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4 | FEBRUARY 14, 2020 NEWS Changes to leadership scholarship discussed by Alumni Association

By Evan Lee News Editor

A “revamp” to the application requirements of next year’s Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship was discussed during the Alumni Association Board of Directors meeting Feb. 6.

The scholarship committee felt “very strongly” that the essay portion of this scholarship should be eliminated, said Diane Finch, vice president of the Board. In its place will be an “applicant’s personal statements of leadership.”

The personal statement format will allow students to address specific points of leadership the scholarship committee is looking for, Finch said. This will make scoring “more equitable and fair.”

Finch said the committee also discussed increasing the minimum number of faculty recommendations to two, as well as setting the range of required leadership documentation to be between one and three sources. Documentation can include pictures, press coverage, or other materials that demonstrate a student’s leadership qualities.

The scholarship also has a resume requirement. Finch said the committee would like to see student applicants review their resumes with Career Services before they apply. This would help create an “important connection” between students and that office, she added.

An extension to the scholarship’s application deadline and an increase to the amount awarded by the scholarship committee were also considered, Finch said.

Changes would be applied to next year’s Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship. The deadline for this year’s scholarship was Feb. 3. Selected recipients will receive the scholarships in their student accounts the following fall semester.

Jennifer DeFronzo, director of Alumni Relations, updated the Board on upcoming events and social media usage.

The Henry Whittemore Library will be hosting a 50th anniversary 70’s Dance Party, with music DJ’d by WDJM, the University’s student radio station, March 27.

“If you do have any of those 1970s clothes hanging around, here is your opportunity to use them,” she said.

The dance party is a fundraising event, DeFronzo said. Its proceeds will supplement funds used to pay the salaries of student library workers.

Coincidentally, WDJM is having a 50th anniversary celebration as well, according to Matty Bennet, SGA president. He told the Board the student radio station will host a “birthday party event” April 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the McCarthy Center Forum. “They’re planning on doing a whole series of events for students throughout that week, celebrating each of the decades,” he said. Alumni are invited to the party as well.

Those who cannot attend can tune into WDJM at 91.3 FM.

DeFronzo also announced an “Alumni Board Instagram takeover,” where one Board member will be able to “takeover” the Framingham State Alumni Instagram account for a day. “I’m looking for someone who has about five different photos they could share,” she said. “One of them has to be of you so we know who’s taking over our Instagram.

“I thought that would be a really fun way for people to know what our alumni are doing,” she added.

One Board member suggested creating an Alumni TikTok account.

“I am terrified of TikTok, but we can talk about it,” DeFranzo jokingly responded.

Wendy Davis, office manager for Career Services and Employer Relations, gave a presentation to the Board, asking them “What makes FSU Career Services so unique?

“With over 30,000 FSU alumni living in Massachusetts, many come back - as you know - to mentor and hire our current students and new graduates,” she answered.

One such program that brings alumni and students together is Suitable Solutions, Davis said.

“We ask our alums, especially, and a lot of employers to come back and do one-on-one mock interviewing [with students],” she said. “That really shows them how to do it in the real world.”

In addition to mock interviews, the Suitable Solutions program provides students with a clothing stipend and advice on purchasing professional attire to wear at real interviews.

During academic year 2018-2019, career services hosted 293 career events for students, according to Davis. These were attended by 759 employer partners representing 500 companies.

Davis further highlighted the University’s new job and internship search engine, Handshake, which she said is available for alumni to use as well as students.

Handshake replaced the University’s old job search engine, RamTrack, during summer 2019.

Students can register for an account using their FSU email address, while alumni can contact Career Services to verify their graduation status and register for an account with any email.

“We don’t shut you off,” Davis said. “You are always welcome at Career Services!” Board of Directors hear Career Services presentation

CONNECT WITH EVAN LEE elee5@student.framingham.edu “I am terrified of TikTok, but we can talk about it.” -Jennifer DeFronzo, Director of Alumni Relations Amanda Garny / THE GATEPOST Wendy Davis, office manager of Career Services, gave a presentation at the Alumni Association Board of Directors meeting Feb. 6.

NEWS Student Retention

Bridges added that CASA’s goal for the student at risk of suspension is to counsel, coach, and offer all their services in order to promote success in the student’s third semester at FSU.

She added the policies in practice have not become “more lenient,” but “more student-centered and supportive.

“The University has taken a stand from a policy standpoint to be more acknowledging that students struggle in transitioning into college.

“There’s an entire area of scholarship dedicated to transitioning into college. People get their Ph.D.s in higher education. They’re looking at how to help students transition into college.”

When a first-year student is placed on academic probation, “it doesn’t mean they’re not college-ready or they’re not capable of doing this work. It was just really rough to make that transition. … We do not approach it from a deficit standpoint.” First-year students placed on academic probation must go through a program called “Academic Success 101,” Bridges said.

