How the Student Life Case Manager Can Help Students

For students seeking help and guidance on finances, housing, food insecurity and more, a new case manager service was recently established at Drexel University. The new position in Student Life does not solve a student’s problems but helps them identify the issues and appropriate resources and works with the student to develop an action plan. 

As the University case manager, Amy Bevins will help students navigate how to find and access resources available to them both at Drexel and in the Philadelphia community. It’s a brand-new role for the University, so Bevins has spent much of her time so far developing what it will look like and making connections with students.

“It's basically the University’s response to the variety of challenges that students have been facing,” Bevins said. “The goal I have in this position is to be the glue that pulls everything all together. Even if I don’t know the answer, I know where to send students to help them get the right answer. It’s been a lot of fun being able to chart out the path of where this position is going to go.”

Bevins started this role in January. She’s been at Drexel since April 2019, so she’s had a lot of time to get to know the community in previous positions including resident director for Bentley Hall, an assistant director of residence life and working in housing operations and training resident assistants (RAs) before becoming associate director of Residence Life.

“I pursued degrees in social work because of my work as an undergraduate RA and working within student organizations and student life, so from the get-go I saw the connection between those fields [of social work and student affairs],” Bevins said. “You kind of get that case management relationship with residents in the resident director role. I saw this position as an opportunity to expand that part of the residence life role I most enjoyed.”

There are already some aspects of case management happening in Residence Life and the Office of the Dean of Students, as resident directors and student conduct professionals help manage students’ needs as required. Bevins has been working with those teams, including Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Life Katie Zamulinsky, EdD, and Director of Student Conduct & Care Anna Moronski to audit and standardize processes as she gets her University-wide role started.

“We’ve been putting it together in a way that makes sense and mapping out the different referral processes to send students to different campus partners and setting up a good foundation to communicate to students,” Bevins said.

Bevins works with students who have questions or issues with housing insecurity, food insecurity, mental health and other topics like figuring out how to access city resources, receiving tax help, signing up for SNAP, returning to campus after time away and other scenarios. She also has begun working with the International Students & Scholars Services and the Student Meal Swipe Donation Program to help students get the support they need.

“I also have been working pretty closely with the Drexel Central team and financial aid, because a lot of students I'm working with are just having general financial concerns and questions, and so I am able to serve as kind of like an intermediary in those situations and work with the student and Drexel Central to help it make sense."

Bevins’ office is in the Rush Building in room 314 and she encourages students to stop by during her open office hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students can also email Student Conduct and Care at sscs@drexel.edu or submit a Student of Concern report to get in touch.

“I try to help students build resiliency through challenges and empower them to be self-advocates,” Bevins said. “I’m very open to folks stopping by to visit, they don’t have to have particular questions or issues, even if they don’t know what they’re struggling with, I’m also available to talk.”