College is stressful. Starting this semester, IVCC is offering 24/7/365 help with YOU@IVCC, offering support for students no matter what they are facing.

The portal seeks to provide the keys to thrive in academics and career readiness, personal wellness and purpose. It provides resources on stress-relief strategies, choosing a major, and coping with depression.

It is available thanks to Tina Hardy, Disability Services Coordinator, who applied for a grant to give students this tool which she believes will meet a need here at the college.

“YOU provides an easily accessible, completely anonymous, 24/7/365 service to give people “tools” for their coping toolkit, and it makes it easy for them to get these tools,” said Hardy.

“The site is full of information that many college students struggle with,” said Hardy. I can’t imagine that there’s a student out there who couldn’t find something to gain from YOU.  

“Furthermore, the site customizes to each person who uses it.  By filling in profile information and taking the Reality Check assessments, portal resources are shaped directly to the individual.   It’s like a personal self-help resource right at one’s fingertips!”

Hardy sees students struggling alone as they balance school with other life commitments.

“Another thing that I think is important regarding YOU is that I want to emphasize to the IVCC community, and community at large, that help is here,” said Hardy. “They don’t have to try to do college without support. There’s plenty of it.  

“YOU is one source of support, but YOU also directs users to the many, many student success resources on campus as well.”

Hardy was introduced to YOU last summer. She loved it, but thought it was out of reach because of the cost.

Bonnie Campbell, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, suggested Hardy apply for the Special Populations grant which is geared toward getting and keeping more female students into manufacturing. Hardy saw the opportunity to write the grant so that she could meet its goals and also give YOU to everyone on campus.

Because it is funded by a grant, she must meet her goal to increase the number of users each month.

“If I get the IVCC community to help me out, I think we can all accomplish this,” said Hardy. “If students like YOU I’d like them to share the information with others.  They can post something on social media, they can tell a friend, they could show them the link on IVCC’s homepage, etc.”

There is a link to YOU@IVCC on the IVCC homepage under “IVCC Students.” From there, students can set up an account, verify it through their IVCC email, and start browsing the resources on the site.

For more information on YOU@IVCC, contact Tina Hardy at [email protected] or 815-224-0284.