Tag: provide

Volunteer EMTs Provide Medical Response Support on Campus

On a normal day on the Florida State University campus, it’s not unusual to see a student drive by in a vehicle equipped with sirens and the name “Medical Response Unit” plastered to the side.

“I saw everybody driving around in the golf carts and I really wanted to know what was happening,” said neuroscience major Anakha Vargheese.

The vehicles are part of a student-led emergency medical response unit, connected to the student health center, that trains student volunteers to provide health care and assistance to their peers.

For the university, the unit provides emergency response support and health education to all students. For volunteers, the experience gives them needed work-based learning and professional development for future careers as medical professionals.

In action: FSU’s Medical Response Unit includes more than 150 trained student volunteers on staff, including Vargheese, who serves as director of administration for the unit. Volunteers are certified in various roles, including emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

To be eligible, students must be empathetic and committed to improving campus health and welfare. All volunteers agree to participate for four semesters including training, so students are primarily admitted in their first or second year of college.

The unit is well-known on campus, and the competition to earn a spot on the crew is fierce. In the most recent application cycle, MRU received 350 applications for 50 positions, said Bryce Couey, a senior biology major who serves as executive director for the MRU.

At the start of the term, students accepted to the program are assigned to a crew of three or four people, including one trainee who shadows the crew for the semester. Crews serve two-hour-and-fifteen-minute shifts between 7:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. and may be called on to help bandage a sprained ankle, provide transport to the campus health center or address whatever other issues may arise.

MRU volunteers provide care for campus community members at campus events, including football tailgates and an annual carnival.

During the academic year, volunteers cover various campus events, including football tailgates, baseball games, student organization events, intramural sports, the homecoming parade and an annual circus event, which is Vargheese’s favorite.

“One thing coming into the MRU that I really wanted to gain was clinical experience,” Vargheese said. “But another additional thing that I got out of it was the community and the people. So just being able to spend time with your friends and your crew at these really special events, it’s really fun.”

The unit has an assortment of vehicles to perform emergency responses, including SUVs, electric carts and a mobile first aid trailer, each equipped with emergency lights, sirens and medical equipment.

The unit also provides educational training sessions and certification for other students, including Stop the Bleed, which provides a national training certificate for bystanders to control a bleeding emergency before professionals arrive.

In addition, the unit leads two trainings developed in house for FSU students to recognize and respond to emergency situations, said program director Michael Stewart-Meza; one is tailored for students in fraternity and sorority life and another for the general campus population.

The impact: The unit is one way FSU hopes to destigmatize receiving help among the campus community.

“Before and after their shifts, [volunteers] are roaming around campus and attending class in their MRU uniforms,” Stewart-Meza said. “It develops a comfortability that other students will have with them. They’re their classmates, they’re their friends and they’re in the sororities and fraternities with them.”

Both Couey and Vargheese initially joined MRU to gain clinical experience for their premed education, but the experience has also taught them personal and professional skills, as well as helped them create a sense of connection on campus.

“It has made me a better person,” Couey said. “I was very introverted when I joined the unit, and I feel as if the people in the unit and the unit itself have gotten me out of my shell and allowed me to grow into the best version of myself.”

“Being out there in the field and treating patients, caring for them in whatever way that we can, it’s really affirming and rewarding,” said Vargheese. “Without MRU here at college, I don’t know what I’d be doing. I really found my place.”

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November 19, 2025
Public Ill. Universities Will Provide Medication Abortions

Public colleges and universities in Illinois will now be required by law to supply contraception and abortion medication in the student health center or pharmacy, according to Illinois Public Media.

Democratic governor JB Pritzker signed HB 3709 into law Friday, requiring colleges to supply birth control and medication abortions starting this academic year. Only three other states—California, Massachusetts and New York—currently have similar laws.

The law was inspired in part by a student referendum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign regarding whether the university health center should offer medication abortions. About three-quarters of the more than 6,000 undergraduates who voted were in favor of the idea, but the university didn’t implement the idea, saying it didn’t have the expertise to provide abortions.

The governor also signed a bill increasing protections for abortion providers on the same day.

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August 26, 2025
Due Dates Provide a Structure for Spaced Learning – Faculty Focus

Every semester, a student hoping to “earn their desired grade” approaches me at the last minute, asking to make up all their missed assignments. I have a standard missed due date policy, 1) let me know (communication) and 2) get it done in a week (extended deadline). The students requesting to stockpile assignments at the end of the semester usually had not completed the assignment at all or had not completed the assignment even with an extended deadline. Basically, they hadn’t even tried to complete assignments. It wasn’t like they had completed it at 12:01 am and it was due at 11:59 pm.

