Over the past decade as community college libraries continue to grapple with demonstrating their contributions to student success, non-curricular student needs have been increasing and receiving much needed attention. Building on the results of related past studies [links to CCLASSS and CCASSE], the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Library and Ithaka S+R partnered on an IMLS-funded research project to investigate college fluency as a potential model for libraries to address holistic needs as a promising avenue to contribute to student success. We define college fluency as the knowledge and set of abilities that enable students and staff to effectively locate and use relevant college services, programs, and resources. College fluency ensures that students can successfully engage with and self-advocate within the culture and bureaucracy of higher education institutions in order to achieve their goals. It is also complemented by college literacy, a concept developed by Dr. Africa Hands in researching public library support of prospective college students.
For the College Fluency Capacity Building research project, we conducted four case studies of geographically-dispersed community colleges, along with a national survey. The case studies included institutions on a continuum from actively engaged to not yet engaged in college fluency practices and services, and included:
- Sinclair Community College
- A small northeastern community college
- Austin Community College
- Montgomery County Community College (Pennsylvania)
The case studies set the foundation for a national survey of librarians and student affairs staff. More detailed information on the project’s methodology and results can be found in five research reports available through both BMCC and Ithaka S+R. Over the three years of the project, we identified departmental and institutional practices that support students’ college fluency, as well as barriers to successful college fluency initiatives. This capstone draws together lessons and insights from across the case studies and survey. We invite you to consider what might resonate with your particular institution’s unique context, and let what may feel less directly applicable to inspire you in developing your own college fluency initiatives to serve your students.
Why College Fluency?
All student needs are academic needs. As important as curricular supports addressing needs related to coursework are to student success, there are equally significant non-curricular supports addressing holistic needs outside of coursework that can make the difference in students’ academic success. Accessing non-curricular services (e.g., counseling, food pantries) can be challenging for students, especially first generation students, navigating the maze of higher education bureaucracy. Addressing systemic institutional barriers through college fluency can complement curricular services offered by libraries and potentially increase student success.
While college fluency is appropriately addressed by all staff and faculty at a college, librarians in particular are well-situated to lead efforts on campus as college fluency, a form of information literacy, addresses student information needs. Academic libraries have excelled at serving students’ information needs associated with their course work, but non-curricular needs that can often be a barrier to student success are less frequently addressed. Many students lack the information they need to overcome these barriers, including information about mental health counseling, food and housing insecurity services, transportation assistance, and more. As well as evoking stigma, these services are often siloed on our campuses, making it difficult for students to learn about and access them. As campus information hubs and information literacy leaders, college libraries can seamlessly and appropriately incorporate college fluency practices into existing programs and services, while partnering across the college to ensure addressing college fluency comprehensively as an institution.
Recommendations
Dedicate a Library Position to College Fluency
To comprehensively address college fluency, it’s beneficial to have a position, such as a student success librarian, dedicated to students’ non-curricular information needs. Currently the majority of student success librarians across the U.S. focus on addressing curricular needs. One of the case study institutions, Sinclair College, has a student success librarian position that focuses specifically on students’ non-curricular and holistic needs. The student success librarian develops programming that supports the college fluency of both students and staff. For example, Sinclair’s student success librarian, in collaboration with other librarians, provides a librarian-on-location service, where librarians schedule time to be available in departmental or programmatic spaces. Librarians reach students who might not visit the library and develop relationships with both students and staff while assisting with both non-curricular and curricular information needs.
ACTIONS
- Student success librarian who is focused on curricular needs: Begin addressing non-curricular needs along with curricular.
- Library leadership: Dedicate a position to college fluency or integrate college fluency into an existing position, such as outreach librarian
- College staff: Partner with the student success or other librarians on college fluency efforts
- Deans and Provosts: Ensure, as much as possible, the library is fully staffed.
Embed College Fluency in Existing Services and Programs
While having a dedicated position is important, it may also be helpful to include college fluency as part of every library role, as well as encouraging other college departments and services to integrate college fluency in their work. For example, library workers at service points, such as the reference and circulation desks, can be trained to elicit and support non-curricular needs in their interactions with students. Along with staying attuned to non-curricular needs, staff can practice warm handoffs, walking a student to the office or person they need, if possible. Information literacy librarians can include non-curricular needs in their instruction. If college fluency is not yet embedded in a first year experience or seminar program and orientation, it can be woven into activities in these programs.
ACTIONS
- Student success librarian: Provide college fluency information and training for library workers and other staff.
- Library workers: Identify areas where college fluency can be addressed in current work.
- Information literacy and outreach librarians: Incorporate college fluency into one-shots and other programming.
- Library leadership: Prioritize college fluency in the library’s strategic plan, and allocate training and resources to it across library departments.
