Who do we Teach ? A Sociological Snapshot of the Lander Student Body

1. Who do we Teach? A Sociological Snapshot of the Lander Student Body Dr. Dan Harrison, Political and Social Sciences

2. The Palmetto State • SC has 4.7 million people. 64% are white, 28% black, 5% Hispanic, 1.4% Asian, .5% Native American. • 48.4% male, 51.6 % female • SC is a very poor state. Median household income (2011): $40,500 (national: $50,054). Second lowest in nation (next to Kentucky) • SC historically agrarian economy, now primarily manufacturing, biotech, tourist and service. • Politically, culturally, socially, conservative state (but with pockets of blue) (see next slide) • For small state, many options for college students (e.g. USC, Clemson, Furman, Wofford, C of C, FM, etc.), plus tech schools, University of Phoenix, etc. • State of SC is providing less $$ to Lander and SC system (11.9%, 48th in country; link) • Partly, because of this, Lander is ranked 119/651 schools in cost of tuition (link)

3. 2008 Presidential Returns

4. 2012 Presidential Returns Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:South_carolina_presidential_election_results_2012.svg

5. Lander: The School • Started as Williamston Female College in 1872 • Moved to Greenwood and renamed Lander University in 1904. • Became coeducational in 1943. Supported by Methodist Church until 1948. • 1951-1973, operated by Greenwood County • 1973 became a member of SC state University System (smallest).

6. Rank Amongst Southern Regional Colleges http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/lander-university-3435

7. The Students • 92% of Lander students are from SC. • Top Counties: Greenwood, Greenville, Anderson

8. Top Recruitment Counties 2012 Academic Year: • Greenwood (583) • Greenville (262) • Anderson (230) • Richland (216) • Lexington (151) • Laurens (170) • Spartanburg (110)

9. The Students • 92% of Lander students are from SC • Top Counties: Greenwood, Greenville, Anderson • 5% are from out of state • Top states: Georgia, North Carolina, Florida • 3% are foreign students • Top countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, England, Korea, Sweden, Zimbabwe (historically).

10. New Student Application History

11. By the Percentages

12. The Students, etc. • 188 students (7% of full time students) are student athletes (and some of better students) • 44% of our students come from single parent, divorced, widowed, etc. households. • Many are first in family to attend college. • Many of our students have overcome significant obstacles to just be here (rape, violence, deaths, etc.) • Many students have attended one or more schools before coming to Lander. • Many students are religious: In 2013, 55.7 % identify as Baptist or Christian; 10% none; 8% Methodist; 4% Presbyterian; 3% Catholic; 2 % AME, 1% Episcopalian.

13. Age of Lander Students

14. Questions • Are our incoming students getting better or worse?

15. SAT Scores are Flat

16. HIGH SCHOOL GPA SCORES ARE FLAT

17. Changing Demographics: Gender • Lander started as a women’s college and has been skewed heavily female for some time • This imbalance is increasing for all students: • Fall 2008: 66.1% female; Fall 2012: 69.6 %. • And especially for residential students: • Fall 2008: 71.4 % female; Fall 2012: 74.1 %

18. Changing Demographics: Race • 47% increase in African-American student body at Lander since 2008 (23% increase for males, 55% increase females). (See next slide) • In Fall 2012, African-American students 32.6% of total population, white students 57% (in fall 2008, it was 27%, 64% white); few Hispanic students (1%); few Asian students (though increasing) • In fall 2012, 42.5% of freshman class was African-American. (See Headcount Spreadsheet). • This is highly positive, especially given history of race in SC. • Lander has done great job with this. • Yet only 23% of students who graduated in May 2013 were black (chart) • Also troubling: white prospective students are increasingly less interested in Lander (chart)

20. Percentage of African-American Students

21. Changing Demographics: Race

22. Percentage of African-American Students

23. Shifting Applicant Pool

24. Changing Demographics: Class • Lower median household income. In 2008-2009, avg. household income for students filling out a FAFSA was: $59,366; in 2012, it was $56,354 (-$3012) • Many of our students come from “hard scrabble” circumstanceswhere often it is rare to graduate from high school, let alone go to college. • SC public high school experiences not good for many (fighting, drugs/alcohol, permanent substitutes, bad teachers, etc.) • More students working while in school (link). Full time student 15 hrs in class per week + part time job (20 hrs) = 35 hrs/week. Students working full time= 55+ hr week. Less time for being a student.

25. Changing Demographics: Class (cont). • Still, Lander students are significantly richer ($16,000 or so) than avg. SC household. • Yet many students have to pay their own way. The avg. student graduates with $26,278. ($3200/semester). Avg. for African-American students likely much higher (though no data on this). • Purpose of college has been to lift students into the middle class. This is becoming harder. (NYT link).

