Colonels Connect started Monday and will be going on as long as the campus is online to allow students to connect with each other and help give tips to assist with transitioning to the online campus situation. 

“We really just wanted to find a way to connect students who maybe didn’t have another group to connect to or who were having some kind of anxiety or issues with the transition to online. We thought it might be an opportunity for people to come on and ask some questions if they wanted to, provide some helpful hints to each other, but also just to hang out,” Kristie Tauzin-Goulas, director of the Office of Career Services, said. 

Tommy Ponson, director of compliance, conduct accountability and ethical development, said Colonels Connect was created for students to be able to share how they are coping and getting through this time. 

Students can join the Colonels Connect calls by joining the meeting on Google Hangout at 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The calls last an hour, but students do not have to stay the entire time. 

Tauzin-Goulas said the program will run as long as Nicholls is a virtual campus. 

“I think we are going to run it as long as we are a virtual campus… Just like student affairs is on campus there to provide guidance and help and an open dialogue, an ear for somebody, we want to be able to continue to do that,” Tauzin-Goulas said. 

Ponson described the Google Hangouts as “kind of like the union, hanging out on the wood, just virtually.”

Kirsten Angellette, a senior mass communication major from Larose, said as a student facilitator, she would share the things she is doing to help with her transition online.

“One of the things I suggest to everyone is to make sure that if you are doing your schoolwork at home, make sure you don’t stay in your bedroom because that is where you sleep, so you are always going to want to get comfy and take a nap, but if you do it in your living room or at your kitchen table or on your sofa, you are more likely to be productive,” Angellette said. 

Angellette also said since faculty members are not in their offices, scholarships and how to keep applying for them are being discussed. She said the calls are functioning for students to have the resources they need while transitioning online. 

Tauzin-Goulas said keeping up with assignments was also discussed in one of the Google meets this week. She said a student shared that one can connect his/her Moodle calendar to his/her Google calendar and set notifications for reminders.

Tauzin-Goulas said Student Affairs is working on other ideas to get more students involved with Colonels Connect. 

“The other thing we have been playing around with is to try and create some specific groups in the Colonels Connect area. So, we could say ‘Hey, biology majors, come meet up with us today and talk about your helpful hints of studying and getting you through’ or ‘Freshmen, come hang out with us today,’” Tauzin-Goulas said. 

Ponson and Tauzin-Goulas said they would love to see more students involved with the Colonels Connect Google meets.