Like many institutions, Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts, used the emergency funding it received during the pandemic in a variety of ways.
A large portion of this money went directly to students in the form of debt forgiveness and other assistance. Some went toward capital improvements, such as upgrading the HVAC system to enhance air circulation. Some was spent on short-term solutions, such as hiring more adjunct faculty on a temporary basis to reduce class sizes while allowing for social distancing.
This article is an excerpt from the new February/March 2025 issue of the Community College Journal, published by the American Association of Community Colleges.
But the college also made strategic investments in ongoing initiatives, like hiring a nurse to manage students’ physical health and another counselor to support students’ escalating mental health needs.
“We’ve always been wary of using one-time funding sources to pay for long-term projects,” says President Luis Pedraja. However, Covid presented a special set of circumstances for campus communities to navigate — and just because the pandemic is over doesn’t mean these challenges have disappeared.
“Our students still have many of the same needs,” Pedraja notes.
In a quandary
As the emergency relief aid expired this year, Quinsigamond faced a dilemma: how would it maintain the employees hired with one-time relief funds? To keep its nurse and counselor on staff, the college has added these positions to its operating budget. Money from a newly created mental health grant program from the state education department also will help.
Quinsigamond’s dilemma is familiar to colleges nationwide. The emergency relief bills passed by Congress during the pandemic collectively provided about $75 billion for U.S. colleges and their students. The legislation brought three waves of funding to community colleges, known as Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF). But now that the deadline for using HEERF dollars has passed, campus leaders have had to scramble to find new funding sources to sustain initiatives they created or expanded using this money.
To succeed, campus leaders have had to be highly creative. They’ve tapped their own budgets, used grants and other public funding sources, and leveraged industry partnerships to keep these programs afloat.
24-7 wellness
With the help of stimulus funding, Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) in upstate New York launched two key programs to assist students electronically during Covid: a telehealth service available to students 24-7 and a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to identify struggling students.
Both programs have proven so valuable that the college plans to continue them indefinitely.
“These tools, which we could not have purchased without HEERF support, have formed the building blocks for a more comprehensive approach to student wellbeing,” says Sarah Whiffen, associate vice president of student affairs.
FLCC offered on-campus health services for students before Covid, but the college enrolls many online students who couldn’t benefit. And with only one mental health counselor available on campus, leaders recognized the need for more round-the-clock health support. So, in fall 2021, the college signed a four-year contract with TimelyCare to provide virtual medical care and mental health assistance.
Students are eligible for online care from the time they’re enrolled through the start of the next term. At just $39 per student, per semester, for 24-7 online care, Whiffen considers the service a bargain. “That’s not even the cost of a copay to go to urgent care,” she notes.
The telehealth service is available in multiple languages, and students can choose their health advisor, so they can opt for someone of the same race or gender. It also supports three-way calling, so a campus advisor or family member can initiate a call on behalf of a student and support that student throughout the call.
“Students who use the service love it,” Whiffen says. “We find they remain involved and engaged with staff at a higher level than those who don’t use it.”
A strategic approach
When HEERF support ended, campus leaders were determined to continue the TimelyCare service. The only downside? Coming up with the annual subscription fee.
“We’re likely moving to a model covered by a student fee,” Whiffen says, “unless we can find an opportunity to underwrite the cost with grant money.”
In spring 2022, FLCC also signed a multiyear contract with EdSights to use its AI chatbot service using HEERF money. Students opt-in to receive quick text message surveys on their phones throughout the year, so the college can assess their academic and financial well-being and whether they feel like they belong.
“We know that if they struggle in any of these areas, they’re less likely to persist,” Whiffen explains.
In 2023, FLCC created a new program, called PaCE (Persistence and Completion to Excellence) with internal funds set aside for strategic initiatives. PaCE coaches ensure that students identified by the AI chatbot get appropriate follow-up. Preliminary data show that students who are active in responding to the quick surveys have a higher retention rate than those who don’t.
As a result of this success, the college has just signed a new three-year contract with EdSights to continue with the chatbot service. These costs will be absorbed into its operating budget, and the PaCE coaching program will be expanded with a new five-year Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant from the U.S. Education Department.
“Just these small interventions that many of us do on a daily basis have a big impact if they arrive at the right time,” Whiffen says. “The chatbot helps us provide those in students’ own language at scale.”
