Cougar Connections Helps Students Find Belonging

By: Nick Hathaway | Published: February 16th, 2026

“[Our mission is] to ensure that every single student has a sense of belonging on campus,” said Elizabeth O’Donnell, Acting Director of the Cougar Connections Center of Social Work, located on the first floor of Kean’s Union campus in the Center of Academic Success. 

Since its establishment in 2021, the mission of Cougar Connections has been to enhance students’ well being and to ensure students receive the following support and enhancement and needs. The core mission remains the same: to ensure students who have and require services are provided for. Some of these services include emergency aid, working with scholarship offices, providing emotional and physical support, and preparing students for life outside of university. As stated by the CDC, 82% of adults in America require emotional or social support.

“Cougar Connections expanded significantly,” said O’Donnell, describing how the office has evolved since 2021. “So in 2021, we had goals to start running groups for students in addition to providing 1-on-1 support. And now we are running 2 groups in our department. One group is called Coffee and Conversation. That group focuses on topics related to mental health.” 

Although the Center is adding on to its aims, the core mission remains the same–to provide support for students. To meet that challenge, Cougar Connections has remained the same, as O’Donnell further mentions.

“We continue meeting the basic needs and students and their challenges on a daily basis,” she said. “We collaborate across the campus to meet students. That hasn’t changed.”

O’Donnell describes how the inclusion of student workers at Cougar Connections has been immensely helpful in terms of feedback, running operations and the heart of the program in addition to offering employment that has since benefited the office since its establishment.

“I have a team of student workers in Cougar Connections, and they are absolutely amazing,” said O’Donnell. “They work together and to bring other students to these events. Because we are a newer department, there is always room for continued growth. And we are always trying to come up with ways to kind of think creatively and outside the box, but also how we can expand our services and meet the needs of our students.” 

More information on Cougar Connections can be found on Kean University webpage here. Its office hours operate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 8:00am to 5:30pm. 

Events up coming include “Exit 140: Lane Change Ahead,” a Junior and Senior Transition Support Group series taking place from 3:15pm to 4:30pm on 2/26, 3/26, 4/9, and 4/23, and “Coffee and Conversation,” a safe space for participants to share goals and experiences, also from 3:15pm to 4:30pm, on 2/19, 3/5, 3/19, 4/2, and 4/16.