The Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Access & Engagement are excited to launch the Post-It Project, a campus-wide initiative to gather student perspectives to help shape guiding principles for a Culture of Care at UAB. 

This initiative invites students to reflect on moments when they felt supported, valued, and meaningfully connected to the UAB community. Throughout November, students will have the opportunity to interact with engagement boards displayed across campus to answer a simple yet important question: “Share a time you felt cared for at UAB.”

The Post-It Project is a part of the institution’s broader effort to understand how members of the UAB community experience and define care. Insights gathered from students will help identify common themes, experiences, behaviors, relationships, and resources that contribute to a sense of support, belonging, and wellbeing. The project will expand to invite faculty and staff to share their experiences and perspectives to create a comprehensive understanding of care at UAB and support ongoing efforts to make care a visible and lived value across the university.

"Care often shows up in everyday moments," said John R. Jones, III, Ph.D., vice president for Student Affairs. "It may be a faculty member who checked in after a difficult week, a classmate who offered encouragement, a staff member who helped solve a problem, or a campus resource that provided support when it was needed most. We want to learn from those experiences and better understand what care looks like through the eyes of our students."

The project encourages students to consider the people, programs, services, and experiences that have positively influenced their lives and contributed to their success at the university. While the activity invites students to recognize moments that mattered, its primary purpose is to listen, learn, and better understand how care is experienced across campus.

"This initiative is not simply about collecting stories," said Paulette Patterson Dilworth, Ph.D., vice president for Access & Engagement. “It is about listening and learning. By hearing directly from students, and later from faculty and staff, we can better understand the experiences that help people feel supported, valued, and connected. Those insights will help guide how we continue to strengthen a Culture of Care at UAB."

Students can participate in the Post-It Project by sharing their reflections on engagement boards located in the Hill Student Center, the Graduate School in Lister Hill Library, throughout Stress Less Week events, and other high-traffic locations. The engagement boards will be available Nov. 2 – 20. The project will serve as a visible reminder of the many ways care is experienced across the UAB community, while creating opportunities for students to contribute their voices to a larger conversation about what care means at UAB.