What it Takes to Get Started
The Connection Project is designed to be scalable within a regular university course-credit structure, led by a faculty member or adjunct.
How hard is it to implement TCP?
Our team has worked closely with university administrators, professors, and staff both at UVA and at our partner universities to make TCP implementation as seamless as possible. Our goal is to work with you, actively and continuously, to help you find the best home for the program within your institution. All you need to start is 1 interested faculty member able to get credit for teaching the set of The Connection Project courses, 1 teaching assistant, and participation in a one-week summer training workshop.
"The way that this program is structured and the support we've received from UVA along the way has made this program so easy to implement."
One of our TCP faculty partners on the implementation process
What would the first year of implementation look like?
A typical 1st semester might look like...
Teaching a 3-credit course for a small group of students learning all the key detauls of facilitating groups, managing potential problems, providing key supports, etc. (We provide a full syllabus accompanied by detailed lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, and assignments).
Posting recruitment materials targeting students who might want to participate as group members In Semester 2.
Then, during your 2nd semester...
Facilitators will work in pairs to run groups of 6-10 students meeting once a week.
- Participating students receive 1-credit (allocated to faculty member).
- Facilitators receive 2 credits (allocated to faculty member) for preparing and leading groups and engaging in 75 minutes of group supervision led by faculty member.
Optional: Faculty can also begin teaching a new facilitator training course to increase the facilitator pool for the following semesters (most facilitators continue participating in future semesters, hence the pool grows, limited mainly by facilitator graduations).
What if we want it to grow?
Using UVA as an example (where the program serves ~ 900 students each year), this level of growth can be managed with:
- One 9-month full-time faculty member who handles the courses
- .25 FTE of a person with clinical skills to assist in facilitator group supervision
- Several undergraduate TAs
- One full-time logistics support person (typically a recent alumni)
- A minimal budget for physical supplies (paper, pens, binders, etc.)
- Very modest administration support in disseminating information about the program.
A graph tracking growth in The Connection Project participants at the University of Virginia.
How much does it cost?
The program runs on a course model, so that, depending on how tuition credits are allocated, the program is likely less expensive to offer than a comparable series of small enrollment courses for students.
The cost for the weeklong training for up to 3 people along with weekly consultation over the following year is $15,000 for the first year, and $10,000 for each additional year following initial implementation. The curriculum and all accompanying materials are licensed to participating universities without charge.
What's the evidence TCP actually works?
You can read about the full research base of TCP here, but in short, TCP is the culmination of 10 years of research and two randomized control trials showing its impact on both high school and university populations. We found that it not only felt like a positive experience for students, but that it actually decreased depressive symptoms and loneliness, and increased belongingness and academic engagement. Additionally it’s backed by 20 years of research on the importance of social relationships.
For more information, contact Dr. Alison Nagel ([email protected]) or Dr. Joseph Allen ([email protected]).