SOURCE
Vol. 16
For College Transitions
No. 2 March 2019
A publication from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition
CONTENTS
1
Holistic Coaching, Targeted Support Help Low-Income Students Rise Above Purdue University combines financial aid and support programming to address an achievement gap, leading to improved graduation outcomes for students.
5
Fostering Student Success Through Peer Supervision Models The University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky leverage peer leadership and student employment to develop models that allow both schools to scale up service using fewer resources.
9
Increasing FYS Quality Through Greater Curricular Flexibility The University of South Carolina’s first-year seminar strikes a balance between consistency and flexibility for instructors.
13
Making Internships High-Impact Through Online Coursework An internship course at Kennesaw State University aims for an increasingly impactful and reflective experience that boosts students’ potential in the workplace.
16
Quest for Student Success: The Importance of Student Teaching Changes to tutoring at Middle Tennessee State University lead to increased rates of persistence and retention.
20
Resource Spotlight: Building a Case for the First-Year Seminar Using a thorough literature review, a guide for course redesign and implementation, and other resources, a text for professionals gives a clear road map for those seeking to establish the FYS at their institutions.
Holistic Coaching, Targeted Support Help Low-Income Students Rise Above For years, first-generation and low-income Michelle Ashcraft Director, Purdue Promise students have graduated at lower rates than Andrea Mattingly their peers at Purdue University, a land-grant, Communications Director Purdue University public research institution that enrolls more than 32,000 undergraduates. This is particularly the case for Indiana 21st Century Scholars who enroll. Students in this program are identified as low-income and are more likely than their resident peers to be first-generation college students. These scholars apply in middle school to qualify for a tuition and fee scholarship guarantee if they graduate high school with a 2.5 GPA and remain drug- and crime-free. Before 2009, 21st Century Scholars were graduating at rates 10-11% lower than their Purdue peers. To address the achievement gap, Purdue Promise was launched in 2009 to serve 21st Century Scholars with a total family income threshold of $50,000 or less, with the goal of graduating students on time and debt-free. Purdue Promise is unique as it is both an access and a support program. While many programs at U.S. institutions provide financial aid or support programming, Purdue Promise intentionally combines both. The successful combination has led to institutional, statewide, and national recognition.
A Move to Proactive Coaching Purdue Promise staff quickly realized their students’ academic struggles had nothing to do with motivation or intelligence, and everything to do with life circumstances. Moreover, the program’s original support structure held nearly zero sway for those facing such overwhelming life experiences. Under the former model, students faced scholarship requirements that were heavily social and cohort-based, including peer mentoring, monthly events, workshops, numerous courses, tutoring, learning communities, and celebrations. The non-social components were prescribed, structured, and one-size-fits-all. These components did not address students’ individual academic struggles, their prior and current experiences, or the support students received elsewhere on campus. While this model worked for many students, for others some components were redundant or offered at the wrong time for their individual needs.
