Case Study

Tulane Wave of Support

Designing and Embedding a Holistic Framework for Wellness Supports at a Major University

In 2020, Tulane University engaged Trepwise to lead a collaborative research and design project to further its vision of a university where health is embedded into all aspects of campus culture — across the administration, operations, and academic procedures.

Product:

Solutions Lab

Sector:

Non-Profit

Solution

We first designed an expansive discovery process, including stakeholder engagement, best practice research, and definition of key questions. Next, we convened design teams made up of students, faculty, and staff to identify solutions, resulting in a multi-pronged pilot initiative called Wave of Support.

Results

Today, we support evaluation of the pilot, which includes reorienting Academic Advisors to serve as navigators for overall student academic needs; launching the Tulane Mentor Institute to expand, coordinate, and centralize all mentorship programs across campus; and expanding residential support in residence halls by supplementing Resident Advisors with an additional student support role. In 2023 the program received an endowed gift of $3M to support the scaling of the pilot.