That being said, I do wonder, Why not grant a student’s request to get it (the class) all done at once? You know the requests: “I know this already. Isn’t there a test I can take so I don’t have to sit through the class?” or “I am sure I can get all these assignments done before finals week.” It makes sense that if a student can pass all the assessments, they should pass the class. So why not just complete all the assessments at the same time?

Would these students who were absent from most of the class or hadn’t done any of the assignments on their due dates pass the class with a C or better? Probably. So why enforce due dates at all. Why shouldn’t a professor simply allow a student to complete all the assignments before final grades are due without regard to timing?

The caveat in this “all at once” scenario is that a successful grade is wrongly associated with learning. If a student completes all the assignments in a few days during the semester, then assessments are the sole criteria used to define successful learning. However, the truth is that learning means much more than successfully navigating a certain percentage of the assignments.

In my reality, most students could use their previous knowledge to muddle through the assessments of an introductory course at an accelerated pace. Let’s view the situation from the perspective of a student. They have after all been in school for the last 13 years and they have become really good at taking quizzes and exams and writing essays with thesis statements. My pre- and post-quiz data for the course reveals this. At the beginning of the semester without warning, I ask a group of anxious, ill-prepared students to (within a limited and unreasonable amount of time) answer 20 questions about a topic that they haven’t even considered before walking into the room. The questions are a sampling of the final exam. The average on the pre-quiz hovers at about 50%. Given more time and a couple of days to study and contemplate, most of these students would pass the pre-quiz, and in essence, have the knowledge required to pass the final exam.

Nevertheless, is completing all the assessments what defines learning the contents of a course? Should a student be allowed to stockpile all the assignments and get credit for them as long as they get them done before the final grades are due. In my humble opinion, absolutely not, and it’s not for the classic soft skills reason. Of course, deadlines help students to navigate the world, (e.g. being responsible). After all, the professor is required to turn in final grades by a deadline.

That said, to me, deadlines are important because people (not just students) learn best when information is spaced out or interleaved (Birnbaum et al., 2013; Samani and Pan, 2021). In order to retrieve something from memory, you need time to learn it. Retrieving information is when you know something without having to look it up—like your name and phone number or all the lyrics of your favorite song. This type of learning requires time—spaced learning. You need to learn it, forget it, be asked about it, refresh it, forget it, be asked about it, refresh it and then if you’re lucky you can retrieve it (Feng et al., 2019; Kobayashi, 2022). This is considered spaced learning and is why deadlines are so important.

Due dates provide the structure for spaced learning and learning that is more substantive. Much to the chagrin of the student who wants to “get it all done at once,” this isn’t the way to learn retrievable material. Retrieving information is what allows you to progress to the next set of information and then progress to creativity and eventually creation. Assessments play a crucial role, but true learning doesn’t come from merely completing them. Instead, it happens through active participation in class, where students engage with the material and are consistently challenged by the professor to recall and apply previous lessons.

As professors, we should enforce due dates to give students the time to learn content in a meaningful and retrievable way. But maybe, just maybe, we can do it with a spoon full of sugar.

Adriana J. LaGier is an American Cell Biologist, whose main area of research is active learning and mechanobiology. She is a professor of biology at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, specializing in teaching undergraduate level general biology and cell biology courses.

References

Birnbaum, Monica S., Nate Kornell, Elizabeth Ligon Bjork, and Robert A. Bjork. 2013. “Why Interleaving Enhances Inductive Learning: The Roles of Discrimination and Retrieval.” Memory & Cognition 41 (3): 392–402. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0272-7.

Feng, Kanyin, Xiao Zhao, Jing Liu, Ying Cai, Zhifang Ye, Chuansheng Chen, and Gui Xue. 2019. “Spaced Learning Enhances Episodic Memory by Increasing Neural Pattern Similarity Across Repetitions.” The Journal of Neuroscience 39 (27): 5351–60. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNeurosci.2741-18.2019.

Kobayashi, Keiichi. 2022. “The Retrieval Practice Hypothesis in Research on Learning by Teaching: Current Status and Challenges.” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (May):842668. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.842668.

Samani, Joshua, and Steven C. Pan. 2021. “Interleaved Practice Enhances Memory and Problem-Solving Ability in Undergraduate Physics.” NPJ Science of Learning 6 (November):32. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00110-x.

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March 28, 2025
Due Dates Provide a Structure for Spaced Learning – Faculty Focus

Every semester, a student hoping to “earn their desired grade” approaches me at the last minute, asking to make up all their missed assignments. I have a standard missed due date policy, 1) let me know (communication) and 2) get it done in a week (extended deadline). The students requesting to stockpile assignments at the end of the semester usually had not completed the assignment at all or had not completed the assignment even with an extended deadline. Basically, they hadn’t even tried to complete assignments. It wasn’t like they had completed it at 12:01 am and it was due at 11:59 pm.

