Third-Party Non-Profit Case Management Delivery
RCTClinical Trial
Digital-only or phone-based advising initiatives struggle to establish the personal trust necessary for low-income community college students to disclose sensitive personal crises, such as housing instability or domestic issues, that threaten academic persistence.
Picture this
In-person mentoring is like visiting a doctor's clinic rather than receiving automated text reminders; automated messages can remind a patient to take medication, but diagnosing underlying personal challenges requires sitting face-to-face in a room to establish trust and observe nuanced needs.
What the evidence says
Students averaged 33.81 total interactions per semester, consisting of 4.13 in-person meetings (averaging 41.25 minutes each), 17.08 text/email exchanges, and 9.70 phone calls.
- Who was studied
- N = 94 active treatment compliers at Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
- How
- Analysis of electronic case notes tracking navigator-student communication modalities across six academic semesters (Fall 2013 through Spring 2016).
What to do
Require student navigators to hold face-to-face meetings averaging at least 40 minutes per month with each assigned client alongside ongoing text and phone communication.
From the source
"The implementing agency emphasizes that personal interactions, as opposed to emails or phone calls, are at the heart of their approach to comprehensive case management."
Increasing Community College Completion Rates among Low-Income Students: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of a Case Management Intervention