lookout for information about upcoming training sessions.

If you have any questions, please email Alex Berry at alex.berry@llcc.edu.

07.13.22

988 suicide and crisis lifeline

LLCC Student Success hopes you are all doing well this summer and is looking forward to a safe and productive fall semester. We’re excited share some great news for anyone in need — 988 will launch July 16! It is the new, three-digit dialing code for crisis intervention that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. More information can be found on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline‘s website at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

When people call, text or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support and connect them to resources if necessary.

The current Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, even after 988 is launched nationally.

We know mental health is so important for our students, staff and faculty. This is another great resource to have in our toolkits as we support our students, colleagues, family, friends and ourselves. We encourage you to use the following websites to learn more about 988 and how it can help anyone in crisis:

If you would like to learn more about the mental health support for students, please feel free to reach out to Alex Berry, Melissa Franzen or Claire Heffron-McKinney in LLCC Student Success. As a reminder, you can always encourage students to connect with their student success coach to connect them with resources. We also encourage you to check out our Mental Health & Wellness webpage at www.llcc.edu/student-well-being.

06.14.22

Mental Health First Aid training opportunity

LLCC Student Success is pleased to share a great training opportunity for you: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)! MHFA training covers:

  • Common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges
  • Common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges
  • How to interact with a person in crisis
  • How to connect a person with help
  • Expanded content on trauma, substance use and self-care

Many of the staff in LLCC Student Services have been through this training and feel that it is very useful in gaining some of the tools needed to recognize signs/symptoms of mental health challenges. We all play an important role in helping identify, support and refer students that may need additional assistance. This training is not intended to make anyone a counselor; rather, we believe that this provides great tools to help folks that are uniquely positioned in student-facing roles to feel more confident in providing initial support.

We have one training opportunity this summer for you (in-person), conducted by a certified MHFA trainer from Heritage Behavioral Health Center. There are only 20 spots for the training, so get signed up as soon as possible. Lunch will be provided! Please note that you will have to commit to be present during the entire training.

Monday, June 27 (Stephens Room)
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (includes breaks and lunch break)

If interested, sign up for a training time at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4DACAC2AA6FDCE9-mental2

The deadline to sign up is noon June 16. After you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email, and you will receive information before the training about setting up your profile.

Please reach out to Alex Berry if you have any questions!

06.01.22

Mental Health First Aid training opportunity

LLCC Student Success is happy to share a great training opportunity for you: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)! MHFA training covers:

  • Common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges
  • Common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges
  • How to interact with a person in crisis
  • How to connect a person with help
  • Expanded content on trauma, substance use and self-care

Many of the staff in LLCC Student Services have been through this training and feel that it is very useful in gaining some of the tools needed to recognize signs/symptoms of mental health challenges. We all play an important role in helping identify, support and refer students that may need additional assistance. This training is not intended to make anyone a counselor; rather, we believe that this provides great tools to help folks that are uniquely positioned in student-facing roles to feel more confident in providing initial support.

We have one  training opportunity this summer for you (in-person), conducted by a certified MHFA trainer from Heritage Behavioral Health Center. There are only 20 spots for the training, so get signed up as soon as possible. Lunch will be provided! Please note that you will have to commit to be present during the entire training.

Monday, June 27 (R.H. Stephens Room), 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (includes breaks and lunch break) — If interested, sign up for a training time.

The deadline to sign up is noon June 16. After you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email; and you will receive information before the training about setting up your profile.

Please reach out to Alex Berry (alex.berry@llcc.edu) if you have any questions!

05.13.22

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Greetings from LLCC Student Success! We wanted to take the opportunity to announce that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It shines a light on mental health and aims to reduce stigma surrounding mental illness.

The needs for emotional and mental health support continue to grow exponentially.  To address these needs, LLCC continues to partner with Talkspace, a tele-mental health provider to offer students free, confidential counseling services as well as other resources. Additionally, Student Success shares information about mental health and wellness on a dedicated webpage. In response to increased needs for additional resources, we established partnerships with local agencies to connect students with resources within their community for both general mental health needs and crisis situations. We can also provide classroom presentations on mental health and support services; for more information about this, please email Claire (Claire.heffron-mckinney@llcc.edu), Melissa (melissa.franzen@llcc.edu) or Alex (alex.berry@llcc.edu).