That being said, I do wonder, Why not grant a student’s request to get it (the class) all done at once? You know the requests: “I know this already. Isn’t there a test I can take so I don’t have to sit through the class?” or “I am sure I can get all these assignments done before finals week.” It makes sense that if a student can pass all the assessments, they should pass the class. So why not just complete all the assessments at the same time?

Would these students who were absent from most of the class or hadn’t done any of the assignments on their due dates pass the class with a C or better? Probably. So why enforce due dates at all. Why shouldn’t a professor simply allow a student to complete all the assignments before final grades are due without regard to timing?

The caveat in this “all at once” scenario is that a successful grade is wrongly associated with learning. If a student completes all the assignments in a few days during the semester, then assessments are the sole criteria used to define successful learning. However, the truth is that learning means much more than successfully navigating a certain percentage of the assignments.

In my reality, most students could use their previous knowledge to muddle through the assessments of an introductory course at an accelerated pace. Let’s view the situation from the perspective of a student. They have after all been in school for the last 13 years and they have become really good at taking quizzes and exams and writing essays with thesis statements. My pre- and post-quiz data for the course reveals this. At the beginning of the semester without warning, I ask a group of anxious, ill-prepared students to (within a limited and unreasonable amount of time) answer 20 questions about a topic that they haven’t even considered before walking into the room. The questions are a sampling of the final exam. The average on the pre-quiz hovers at about 50%. Given more time and a couple of days to study and contemplate, most of these students would pass the pre-quiz, and in essence, have the knowledge required to pass the final exam.

Nevertheless, is completing all the assessments what defines learning the contents of a course? Should a student be allowed to stockpile all the assignments and get credit for them as long as they get them done before the final grades are due. In my humble opinion, absolutely not, and it’s not for the classic soft skills reason. Of course, deadlines help students to navigate the world, (e.g. being responsible). After all, the professor is required to turn in final grades by a deadline.

That said, to me, deadlines are important because people (not just students) learn best when information is spaced out or interleaved (Birnbaum et al., 2013; Samani and Pan, 2021). In order to retrieve something from memory, you need time to learn it. Retrieving information is when you know something without having to look it up—like your name and phone number or all the lyrics of your favorite song. This type of learning requires time—spaced learning. You need to learn it, forget it, be asked about it, refresh it, forget it, be asked about it, refresh it and then if you’re lucky you can retrieve it (Feng et al., 2019; Kobayashi, 2022). This is considered spaced learning and is why deadlines are so important.

Due dates provide the structure for spaced learning and learning that is more substantive. Much to the chagrin of the student who wants to “get it all done at once,” this isn’t the way to learn retrievable material. Retrieving information is what allows you to progress to the next set of information and then progress to creativity and eventually creation. Assessments play a crucial role, but true learning doesn’t come from merely completing them. Instead, it happens through active participation in class, where students engage with the material and are consistently challenged by the professor to recall and apply previous lessons.

As professors, we should enforce due dates to give students the time to learn content in a meaningful and retrievable way. But maybe, just maybe, we can do it with a spoon full of sugar.

Adriana J. LaGier is an American Cell Biologist, whose main area of research is active learning and mechanobiology. She is a professor of biology at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, specializing in teaching undergraduate level general biology and cell biology courses.

References

Birnbaum, Monica S., Nate Kornell, Elizabeth Ligon Bjork, and Robert A. Bjork. 2013. “Why Interleaving Enhances Inductive Learning: The Roles of Discrimination and Retrieval.” Memory & Cognition 41 (3): 392–402. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0272-7.

Feng, Kanyin, Xiao Zhao, Jing Liu, Ying Cai, Zhifang Ye, Chuansheng Chen, and Gui Xue. 2019. “Spaced Learning Enhances Episodic Memory by Increasing Neural Pattern Similarity Across Repetitions.” The Journal of Neuroscience 39 (27): 5351–60. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNeurosci.2741-18.2019.

Kobayashi, Keiichi. 2022. “The Retrieval Practice Hypothesis in Research on Learning by Teaching: Current Status and Challenges.” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (May):842668. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.842668.

Samani, Joshua, and Steven C. Pan. 2021. “Interleaved Practice Enhances Memory and Problem-Solving Ability in Undergraduate Physics.” NPJ Science of Learning 6 (November):32. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00110-x.

