Identifying Success Markers: Creating Possibilities for Commuter Students

1. Jennifer P. Hodges, Ph.D., University of Akron Darlena Jones, Ph.D., EBI Identifying Success Markers: Creating Possibilities for Commuter Students

2. Session Overview College transition for Commuter students A brief introduction to MAP-Works and the Assessment Project Predicting Retention Cognitive Measures Demographic Factors Behavioral/Environmental/Attitudinal Factors Non-Cognitive Factors Turning Data into Action Interventions at The University of Akron Outcomes at The University of Akron

3. Commuter Students � defined by Jacoby (1989, 2000) as all students who do not live in institution-owned housing on campus Research has most often treated Commuter Students as a homogeneous group and compared Commuters to Residential students to explore the transition to college Transition Challenges for Commuter Students Involvement with Peers (Krause, 2006) In-person vs. Online Interactions Needs emerging from �The Act of Commuting� (Jacoby & Garland, 2004) Transportation challenges Need for expanded office hours Students must �Start Over� each term (Roe Clark, 2006) Issues specific to Non-Traditional Age Students Transition to College for Commuter Students

4. �Commuter� Student vs. �Off Campus� Student Distance from campus (Kuh et al., 2001) Living with family members vs. living with others (Roe Clark, 2006) Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Age Commuters How to categorize traditional age students with �adult� experiences (e.g., military service, marriage, parenthood) First Semester GPA Highly Successful� GPA of 3.0 or higher Successful � GPA of 2.0 to 2.99 Unsuccessful� GPA less than 2.0 Categorizing Commuter Students

5. The Assessment Project

7. Predicting Retention

8. MAP-Works Data Set

9. MAP-Works Retention Process

10. Cognitive Measures

11. Cognitive Measures

12. Fall GPA vs. High School GPA

13. Fall GPA vs. Entrance Test Scores

14. Fall GPA vs. Academic Skills

15. Demographic Factors

16. Demographic Factors

17. Fall Term GPA vs. Parent�s Education

18. Fall Term GPA vs. Gender

19. Fall Term GPA vs. Financial Need Met Through Financial Aid

20. Summary for Cognitive & Demographic

21. Behavioral/ Environmental/ Attitudinal

22. Behavioral/ Environmental/ Attitudinal

23. Fall Term GPA vs. Class Attendance

24. Fall Term GPA vs. Study Hours

25. Fall Term GPA vs. Institutional Choice

26. Fall Term GPA vs. Financial Concerns

27. Fall Term GPA vs. Work for Pay

28. Fall Term GPA vs. Family Obligations

29. Behavioral/ Environmental/ Attitudinal Summary

30. Non-Cognitive Measures

31. Non-Cognitive Measures

32. Fall Term GPA vs. Academic Goals

33. Fall Term GPA vs. Inst. Commitment

34. Fall Term GPA vs. Integration

35. Fall Term GPA vs. Discipline and Efficacy

36. Summary for Non-Cognitive Factors

37. Turning Data Into Action

38. What strikes you about this data? What conclusions could you make from this data? How would you use this information in making structural changes to your campus to enhance commuter student success?

39. What passive resources (those that students have to seek out) could your campus provide to enhance commuter student success? What intentional interventions could your campus initiate to enhance commuter student success?

40. Institutional Example:The University of Akron

41. Campus Stats (Fall 2011) Located in Akron, OH Undergraduates: 25,190 Total enrollment: 29,699 75% of undergraduates are full time students 49% male / 51% female for undergraduates About 42% of first-year students live on-campus (16% of undergraduates live on-campus) 23% of undergraduates are 25 or older 96% are from Ohio 78% receive some type of aid Carnegie Classification: Research Universities (high research activity) Who is The University of Akron?

42. Off Campus Student Services 5 professional staff, 1 grad asst, and 9 student assistants Off Campus Housing List, Housing Fair, and Landlord outreach 6 Member Street Team, 8 Community Ambassadors, Newsletter, & Listserv Commuter Lounge Good Morning/Good Afternoon Commuters Pizza with the Police & Safety tips Campus-wide Efforts UA Adult Focus Representative New Student Orientation staff Extended office hours The University of Akron

43. UA Off Campus & On Campus Students Red � numbers not updated from last yearRed � numbers not updated from last year

44. Almost 80% live with family members With or without parents � could be with children Just over 20% live with non-family roommates or live alone About 15% live within walking distance Almost 15% live more than 30 minutes away UA Commuters

45. UA Fall 2010 Outcomes

46. MAP-Works questions used to identify 297 students Intent to Return for Spring and Next Year Commitment to Institution Commitment to Completing Degree Sense of Belonging Off Campus Outreach Team Volunteers from various Student Affairs departments Assigned an average of 11 students each Trained on MAP-Works Guidelines and Scripts MAP-Works inspired interventions � Off Campus Outreach Team

47. Off Campus Outreach Fall 2010 Outcomes

48. UA Fall 2011 Outcomes

49. MAP-Works questions used to identify 426 students Intent to Return for Spring Peer Connections: On this campus, to what degree are you connecting with people: Who share common interests with you Who include you in their activities You like Off Campus Outreach Team Volunteers from various Student Affairs departments Assigned an average of 11 students each Trained on MAP-Works Guidelines and Scripts

50. Off Campus Outreach Fall 2011 Outcomes

51. Next Steps

52. Questions