The goal of overall awareness is to help educate our campus community and hopefully minimize the stigma associated with mental health diagnosis and seeking help. You can help in this process by including information in your syllabi, posting announcements in your Canvas classroom that detail support or simply talking about it during your classes. Beyond the classroom, you can be an advocate for mental health awareness through conversations with family and friends and by posting content in your social media accounts. Two resources for mental health information include the Talkspace website, and the Mental Health America website.

Please join Student Success in raising awareness of mental health needs and reducing stigma surrounding mental illness.

If you, as a faculty or staff member, are needing support, please refer to the April 21, 2022, Linc-In article about available resources.

Be well!

05.04.22

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Thank you to everyone who participated in Sexual Assault Awareness Month as we learned about consent, bystander intervention, sexual assault statistics and resources. More than 100 LLCC faculty, staff and students made pledges to take action to reduce future statistics.

If you missed Annie Pettit, preventionist with the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault, guide us about the steps and techniques we can use as active bystanders, you may watch the a recording of the presentation.

The video of pledges made by faculty, staff and students to rock the statistics is also still available.

If you have any questions, comments or need to report an incident related to sexual assault or harassments, please contact the Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator, at Nikki.Baker@llcc.edu.

04.29.22

Take Back the Night Event, 7 p.m.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month educates communities and individuals about sexual assault and the actions they can take to prevent it.

Don’t forget — you are invited to turn up, speak up and support survivors by participating in University of Illinois Springfield’s Take Back the Night Event today, April 29, at 7 p.m.

The event will start outside the Union on the UIS campus. Weather permitting, the event will include a march across campus and end with a gathering inviting sexual assault survivors to share their stories and be supported. The rain location for Take Back the Night is in the Ballroom.

If you want to make posters for the march, arrive at 6 p.m. and join the creativity in the Student Life Center inside the Union.

If you have any questions, comments or need to report an incident related to sexual assault or harassments, please contact Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator, at Nikki.Baker@llcc.edu.

04.27.22

Rock the statistics: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month educates communities and individuals about sexual assault and the actions they can take to prevent it.

Thank you for your participation in taking a pledge against the staggering national statistics of sexual assault. Watch a video of how the LLCC community is going to rock the statistics.

Don’t forget you are invited to turn up, speak up and support survivors by participating in UIS’s Take Back the Night Event on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. The event will start outside the Union on the UIS campus. Weather permitting, the event will include a march across campus and end with a gathering inviting sexual assault survivors to share their stories and be supported. Rain location for Take Back the Night is in the UIS Union Ballroom.

If you want to make posters for the march, arrive at 6 p.m. and join the creativity in the Student Life Center just inside the Union.

If you have any questions, comments, or need to report an incident related to sexual assault or harassments, please contact Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator, at Nikki.Baker@llcc.edu.

04.25.22

Sexual assault awareness: Resources for survivors

Sexual Assault Awareness Month educates communities and individuals about sexual assault and the actions they can take to prevent it.

During the month we have focused on learning about sexual consent, knowing how to intervene when we see something happening and pledging to take action to rock future sexual assault statistics.

This week we focus on the campus and community resources available to help survivors. If you are a survivor or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, know there are resources available to help you.

Also remember, we have been invited to join University of Illinois Springfield in their Take Back the Night event on April 29 at 7 p.m. The march will start at the Union on the UIS campus. More details will be announced on Wednesday.

Campus resources

Talkspace

LLCC has partnered with Talkspace, an online therapy service. All LLCC students are provided with two free monthly 30-minute live (synchronous) video sessions and free unlimited text, voice and video therapy messaging with a Talkspace therapist. Students have the ability to choose therapists based on all sorts of needs/interests including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, religious preference, language preference, etc. Additionally, Talkspace uses a secure and confidential HIPAA and FERPA compliant app. Talkspace also has lots of resources about common diagnoses, coping mechanisms and exercises such as “Overcoming Worry.” You can learn more by going to Talkspace. To get started, students can talk with their student success coach or look for info in their LLCC email.

