The Learner Care Model: Taking Student Support and Success to the Next Level

When Dallas College chancellor Dr. Justin H. Lonon says he’s in the “barrier-busting business,” he sums up the purpose of the college’s innovative Learner Care Model.  

Community college students are often inundated with challenges that can force them to decide between pursuing an education and providing for their families. However, Dallas College’s learner care integrated approach ensures that students’ needs are met outside the classroom so they can succeed inside the classroom.

Dallas College has reimagined every student touchpoint and created a system that looks at the whole student, from academic support to physical, mental, financial, social and family needs.  

MEETING BASIC NEEDS 

Students need housing, food, and clothing to survive. Without their basic physiological and safety needs being met, students are neither ready nor able to focus on their academic goals and complete their credentials.  

Enter the Dallas College Student Care Network, which offers resources at all seven Dallas College campuses including health care, clothing closets, family services and products (diapers, feminine hygiene, car seats, etc.), transportation and transit passes, food pantries, SNAP assistance, childcare, counseling, financial literacy, technology loans and emergency aid money. 

In the 2023-2024 academic year, the Dallas College Student Care Network: 

    • Received 6,018 student care referrals 
    • Had 12,931 students visits to its health care centers  
    • Provided 4,045 vaccines 
    • Held 6,331 therapy sessions  
    • Had 163,526 student visits to its food pantries 
    • Provided 511,235 pounds of food, equal to 426,029 meals, from the Food Pantry 

SUPPORTING STUDENT-PARENTS WITH CHILD AND FAMILY CARE RESOURCES  

To lessen the expense of childcare as a barrier to parents attending college , Dallas College has increased childcare options on its campuses. As of Fall 2024, childcare is available on five campuses: Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro and Mountain View. Other community resources are available through the Student Care Network as well as childcare vouchers for qualified students through the Working Wonders Program.  

Meanwhile, the Dallas College Family Care Initiative provides support in English and Spanish to current students in good standing who are also parents (or expectant parents) by offering wrap-around services via a three-tiered approach. 

    • The first tier provides basic needs support and childcare safety equipment.  
    • The second tier focuses on financial literacy and nutritional education support. 
    • The third tier focuses on academic support, ensuring the student parents stay connected to their success coach. 

Parents approved for Family Care are provided with a support team of caring Dallas College staff, including a student care coordinator, success coach, licensed professional counselor and academic tutor.  

COACHING STUDENTS TO SUCCESS 

In addition to offering support for students’ basic needs, Dallas College has elevated the advisor experience by transforming its system of academic advisors into success coaches.  

Success coaches act as case managers, supporting students’ holistic needs from their first day of college through graduation.  

Specifically, they help students: 

    • Develop a comprehensive education plan, including selecting a program of study that fits their personal career goals. 
    • Connect to academic support and nonacademic resources on campus, including the Student Care Network, based on their individual circumstance and needs. 
    • Identify their strengths and challenges to create a personal action plan to successfully accomplish their goals. 

To better meet the needs of Dallas College’s large population of nontraditional students living complex and busy lives, success coaches offer extended virtual evening hours, in addition to traditional in-person hours. 

At Dallas College, the Learner Care Model is key to empowering students to reach self-actualization — fulfillment of their full potential. Removing barriers and breaking the cycle of inter-generational poverty enables Dallas College students to build self-worth and find a means to a better life.  

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