Student support programs see increase in enrollment as they remain remote

Slide+from+Erika+Floress+presentation+during+the+SSPBT+meeting%2C+which+shows+the+different+partners+De+Anza+has+throughout+the+community.

Slide from Erika Flores’s presentation during the SSPBT meeting, which shows the different partners De Anza has throughout the community.

Vice president of Student Services Rob Mieso said student support programs will remain mostly remote on Student Services Planning and Budgeting Team meeting on April 15.

Mieso said student services will go back in person when “we expect a large number of lecture classes coming back” to campus.

He added that the status of student services will depend on how vaccination efforts continue and when Santa Clara County eases COVID-19 guidelines.

Erika Flores, Basic Needs Coordinator for the Student Success and Support program, also compared student services pre- and post-pandemic.

“(The Mobile Food Pantry) has not had a lapse or pause since the beginning of the campus closure,” Flores said. “So we are still there every second and fourth Tuesday of the month.”

She said that all students are eligible for this service and must provide ID for access to a bag of pantry staples, fresh produce, a week of prepared meals, and toiletries.

Flores added that Student Success and Support is also hosting CalFresh Assistance and the Grocery Gift Card program, which has seen “an uptick in the number of cards that are being distributed.”

She said there are plans to collaborate with the Healthier Kids Foundation to provide Medi-Cal assistance for students, which is currently unavailable.

Student Success and Support hopes to continue seeing an increase in enrollment in their programs as they reach out to different demographics of students, she said.

Students can access resources for food insecurity here and other resources and services here.