Interview with Sarah Kaip, teacher and librarian at SPSCC

An aerial view of the SPSCC library. Shot by Sara Gettys.

Have you ever tried to sit down and work on an essay but then thought, “Well, I still need to text my friend about hanging out later” or even just outright, “It’s fine, I can write this later.” If you have put off your work in such a way, you may be entering the procrastination station which is the furthest train stop away from Productivity Town.

Procrastination is defined as the act of postponing work or academic tasks unnecessarily. This can become a significant problem among students as the more they delay assignments, the more time pressure and stress is put on them to meet deadlines. Such a problem can lead to worse grades, the feeling of being overwhelmed, and stress. The issue of procrastination is highly common among college students as a study done by the American Psychological Association showed that “50% of college students say that they procrastinate in a consistent and problematic manner, approximately 75% consider themselves to be procrastinators, and approximately 80%–95% procrastinate to some degree” (Student…).

Sarah Kaip, a librarian, and teacher at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) recognized this problem being common among students while teaching a CCS 101 course. “I have taught CCS 101, so there are three lessons in there about time management, and so many students would tell me how much trouble they have with time management,” said Kaip. She decided to take matters into her own hands in the winter of 2022 by creating a program that would help students manage their time and prevent procrastination. In the Focus Partners program, students who apply are matched together and are then expected to help each other with time management and procrastination. “They are expected to meet with their person and study together and be positive, have positive encouragement, nothing punishing or negative,” “they should be in contact at least once a week and spend as much time [together] as they said they’d spend,” said Kaip when describing the program.

In order to apply, visit the Focus Partners page on the SPSCC’s Library website where you can fill out a short application program. According to Kaip, she normally gets around 50 applications per quarter with the most coming in the fall. Once these applications are in, Kaip uses careful consideration to match people together.

When describing the criteria used to match students together, she said, “You get such a wide variety that it’s hard, so I try to find people taking similar classes.” “I also look for how many hours they want to devote per week… most people are between 1-5 [hours].” Once people are paired, they are expected to help each other with procrastination and time management in any way that they find helpful. When asked how students typically meet with their partners, Kaip said, “I assume in person or at least through Zoom, but I think that people really want to get to know each other,” “I think increasingly it (the program) addresses social isolation too if they are taking classes solely online.”

The Focus Partners getting started sheet has many fun ways to keep yourself and your partner on-track with their schoolwork. It suggests methods like making completing assignments a contest, sending one another motivational messages, giving each other small rewards for completing deadlines, and more. “I think that when you are in a team or a partnership, you have more of a sense of responsibility to that other person. Sometimes when you are by yourself and you are responsible for everything yourself, things can break down but having someone else involved helps,” said Kaip when discussing how the program helps students. When speaking about her motivations to create the program, Kaip said, “I really wanted to help students succeed in their classes.” “I think if you don’t get off to a good start in the quarter and you get behind right at the beginning of the quarter, then that’s going to be bad news. So, I wanted to get students off to a good start at the beginning of the quarter, make them feel like they are a part of a team, and just do better in their classes.” The program has become increasingly popular among students at SPSCC as many see the advantages it poses to their education. Kaip says that she hopes the program will grow. “I hope more people take advantage of it, I think with more classes being online it’s important to get face-to-face time with students whenever you can,” she expressed. 

 Some people however may be experiencing some uncertainty as to whether or not they should enter the program. To this Kaip says, “It doesn’t hurt to try. You could very well make a lifelong friend and do better in your classes as well. Sometimes when you are by yourself it’s sink or swim but with the Focus Partners program someone can help you swim or at least throw you a buoy. I want people to be committed to it but there’s no consequence if you decide it’s not for you. It’s kind of a no-risk high reward kind of thing.” 

If you’re having trouble staying focused on homework or other assignments, the library resources page offers a helpful tool called the Focus Partner that you might find useful. It’s a low-risk, high-reward option to help you stay on track and boost your productivity. Now to finish this off I’ll tell you a joke about procrastination… actually, I’ll just tell it later. 

Work Cited

Shatz, I. (n.d.). Student Procrastination: Why Students Procrastinate and How to Stop It. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://solvingprocrastination.com/student-procrastination/#:~:text=Dangers%20of%20student%20procrastination,-Procrastination%20can%20cause&text=In%20terms%20of%20academic%20performance,in%20terms%20of%20time%20management.