“They had seen that nonacademic barriers were a big factor in students not being able to continue school,” she said. “They brought me on to help students with those needs with the goal of helping to retain students semester to semester.”  

Nonacademic barriers are any obstacles students face outside of school that have a negative impact on their education. This can include basic needs like housing and food, finances, transportation, childcare, mental health and general healthcare.  

“It’s really anything you can think of that people have to worry about on a day-to-day basis that have nothing to do with school but can definitely get in the way of students being able to focus on school when they don’t know how they’re going to meet their needs,” Skye said.  

Skye’s job is to connect students with resources that already exist, whether that’s at NTC or through the community where they live. Although this community and many others have resources, she said they can be hard to find and even more difficult to navigate.  

“That’s where I come in, and I help connect students to those resources,” she said. “I have a lot of background and knowledge, know all the little nuances and help navigate the red tape.”  

She can help students determine which resources they are eligible for and how to apply.  

Because funding is a limited resource, eligibility requirements tend to get tighter, which can leave a lot of people in a grey area. They may have a job and are still struggling to meet their needs. 

“I give a disclaimer to everyone that I don’t have any magic wants to fix problems,” Skye said. “If someone has a need where a resource doesn’t exist or they don’t qualify, I do my best to problem solve with them and get creative with how to meet that need with what they do have.”   

Skye’s position is new at NTC, so she has been able to help build it from the ground up, and she said it’s been going well so far. She added that staff and students alike have been excited to have this role on campus.  

“From my very first day, it’s been very apparent that this is a need here and that staff were going to utilize me in my role,” she Skye said. “I can tell that staff and faculty truly care about their students succeeding.”  

Students can seek out assistance on their own, but that can be hard, especially when they have a lot on their plates. Staff and faculty can also refer students to Skye.  

“I really advocate for that warm hand off so that it’s not the student’s responsibility to reach out to make that connection,” she said. “It’s intimidating, especially when they have 100 things going on and maybe have never asked for help before. Sometimes us reaching out really opens that door for them.”  

Skye said she is looking forward to connecting with more students and looking at what kinds of larger outreach can be done to reach students, especially those who wouldn’t come on their own.  

Students she’s been able to help so far have reached out to thank her, and that has meant a lot.  

“I can tell they weren’t expecting this level of support,” Skye said. “Even if I wasn’t able to pull out a magic wand to fix it, it meant something that NTC cared enough to ask them if they needed help.”  

Students can connect with Skye at mucha@ntc.edu.