Hunter-gatherers: The Student's Journey of Foraging for Academic, Social, and Communication Resources

Many faculty and administrators assume that students are equipped with the resources they need to be both academically and socially successful while attending college. After all -- as the assumption runs -- the amount of time and financial expenditures universities have spent on LMS (learning Management Software), increasing transfer applications, expanding student services staff, and integrating technologies around campus must surely have resulted in expanded access for students. However, access to resources and the actual ability to utilize them are two different things. This is especially true when one considers the number of resources students are required to utilize for a successful college career. For instance, research suggests that there are many gaps between the resources created for students and their ability or interest in utilizing them (Salisbury, F., & Karasmanis, S. 2011; Ismail, Hamid, Ahmad, Alaboudi, & Jhanjhi, 2021; Davis, J. 2022). This project aims to uncover how students access disaggregated resources and utilize them to the best of their abilities. It leverages qualitative data derived from participant observations and think-aloud protocols with two University of Kansas students. Furthermore, the project draws connections between the broader literature on change theory and more specific findings about the utilization of academic resources for students. Engaging students as stakeholders strengthens the overall change process. In addition, the project offers guidance to educational institutions as they work to better integrate student experiences into the practice of educational resource allocation.