Sara's Testimony

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“To increase PC caseload sizes would fundamentally change the relationship between each scholar and their PC, which in itself is the heart of OMD’s model and cannot be replaced by technology. OMD’s website puts it best: “Through their relationship with their Program Coordinator, scholars know that OMD is in their corner every step of the way.””

 Sara Birchler, Former Program Operations Coordinator

The reason OMD exists is to help fill the resource gap that many community college students in the Chicago area face. For an OMD scholar, they may only be able to meet with their school advisor once a semester, but they meet with their OMD PC at least once a month and up to once a week. Just from a mathematical standpoint, one staff person can only meet with a certain amount of people per month, especially when accounting for the additional time needed for other job functions, such as documenting scholar interactions, coordinating scholar events, and coordinating with other OMD staff, tutors, and coaches.

As a former OMD employee, I managed OMD’s tutoring program. When on-boarding new tutors, I explained OMD’s full, comprehensive model, but I always stressed that a scholar’s main point of contact and support at OMD is their PC. If a tutor had a question about a scholar, I went to the PC. If a scholar wanted to be excused from tutoring, I went to the PC. If a scholar missed tutoring sessions, I went to the PC. As someone who did not have much direct communication with the scholars themselves, everything scholar-related always went back to the PC and in order to succeed in my job I relied on PCs to have a certain level of understanding for each scholar’s situation.

Not only are PCs and other staff (current and former) telling OMD that PCs need caseload caps, there is also research that backs it up. OMD has partnered with Urban Labs to evaluate their impact. In their working paper Urban Labs said PC caseloads “are much lower than typical advisor-to-student ratios at CCC and Harper, allowing them to develop strong personal relationships and provide targeted individualized supports to students.”

To increase PC caseload sizes would fundamentally change the relationship between each scholar and their PC, which in itself is the heart of OMD’s model and cannot be replaced by technology. OMD’s website puts it best: “Through their relationship with their Program Coordinator, scholars know that OMD is in their corner every step of the way.”

Please consider signing our petition to support UWOMD's campaign for a fair contract and caseload: https://bit.ly/UWOMDcaseloadcap

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