Embrace Scaffolding, Empower Student Potential

In his bestseller Hidden Potential, professor and author Adam Grant explains the concept of scaffolding, which in a literal sense refers to the temporary structures used to support a building during construction. As something that, in Grant’s words, “enables us to scale heights we couldn't reach on our own" the same term was a perfect way to capture what today’s students need to navigate the multiple financial, emotional, and academic challenges they face. Having spent nearly 20 years working within higher education, I’ve learned that it’s those magic moments, limited in time, that change the trajectory of students' lives.

Whether it be students, professors, administrators, or parents, many who are familiar with our colleges and universities recognize that providing scaffolding, as a support system for undergraduates, is a vital function of higher education. What’s more, the timing, manner, and context in which that support is delivered are crucial. But where to start?

First, it’s worth remembering that despite all the attention that’s understandably paid to rising tuition and student debt, those are far from the only barriers to student success. Of course, financial support is critically important. But the key to success for many students lies in timely, personalized interventions when they encounter obstacles. That’s particularly true for first-generation, nontraditional, and underrepresented students. Many must balance jobs, family responsibilities, and academics. They need help across multiple dimensions to address their personal, professional, and academic needs.

Yet traditional models of student services, though well-intentioned, often fail to meet students where they are in their journeys. True, many colleges offer a wealth of services. But students often don’t use them effectively, whether due to time constraints or because they simply feel overwhelmed. In a 2022 College Pulse survey by Inside Higher Ed, 31 percent of 3,000 four- and two- year students said they’d never interacted with their college or university career center. Tellingly, a separate 2022 College Pulse / Inside Higher Ed survey of first-generation college students reported that 29 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “I feel like I belong only in certain spaces on campus” while nine percent said they don’t feel like they belong on campus at all. 

The key is to make support relevant and accessible - delivering it at the right moment in a student’s academic career. Just as scaffolding is only useful during the construction phase, support must be tailored to the specific milestones and challenges a student faces. Early intervention, whether through academic advising, career counseling, or mental health services, can make all the difference - but it must be accessible when the student is ready and able to engage. And help getting across the finish line is also crucial. 

Consider undergraduates who plan to go to medical school. They need support and coaching throughout their college experience  - and students facing the greatest barriers need even more. Their need for intensive support ramps up in the year leading up to med school applications, from understanding all the details of the application process to preparing the all-important MCAT exam and strategy around applications. In my own experience while serving as a pre-health advisor, we provided support for all four years of a college experience, but it was absolutely crucial when they asked for support throughout the application process. Students saw the tangible value in those acceptance emails. Being one of the first calls or emails to celebrate the big news was scaffolding at work; it was incredibly meaningful for me each time I got to celebrate alongside a student sharing their life-changing news of achieving their dreams. 

Rather than create separate initiatives for different needs, which students must then figure out how to navigate, it's incredibly valuable for campuses to create a unified, student-centric support system. When I worked at Cleveland State University, I applied for the role of Director of Career Development while I was serving as Director for Pre-Professional Health Programs. In my interview, I made a pitch for combining both offices to create a one-stop-shop office that could help students achieve their career goals no matter the stage of their academic career. The pitch worked and we merged the two offices, creating one career office for all undergraduate and graduate students! This enabled students to experience a more seamless progression through their career pathways without having to switch from one system to another. Students really appreciate holistic, interconnected support systems that address multiple needs at once.

With the right institutional structures in place, colleges can tackle many practical barriers, including students’ difficulties with access to professional opportunities and internships. That includes support for undergraduates whose goals beyond college include licensure (in fields like nursing, engineering, and design) and preparing for the tests needed to enter many graduate and professional programs. In my own work as a former customer of Kaplan at Cleveland State University, and now supporting the company’s university-wide All Access license as Director, I’ve seen how the program, which provides a campus-wide package at no cost to individual students, eliminates undergraduates’ financial concerns about adding test and licensure prep to their already full plates. At the many HBCUs where All Access has become popular, institutional leaders see this kind of preparation as fully aligned with their mission of promoting opportunity and equity. And students feel they’re being supported in their career goals, no matter what those are, from start to finish. I have big dreams of reducing or eliminating this barrier for as many students as possible, coast to coast, with All Access.

Whatever kind of support colleges provide, from career services and mentoring to academic coaching, it needs to be personalized for individual students. Scaffolding has to be tailored to each student’s unique path, goals, and challenges. A great example is the appreciative advising model developed by Dr. Jennifer Bloom of Florida Atlantic University. Appreciative advising builds trust and creates a collaborative approach for students to achieve their goals, with the support to get there from that advisor, coach, or administrator. Great advisors and career coaches learn how to use this model for advising and use it to connect, support, and achieve their goals.

Campus leaders need to bear in mind something they should already know: Supporting students isn’t a one-time task but a continuous process. Universities need to adopt a growth mindset, just as they encourage students to do, always refining and improving the way they provide support. Institutions must be willing to re-examine their efforts, measure outcomes, and adapt what they do based on what is effective for their student populations. Defining what the vision is for student success at their campus is a great start.

Think how fantastic our colleges and universities would look if campus leaders fully embraced scaffolding – providing the right support at the right time in the right manner. For that to happen, our focus on student success has to go beyond graduation rates. Instead, colleges and universities need to take responsibility for finding the ways to support students to achieve their success outcomes. It needs to include and support entry into the workforce, and into graduate and professional school. With the proper structures in place, students can build their own success stories and reach their full potential.