- College staff: Assess existing programming (e.g., FYE) for college fluency concepts and add college fluency concepts where appropriate; partner with librarians on college fluency programming.
Increase the Visibility of College Fluency Resources and Services
Academic library programs and services generally prioritize students’ curricular information needs. Yet all student needs, including non-curricular ones (e.g., housing, food, mental health), are academic needs that impact student success. Assess information provided to ensure information resources and programming address non-curricular student information needs, not just academic information needs. As demonstrated in the case studies of Sinclair and Austin Community College (ACC), placing librarians directly in student spaces through programs like Librarian on Location or utilizing campus operations staff as way-finders helps normalize help-seeking behaviors and may build trust among students who might otherwise avoid formal support channels. Digital touchpoints are also valued, as indicated by the survey results.
ACTIONS
- Student Success and Outreach librarians: Prioritize college fluency and go where students are. Partner with student affairs staff on college fluency efforts.
- Reference and Instruction librarians: Create print handouts, libguides, and FAQs curating and consolidating information about resources and services for non-curricular information needs; provide training to all library staff to address and practice college fluency.
- All staff: Be aware of students around you, engage with students in all college spaces (e.g., on the lawn, in the halls), provide information or warm hand offs to colleagues in other departments.
Break Down Silos
Breaking down silos is essential for fostering college fluency, as fragmented communication between departments emerged as a primary barrier to student success across the surveyed institutions. The survey and case studies, Sinclair, ACC, and Montgomery County in particular, revealed that siloed operations lead to duplicated efforts, outdated information, and confusion for students navigating complex bureaucracies. Many of Sinclair’s programs, developed by the Student Success Librarian, are partnerships across college departments, including Librarian on Location, a partnership with various Student Affairs programs and offices, and Sinclair 101, which was co-organized by a librarian and a staff member.
ACTIONS:
- Student success and outreach librarians: Create opportunities for library workers and college staff to share information and develop relationships through training and other activities.
- Library director: Bring the topic of college fluency to director-level meetings, seeking out possible partnerships.
- College staff: Get to know your librarians!
- Deans and provosts: Promote staff building across Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to enhance college fluency efforts college wide.
Leverage Student Peer Mentoring
Many college libraries have student workers in various departments who could be enlisted for a peer-to-peer college fluency program. Whether it be hiring federal work study students or working with an already existing library ambassador program, similar to the northeastern college and MCCC case studies, peers can lower barriers to help-seeking and foster a sense of community. Peer programs are particularly valuable for demystifying complex higher education terminology and creating immediate connections, as students often feel more comfortable asking questions of peers who share similar backgrounds or challenges.
ACTIONS
- Student success and outreach librarians: Create or work with existing peer programs to promote college fluency.
- Library director: Prioritize peer programming in the library.
- College staff: Involve librarians in Student Affairs peer programs.
- Deans and provosts: Foster cross-departmental collaborations in peer programming.
Encourage a College Fluency Culture
College fluency is everyone’s responsibility from groundskeeper to President. Every role in a college has the ability to contribute to the college fluency of students, whether that’s in our offices or out on campus, in formal and informal settings. Simple, yet human, gestures make a difference. Keep an eye out for students who look confused or unsure of where they’re going, and ask if they can help. Smile and greet students, asking how they are. Walk a student to a needed service and facilitate a warm hand off to someone who has the information a student needs.
ACTIONS
- Librarians: Promote college fluency in everyday interactions with students.
- All staff: Look for opportunities to support students in informal moments, greeting them, asking if they need help, and connecting them with someone who can answer their questions.
- Deans and provosts: Set expectations that college fluency is a shared institutional responsibility and encourage departments to build student-centered, accessible practices.
- President: Champion a campus-wide culture of care and belonging by reinforcing that every employee has a role to play in helping students feel welcome, supported, and able to navigate their institution.
Overcoming Challenges
The college libraries in our case studies experienced myriad challenges to incorporating college fluency that will likely resonate for many librarians. These include:
- Human resources
- Siloes
- Weak communication channels
- Bureaucratic and procedural complexity
- Out-of-date information
- Student awareness and engagement
Many of the recommendations above directly address these concerns, which can seem insurmountable. The most challenging is perhaps chronic understaffing in many institutions, both in the library and other departments. While college fluency can be addressed with smaller changes possible with current staffing levels, it will also require rethinking priorities and services and making space by discontinuing some activities that may no longer be as high a priority as college fluency, given its impact on student success.
The Road Ahead
Since we began this study, higher education, along with other industries, is being transformed by generative and agentic AI. A fruitful research direction would be to examine how AI impacts college fluency, both positively and negatively.