26. Question • Have the changing demographics led to worsened academic performance?

27. Academic Achievement @Lander • Average GPA is flat. • Most students are doing satisfactorily.

28. Academic Achievement, cont. • 91 students (~ 3%) are being actively managed/get assistance for Learning Disability • Best Lander students are excellent, but too few in number (in some classes, just 1 or 2 in class); • Top Lander Students do very well. • At the other end, handful of students at bottom who are quite poor. • Large group of students in the middle who are neither (C+/B-and content with grades. • Grades are not an incentive for this group (you can motivate the B+ student to get As, and the D student to get a C-, harder to motivate in the middle). Pluses/minuses may help. • As instructor at Lander, job is often more about taking student from F>C, or from D>B, than from C>A. • Hard to provide one-one-attention in large classes.

29. The Lander Campus Profile • In 2012-13, 1482 students lived on campus (54.6 % of full time students). • Residential Hall stats. • In 2012, 74% of on-campus students were female, 26% male; 12% of on-campus students were white males; 9.7% were black males; 27.8% were white females; 39.4% were black females (very few Asians and Hispanics) • In 2008, 908 students lived on campus (39.5%); 71.3% were female; 28.7% male; 15% were white males; 10.7 % were black males; 35.9% were white females; 30.3% were black females.

30. Tale of Two Campus Cultures • 80% of black female student population and 70% of black males live on campus. • BUT, only 40 % of white females and 25% of white males live on campus. • Lander increasingly has two campus cultures, one black and residential, one white and based off campus. • The white students tend to view the campus instrumentally (come to class, pool, launching pad for off-campus activities such as study abroad); black students are more involved in campus activities, clubs, less likely to have cars, etc. • Historical factors (e.g. Jim Crow) and self-segregation processes (e.g. roommate assignments) keep the two groups from mingling. Main time together is in class. • White students often come from more rural or “country” places; black students more “urban” – also very different politically.

31. Subcultures on Campus • Sociologists in the 1960s Martin and Trow identified four cultures on campus: Vocational, academic, collegiate, and rebel. • Developed these categories in terms of trade off between ideas and institutions(on board) • Using these terms, I would suggest Lander’s population is Lander is 10 % academic, 10 % rebel, 30% collegiate (“Bearcat”), 50% vocational. • This means that half of students identify neither with ideas or with Lander, yet they constitute half of our student body. • Unlike the 1960s, vocational students are more likely to live on campus and constitute the campus culture.

32. Campus Cultures • In 2012, 495 students at Lander were a part of an official Student Organization (21.5% of full time students). • 12 registered fraternities (~ 9% of FT students) • 78.5 % of students (both on and off campus) are NOT involved in campus life.

33. Students seeking more help • Students are seeking out more assistance and behavioral problems are on the rise. • 173 students went to the Counseling Center for help last year (5.6 percent of off campus students; 6.8 percent of on campus students or 3/45 students). Each student visited about 3.5 times. 35 % increase in number of students relative to AY 2011-2012. • Freshmen (29%); Juniors (27%); sophomores (24%), seniors (19%). • Major issues: stress, anxiety, depression.

40. Health of Students • Lander’s Health Services saw 2424 students (some of them repeats) in 2012-2013. • “One significant area of concern has been the number of students presenting with sexually transmitted infections.” (LU, SABR,)

41. Students are Keeping the LUPD Busy • See Chart

43. Students are Keeping the Behavioral Intervention Team Busy • See chart

45. Behavioral Problems on the Rise

47. Conclusions • Many of these issues may not specific to Lander; enrollment concerns across higher education; increasing questioning of value of college. • Lander student body will always be changing; Rumsfeld doctrine. • Lander’s future is tied mainly to Greenwood’s future. • Maybe dynamics are outside our control, but achieving a balanced campus culture seems important (true for faculty as well). • Campus culture should reflect aims and aspirations of Lander mission (e.g. developing local leaders with global vision).

48. Conclusions, cont. • Many faculty and students are too busy/stressed to reflect or participate in campus culture during school year. • New calendar is mixed blessing. • Students now in class 15 hrs a week (pre-calendar change, 13.125); faculty teach 12 hrs in class/ week (used to be 10.5). Lander students faculty and students spend more time in class per week than any other institution. • Avg. hours taken is going up (see chart). • There is an perverse incentive for students to take as many classes as they can. (The better student, the more classes). Yet this means less time/attention and worse performance in any one class. • Few times during day/week when no one is in class. • The constraints we impose on ourselves and students are very rigid; yet our students are used to flexibility.

50. Questions • Should we concerned about these dynamics? • Should we try to attract more out of state students? • What are the implications for teaching? (Cynthia and Ashley) • How can we get more students at Lander who “exceed” standards? (As small school, shouldn’t be impossible). • Are we doing all we can to help low-performing African-American students? • Are we doing all we can to attract higher performing minority students? (is this an issue for Honors Program?) • What can we do to reach beyond the vocational student who are neither interested in ideas or the institution? • Is it possible to adjust the mix of residential students to have more balance on campus, both socially/ethnically, etc. and also academic, collegiate and rebel cultures (and perhaps older students) on campus?