Maintaining Connection
...with student staff members who are not working on your team right now

As supervisors, you've built relationships with your student staff members and have become an important part of their support system. While the campus continues to function under modified operations, there are ways that you can continue to nurture those relationships–to remain connected and to support your student staff members from afar.

CES has created a short set of questions that you can offer to your student staff members who have not returned to work with you: Conversations to Maintain a Connection Remotely (A version of Compass during COVID). These conversations need to be optional while students are not working. If you decide to use them, we hope that they can help you maintain relationships with your student staff members while also providing students with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences.


Remote Supervision
...of student staff members

Working remotely was new for many of us when the COVID-19 health crisis sent us to work from home suddenly. The situation and our adaptation to it continue to evolve. As we work with student staff members in this environment, we have the ability to make their working experience a positive one by creating opportunities for flexibility, supporting growth and success, and recognizing the impacts on students’ lives outside of work.

Check out our guide to Supervising Student Staff Members in a Remote Environment for advice and things to consider.

Whether you already hold Compass Puget Sound conversations with your student staff members, or you're looking for a way to begin having meaningful reflective conversations with them, consider the option of Compass During COVID Reflective Conversations. We built these reflections specifically around remote work concepts - to reflect on and discuss opportunities that arise from this different way of working and to identify and proactively solve potential challenges. The conversations focus on relationship building, open communication, and identifying strengths.

To dive deeper into the concept of integrating reflective conversations into your work with student staff, sign up for our next Compass Puget Sound supervisor training!

Here are a few pages and articles that we've found helpful - they offer practical advice and resources for remote working and supervision:

Starting Strong with Remote Supervision
Maya Herran, the Operations and Event Coordinator in CES, shares her experience of starting her new role in CES with the added layer of working remotely and navigating the supervisory relationship with students through a computer screen.

Trauma-informed Supervision:

Building and Maintaining Trust

Engaging Student Staff Remotely

Remote Supervision and Leadership

Working from Home


Other ideas and resources
...to use with any student staff member - currently working or not:

Want to brainstorm ideas or share your plans for maintaining relationships with your student staff team? Please send us a message!