Component C of the USAID HESSA
Component C of the USAID Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA) seeks to improve the soft skills development of students for better employability, to improve student access to financial aid and scholarships and other on-campus engagement services, and to enhance networks and community engagement with student development activities. The six thematic intervention areas of Component C include:
- Financial Aid
- Career Readiness
- Student Leadership & Co-Curriculars
- Alumni Engagement & Development
- Student Entrepreneurship
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Based on the above thematic areas, HESSA requests nominations for Component C participants from each of its HEI partners across the country. The following provides an overview of the qualifications and expectations for participating HEI officials.
General Roles & Expectations
- Nominees must be active participants in the program’s interventions, trainings, and activities throughout the next four years of the HESSA project. They will be responsible for co-designing, implementing, and monitoring activities with students at their institutions. This includes developing strategic plans for improving student services in line with their thematic area of focus
- Permanent staff of the HEI, or generally expected to stay in this position during the HESSA project lifecycl
- Expected to participate in four in-person events each year over the course of four years, with additional participation in online trainings and supplementary activities. This includes pre-activity preparatory materials
- Support and participate in HESSA’s Student Services Needs Assessment in May-June 2022
- The number of necessary nominees is listed under each thematic area below. However, since staffing roles are different at every participating HEI, HEIs may nominate the same individual for more than one thematic area, with the understanding that the nominated individual must have the availability and bandwidth to take on the responsibilities for each thematic area
- Collaborative, innovative, and participatory approach of working with the HESSA project staff, with willingness to adopt and implement new or enhanced practice
- Understanding of and willingness to address issues related to diversity, disability, cultural considerations, and their impact on students in respect to the thematic areas of focus
- Understanding of student needs and problems, ability to establish good rapport and communication with the student
- Outside of the activities outlined below, one staff member that has oversight on multiple areas of student affairs must be nominated and able to participate in a study tour to the U.S. in September 2022. If there is no individual with this oversight available, a nominee from career services is requested.
1. Financial Aid
Overview
Focuses on enhancing student financial assistance mechanisms throughout the entire financial award lifecycle. HESSA seeks to work with financial aid offices at participating HEIs on expanding access and improving supports for students most in need of financial aid, included marginalized students across income level, gender, disability, geography, and ethnicity.
Parameters for Nominees
- One nomine
- Director or Head / Manager of the student financial aid offic
- Has deep understanding of financial aid mechanisms and system
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA on enhancing the structure, process, and overall management of financial assistance, in line with the HEI’s policy, practices, as well as the government or HEC priorities.
2. Career Readiness
Overview
Focuses on enhancing academic advising services based on student interests and future goals, student career planning and counseling services, industry linkages and placements, and any related employability and job readiness systems and practices in the HEI.
Parameters for Nominees
- One nomine
- Director or Head / Manager of the career services and counseling department or center, office of industry linkages and student placement
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA on enhancing the structure, processes, and practices related to enhancing the career readiness support services
- Understands student problems, career planning and counseling needs
3. Student Leadership & Co-Curriculars
Overview
Focuses on two related components: Student leadership skills development via university practices/ interventions, and opportunities for students to positively engage, contribute, develop and strengthen their skills through co-curricular activities and student bodies and societies, as well as social or community services through projects during their academic years.
Parameters for Nominees
- One nomine
- Director or Head/ Manager of the student co-curricular department/center, also office responsible for coordinating the student union/bodie
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA for enhancing the structure and process to develop/improve the students’ leadership concept, practices and facilitation skills, also wide-ranging co-curricular opportunities and activities within the HEI.
4. Engagement & Development
Overview
Focuses on building and strengthening alumni associations at participating HEIs which includes, utilizing structures, and best practices in alumni engagement to benefit students support services in the HEI. Also includes academia-industry linkages.
Parameters for Nominees
- One nominee
- Director or Head / Manager of the alumni office or network
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA on enhancing the structure, process, and overall management of alumni development and their effective engagement
5. Student Entrepreneurship
Overview
Focuses on building entrepreneurial mindsets and skill sets among students, particularly students that are often overlooked in entrepreneurial training programs at universities (e.g., women, non-STEM students, marginalized populations). Seeks to compliment and work alongside the related work of ORICs at each institution. Note: This thematic area of focus and associated interventions is being piloted with the 5 participating women HEIs, though there is the potential to scale this work with the other institutions over the project lifecycle. Therefore, nominations are only needed from those 5 institutions at this time.
Parameters for Nominees
- Two nominee
- Director or Head / Manager of the entrepreneurship center, or department or program
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA on enhancing the structure, practice, resources, and partnerships for building and strengthening an entrepreneurial ecosystem at HEIs and their surrounding communities
- Commitment to purpose innovative and adaptive approaches, ability to establish good rapport and communication with students, academic staff / faculty, and community organizations
- Basic understanding of and willingness to advocate for the issues/matters related to diversity, disability, cultural considerations, and their impact on students during their academic years and in their professions/careers
- Ability and willingness to travel to Indonesia for a study tour on successful student entrepreneurship programming at HEIs
6. Mental Health & Psychosocial Support
Focuses on enhancing student personal counseling services, support and guidance for personal or academic challenges, health centers, disability and special support services, and developing strategies and practices to better meet student mental health and wellbeing needs.
- One nomine
- Director or Head/Manager of mental health and student counseling services center or department
- Willingness and commitment to work with HESSA on enhancing the practices, in-house resources and systems for students’ mental health and psychosocial support.
- Deeply comprehends of the issues and challenges which students are facing in their academic lives and prevailing context, also ability to establish good rapport and communication with the students.