Confidential advisors

LLCC has confidential advisors who have special training to confidentially assist students experiencing sexual harassment, intimate partner/domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Confidential Advisor Phone Line (only answered by confidential advisors): 217-786-2590

Claire Heffron-McKinney, Student Success Coach
Claire.Heffron-Mckinney@llcc.edu
217-786-2590

Melissa Franzen, Student Success Coach
Melissa.Franzen@llcc.edu
217-786-2228

Office of compliance and prevention

The LLCC Office of Compliance and Prevention can connect students who are survivors of sexual assault with resources available at the college, within the community and nationally. Students may contact Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator at 217-786-3426 or stop by Room 0006 in Menard Hall – inside the student life office.

Local resources

Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault (PCASA)

The Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault provides free services for individuals and families affected by sexual violence regardless of race, gender, language, ability, sexual orientation or religion. Services provided include: crisis intervention, medical and legal advocacy, counseling for survivors of all ages (adults and children), prevention education programs and advice on what to do if you are assaulted.

A 24-hour hotline is maintained by trained staff and volunteers of PCASA. Get information and help dealing with recent or past incidents of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, incest, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, victim’s rights, emotional reactions and the legal system. Call the hotline for crisis situations, information about services and questions about sexual assault/abuse. Hotline number: 217-753-8081.

PCASA locations and phone numbers

Springfield Location
3 W. Old State Capitol Plaza
Springfield, IL 62701
217-744-2560

Jacksonville Location
2001 W. Lafayette
Jacksonville, IL 62650
217-243-7330

Sojourn Shelter and Services

Sojourn Shelter and Services focuses on providing services for those affected by domestic violence. Services provided include emergency shelters, individual counseling, educational group services, children’s programs, court advocacy and on-call advocates. Sojourn Shelter and Services also provides a wide range of educational information on avoiding unhealthy relationships, dating violence, domestic violence and how to be a friend to a victim of intimate partner abuse. Additionally, Sojourn provides information and resources for making a safety plan. All services are free and confidential.

Sojourn Shelter and Services Location & Phone Numbers
1800 Westchester Blvd.
Springfield, IL 62704
Phone: 217-726-5200
TTY: 217-726-7385
24-hour hotline number: 217-726-5200, or toll-free at 1-866-HELP4DV (435-7438)

Additional resources and information

LLCC’s website includes additional sexual violence resources.

Questions

If you have any questions, comments, or need to report an incident related to sexual assault or harassments, please contact the Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator, at Nikki.Baker@llcc.edu.

04.18.22

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Rock the Statistics

Sexual Assault Awareness Month educates communities and individuals about sexual assault and the actions they can take to prevent it.

Every 68 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted.¹. Calculating over a one-day period, that’s more than 1,200 people each day, 1,200 too many.  One in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime; 1 in 6 women have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their life.  The statistics of sexual violence are informative and overwhelming. It can be challenging to feel like we can make a difference, but we can. Some of the actions recommended by Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault will help us change future statistics:

  • Intervene when you witness inappropriate behavior.
  • Discourage all forms of oppression.
  • Don’t post or share posts promoting rape culture.
  • Promote and model healthy relationships and boundaries.
  • Support survivors.

This week we focus on communicating the statistics of sexual violence and identifying ways we can change the statistics. This week, take a pledge to rock the statistics.

Rocks with prewritten statistics will be available in A. Lincoln Commons and LLCC Outreach Centers. Grab a rock and write your pledge for rocking the statistics on the rock. Submit a picture of you and your pledge rock (preferred) or just your pledge rock, and you will be entered for a prize drawing. Your picture may also be used for a LLCC Rocking the Statistics video. Enter your participation here. Taking classes online and don’t come on campus? No problem — you can create your own pledge rock and enter.

The schedule for picking up rocks in A. Lincoln Commons:

  • April 18, 9-10:30 a.m.
  • April 19, 3-4:30 p.m.
  • April 20, 1:30-3 p.m.
  • April 21, 9-10:30 a.m.

Remember we have been invited to join University of Illinois Springfield in their Take Back the Night event on April 29 at 7 p.m. More  details will be announced next week.

If you have any questions, comments or need to report an incident related to sexual assault or harassments, please contact Nikki Baker, compliance and prevention coordinator, at Nikki.Baker@llcc.edu.

¹Statistical information from RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.