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March 28, 2025
As compliance deadline looms, colleges must resist censorship — and the feds must provide more clarity

Last week, FIRE wrote about how colleges should interpret President Trump’s recent executive orders, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s anti-discrimination memo, and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights newest “Dear Colleague” letter.

At the same time, we asked OCR to give colleges additional guidance so they have a better idea of what type of speech or conduct might run afoul of its “Dear Colleague” letter. OCR has not yet done so, and with the compliance deadline set for tomorrow, we fear institutions will over-correct and engage in campus censorship.

In fact, we’ve already seen evidence of exactly that.

Grand View University in Iowa, for instance, reportedly cancelled its planned International Women’s Day activities, allegedly to comply with federal DEI directives. This, even though Bondi’s Feb. 6 memo exempts “educational, cultural, or historical observances — such as Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or similar events — that celebrate diversity, recognize historical contributions, and promote awareness without engaging in exclusion or discrimination.”

This type of overcompliance — in this case, cancelling activities or events that are expressly exempted from enforcement — unnecessarily degrades the extracurricular educational environment at higher education institutions and harms the student learning experience.

As we said last week: OCR is bound by the First Amendment and cannot order or compel colleges and universities to violate it. If there is a conflict between federal guidance and the First Amendment, the First Amendment prevails. Whether institutions are overcomplying out of fear of losing federal funding, or in an attempt to prove a point about the directive’s vague language, colleges and universities like Grand View must not preemptively shut down speech.

OCR’s new Title VI letter: FIRE’s analysis and recommendations

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The Department of Education should provide more clarity about its ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ to ensure protected speech isn’t censored on campus.

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This isn’t the first time institutions have overread government directives to justify censorship. In 2021, for example, Idaho passed the “No Public Funds for Abortion Act.” In implementing the bill, the University of Idaho demanded that faculty not “promote or advocate in favor of abortion” or discuss “abortion or contraception” in classroom conversations unless they remained “neutral.” FIRE wrote to the university explaining that such a reading was flatly at odds with the First Amendment. In a thorough memorandum, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador agreed, explaining that the “plain text of the Act does not prohibit public university employees from engaging in speech relating to academic teaching and scholarship that could be viewed as supporting abortion,” thus ending that censorship policy at the University of Idaho.

In that same vein, OCR cannot force schools to violate the First Amendment, a point we’ve hammered since the Obama-era OCR’s “Dear Colleague” letters forced institutions to adopt harassment policies that did exactly that.

OCR must be clear about the type of conduct that runs afoul of its new directives so that institutions are on notice about what’s permissible and what is prohibited. The office has yet to address vagueness in the “Dear Colleague” letter about “institutional programming” that might violate Title VI. That silence is creating a lot of confusion and preemptive censorship, especially when paired with President Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order declaring that government contractors — which includes many institutions of higher education — cannot “operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”

FIRE again urges institutions to hold the line on defending the free speech and academic freedom rights of their students and faculty. And we again ask OCR and the federal government to respect those same rights by immediately clarifying that their directives don’t require colleges and universities to violate those well-established rights.

Last week, a federal court enjoined two executive orders — including the Jan. 21 executive order — that prohibit, among other things, “promoting DEI” in violation of federal anti-discrimination law. The district court held the orders violate the First and Fifth Amendments because they discriminate on the basis of viewpoint and content, and are unconstitutionally vague.

While the government will likely appeal and we won’t know the final resolution for some time, the court’s analysis properly identified the orders’ ambiguity as a damning constitutional flaw. What, precisely, constitutes “promoting DEI” in ways that violate anti-discrimination laws? Can colleges host or sponsor speakers on DEI-related topics? Can institutions advertise DEI-related coursework or promote academic research? Restrictions on these activities would violate the First Amendment, but government attorneys were unable to clarify the meaning of the order when asked by the judge. Precision matters, especially when it comes to restrictions on expression. Vague pronouncements that sweep in protected debate, discussion, and programming raise constitutional and practical problems.

The best way forward for colleges is obvious, even if it might not be easy: Irrespective of the federal DEI directives, ditch speech-restrictive, orthodoxy-enforcing DEI bureaucracies and stand up for free expression and academic debate — in every political season.

As Len Gutkin, editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, recently wrote: “Colleges should draw a sharp distinction between, on the one hand, DEI used in hiring, promotion, and training, and, on the other, curricular and disciplinary offerings.”

That’s the right balance. FIRE again urges institutions to hold the line on defending the free speech and academic freedom rights of their students and faculty. And we again ask OCR and the federal government to respect those same rights by immediately clarifying that their directives don’t require colleges and universities to violate those well-established rights.

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February 28, 2025
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December 16, 2024