The program is a day-long workshop for students who appealed their suspension and were invited back for the fall semester. The workshop focuses on success strategies and building academic confidence.

“You need to make sure you’re taking classes that give you the greatest chance at success,” said Bridges.

CASA also holds “Academic Success 102” for students who have their probation extended, but are not suspended. Academic Success 102 is a self-directed online module on Blackboard that focuses further on student success efforts.

Bridges said CASA offers many tutoring and mentoring services based on each student’s individual academic need in an effort to increase retention.

“Yes, we do a lot toward retention, but we like to think of them as our student success efforts,” Bridges said. CASA provides academic strategy peer tutors who serve as “academic role models or mentors,” Bridges said. These academic strategy peer tutors are generally junior and seniors.

Any student can meet with a peer tutor weekly for an hour-long appointment. The goal of these meetings is for peer tutors to teach students how to organize their time, communicate with professors, track grades, and learn basic academic skills.

Bridges said, “We know that a good student teaching you is going to have a different impact than me saying the same thing over and over.”

She added there may be instances where working with a peer is not ideal for a student. In these cases, CASA also offers academic coaching with one of their full-time staff members. Additionally, CASA offers a supplemental instruction program, Continued from page 1

which targets courses students have difficulty in.

Bridges said these classes are usually “gateway courses into a major” that are generally 100 level courses that have high drop/withdrawal/failure rates.

Junior math major Ellen Lucier works as a Supplemental Instruction “To see how much they are already juggling - kids, jobs, other classes, and social lives - it takes a lot to make time for extra math practice. It makes me really happy to hear that my help makes things easier for them,” she added.

The math department now holds math emporiums to help students

“I love to help. I want to be a teacher one day, so this is a great opportunity for me to get experience helping others and trying different approaches. I feel that students can be more comfortable around me.”

-Ellen Lucier, Junior math major and Supplimental Instruction (SI) tutor

(SI) tutor for CASA and said she was personally recommended by one of her professors to be his SI tutor.

Lucier said SI sessions are “a really good approach to teaching students about math in a less intimidating and more practical setting.”

She added that during her sessions, she helps whoever comes. “I learn more outside of class, she added.

Bridges said, “It’s really intended to say that you are going to take a credit-bearing math class, you’re not going to be behind everyone else, and we are just going to give you a boost to get you through.”

Math department chair Julie Le

“The University has taken a stand from a policy standpoint to be more acknowledging that students struggle in transitioning into college.”

-LaDonna Bridges, Associate Dean of Academic Success and Director of CASA

usually redo practice problems from class with different numbers or work from the textbook examples.”

Lucier said being an SI tutor is a great experience for her as well. “I love to help. I want to be a teacher one day, so this is a great opportunity for me to get experience helping others and trying different approaches. I feel that students can be more comfortable around me. vandosky said the department is aware some students struggle with mandatory math classes.

She added some students take advantages of the extra help provided by CASA and the math department.

“Usually the weakest students are so intimidated. I keep trying to encourage them,” she said. “I don’t know if they feel that there’s a stigma around asking for help when struggling in class.”

Levandosky said she has discussed new strategies with her department for helping students who are struggling in class and has attended off-campus workshops with state institutions.

“We work a lot on how to support these students,” Levandosky said.

Keville said Starfish outreach plays a vital role in the University’s retention efforts.

According to Bridges, CASA administers an “Early Academic Alert Survey” through Starfish, which is sent out between the third and fourth week of classes. The survey asks faculty to identify students who may be struggling early in the course.

Once the alert is sent to CASA, the team responds to the flag and contacts students to remind them about the tutoring services FSU provides.

“Starfish helps with our retention efforts because it helps us identify students who appear to be struggling. It allows us to reach out. It allows us to see a pattern and decide how to intervene with that student from an academic standpoint,” Bridges said.

She added the sense of community at FSU is a large factor in retention. The New Student and Family Program holds FSU Foundations classes, Rams 101, and first-year seminars to help first-year students transition into life at FSU.

“I think you can’t discount all the things that are done in Student Affairs,” Bridges said. “All that sense of community work, whether it’s the heavy lifting done by the Counseling Center to help students who are distressed by being here, or Res Life … all the work the RAs and the area directors do to help students figure out the space they’re in … the Dean of Students’ office - it’s all kind of endless.”

She added all efforts for retention are “absolutely holistic.

“While we can do all of these things academically, you have to be OK outside of class too. They’re so connected. You are not going to do well academically if you are not doing well emotionally.”

Bridges said retention “may be the buzzword, but I think that really, at the core of it, we really want students to be successful. We want students to earn degrees. We want students to realize the benefits of obtaining a higher education.”

She added when she sits down with a student, retention is not what’s on her mind.

“It’s figuring out what their barriers are and how can we help them overcome those barriers to become a successful student,” she said.

“There isn’t a cookie-cutter approach to all of it, and I think that’s where the heart comes in and where the time comes in to find a student success.