The fourth and last case study in this series looks at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania. It does not yet provide formalized college fluency support through dedicated staff, technologies, or services. Instead, using this college’s example, we are able to identify both the opportunities to build college fluency capacity and the challenges to doing so. This case study also explores how effective MCCC has been at connecting students to resources even in the absence of a dedicated college fluency program, while pointing to the additional impact these efforts could have if they were formalized.
Key Takeaways
- Leverage libraries as one of the central campus hubs for non-curricular information dissemination and ensure they remain accessible and appropriately staffed to maximize their role in supporting students holistically.
- Identify the valuable college fluency efforts already enacted across different departments and scale them to enhance efficiency and foster greater interconnectedness.
- Develop and maintain updated, accessible resource lists and standardized guidance, such as staff manuals or referral cheat sheets, to provide consistent and accurate referrals and support to students.
- Prioritize meaningful referrals and warm hand-offs between departments by focusing on guiding students with clarity and empathy, ensuring that referrals are personalized and support students’ understanding of next steps.
- Expand professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to help them better understand institutional resources and processes across the campus.
- Utilize a range of communication methods—for instance, flyers, social media, and in-person guidance—to accommodate different student preferences.
- Identify opportunities to provide students with repeated exposure to information about campus resources, increase their familiarity with available support services, foster engagement, and promote access.
- Foster cross-departmental collaboration through systematic and regular director-level meetings to bridge information gaps and provide more seamless and effective holistic support for students.
