Adapting to university life can be a never ending challenge. Balancing classes and work to make ends meet can sometimes feel impossible. In response to these challenges, Murray State has launched a new webpage to serve as a comprehensive hub of various resources, all aimed at assisting students with their basic needs.
The webpage features numerous resources for students, from food to housing insecurity. Incorportating both on and off-campus resources, the webpage is an accumulation of resources that allows students to address any challenges they feel unable to resolve.
Peggy Whaley, director of the Center for Student Engagement and Success, said the creation of this webpage was by recommendation from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE)’s Student Success Collaborative, of which the University has been a member for two years.
“Assisting students who struggle with basic needs requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach that addresses the root causes of their challenges,” Whaley said. “We have great resources in many of these areas but enhancing them, as resources are available, and promoting them is key to assisting students.”
The CPE’s 2023 report “Kentucky’s Strategies and Recommendations to Address Students’ Basic Needs” showed that three in five undergraduate students experience basic needs insecurity, leading to increased course failures and university withdrawal.
Beyond the council’s recommendation, Don Robertson, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said the University had designed the website to better assist students with their essential needs.
“During a student focus group on basic needs, students expressed a strong desire for a centralized location to access resources,” Robertson said. “In response, our team in Student Engagement and Success developed what is now the Student Basic Needs website.”
To promote the webpage and availability of basic need resources, a new syllabus statement has been provided to all instructors to be included in their course syllabi starting Fall 2024.
The webpage highlights campus resources like Racers Helping Racers, the on-campus food pantry, the Counseling Center to assist with mental health needs and the Career Closet in Career Services, a service that provides business professional clothes for free once a semester.
“Helping students see that getting help is welcomed and not something they should be ashamed about is also very important,” Whaley said. “Together, we can build a compassionate and inclusive community where every student feels valued and supported.”
The webpage can be found at murraystate.edu/sbn. The CPE report can be found at https://cpe.ky.gov/data/reports/2023-SBNreport.pdf.
