Study Buddies for Universities
Help students turn intention into action.
Study Buddies is a structured peer co-working program that gives students a consistent time and place to get started, stay focused, and follow through.
Student-led · Staff-supported · In-person or online
The gap
Students can know exactly what to do and still not get started.
A student can know their deadlines, know where the tutoring center is, and know which advisor to email, and yet still lose the evening to avoidance. The hard part isn’t having enough information. The hard part is sitting down and getting it done.
Avoidance is caused by many factors, including stress, overwhelm, distraction, executive functioning challenges, and competing demands. It leads to a simple yet profound problem: the gap between what a student intends to do and what actually gets done.
Have trouble getting started
They know what needs to get done but struggle to find the activation energy to do it.
Get distracted or lose momentum
The work starts, then a phone notification, roommate situation, or an open browser tab splits their attention.
Feel overwhelmed by everything they need to get done
When five things are due, choosing which one to start becomes an obstacle.
Prefer working around other people
Some students find it hard to focus on their own.
Want more accountability
Nobody is expecting the work before a deadline, so procrastination is easier than steady progress.
Feel isolated when studying alone
Long stretches of solitary work make the semester feel heavier than it needs to be.
The program
Study Buddies is structured peer co-working for college students.
Students bring their own coursework and work independently alongside other students. A trained student facilitator opens the session, holds the time, and closes it.
Students don’t have to choose between getting their work done and connecting with peers. They can do both at the same time.
It’s not tutoring, academic coaching, a group project, counseling, or an open study hall. It’s a low-barrier hour of focus with a set structure, allowing students to spend time with each other in a way that doesn’t require much talking.
If the idea sounds familiar, it is a structured version of what some people call body doubling. Working alongside another person makes it easier to begin and to stay with a task.
Study Buddies creates the infrastructure for campuses to offer this at scale.
How a session works
One hour, a consistent rhythym, every time.
01
Check In
Students briefly identify what they plan to work on during the session.
02
Focus Together
Students work independently on their own tasks while other students work alongside them.
03
Check Out
Students share what progress they were able to make.
Where it fits
An additional layer, not a replacement.
Most campuses already offer advising, tutoring, academic coaching, counseling, accessibility services, peer mentoring, and student success programming. A student can know all of those resources exist and still struggle in the moment they need to begin. Study Buddies sits in that moment, so students can use it alongside everything else in the same semester.
- Counseling
- Academic Coaching
- Tutoring
- Advising
- Disability & Accessibility Services
- Peer Mentoring
- Study Buddies
Commonly connected to
- Academic support
- Student success
- First-year programming
- Retention initiatives
- Students approaching academic risk
- Students not yet engaging with existing services
What WE provide
The sessions are the visible part.
Most of what we provide is what keeps them running week after week without becoming another standing task for your team.
The session model
A consistent format for every session, so students know what will happen before they walk in.
Student leaders and training
A student facilitator model, with a one hour training we deliver. We can also train your staff to run that training themselves.
The platform
Where students find sessions, join them, and see their own participation and focus hours.
Launch and implementation support
Planning with your team on where the program sits, plus the communication materials to introduce it to students.
“I love that it would be mostly student-led, and a staff member can help oversee.”
Case manager, university student support team
Data and insights
What you can actually see.
Students rate their sense of belonging, peer connection, and confidence about making progress on coursework. These are measured at baseline, after every session, and at regular intervals over a term. Your team sees utilization, effectiveness, and how students describe the experience. Students can see their own participation, focus hours, and progress over time.
Retention matters, but it’s not the whole story.
Universities are working to help students stay engaged, make academic progress, build connections, and graduate. Study Buddies is built to support that work in one specific place: the hour a student actually sits down.
“It’s not just about the numbers. We want students to succeed and graduate.”
Associate vice president, student affairs
Start with a pilot
Start small. Learn what works on your campus.
Run Study Buddies with one population, program, or community for a semester.
- Choose a population. A program, cohort, or campus community to start with.
- Run sessions. Student leaders facilitate while your staff stay connected.
- Gather feedback. Participation and student feedback throughout the semester.
- Decide together. Look at what happened and choose whether to continue, adjust, or expand.
Who you would be working with
Psychology, higher education, and technology, in one small team.
Dr. Jackie Parke
Co-Founder
Psychologist and former university psychology professor, with two decades working directly with adolescents and college students.
Rob Parke
Co-Founder
Educator and technologist. Teaches technology and applied computing at the University of Southern California, and builds the systems behind the program.
Questions university partners ask
Is this another program my staff have to manage?
The model is student-led, which keeps it light for staff. Your team provides oversight and reviews the participation and feedback we share.
Who leads the sessions, and how are they prepared?
Student leaders facilitate for their peers, within guardrails your staff set.
We deliver a one hour training for them, or train your staff to deliver it themselves.
Why couldn’t we just run something like this ourselves?
You could, and some campuses have tried informal versions.
What is harder to sustain is the predictable format, prepared facilitators, somewhere to sign up, and data and analytics your team can actually use for decision-making.
Can sessions be virtual or in-person?
Both. The format adapts to different campus environments, and some teams run a mix.
How do students hear about it?
Study Buddies works best when it is connected to the communication and referral paths students already use. We provide the materials to introduce it clearly.
Is Study Buddies a mental health service?
No. It’s not therapy, counseling, or a mental health service. Students who attend may also use their campus counseling center or other resources.
Interested in bringing Study Buddies to your campus?
Let’s have a conversation about your students, the support your campus already provides, and whether we’re a mutually good fit.