Claire Ami, Emily Pack, Lynn Reed

1. “I Didn’t Know College Would Be Like This”Tools For New Advisors Working With First Generation College Students Claire Ami, Emily Pack, Lynn Reed

2. "If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly." - Buddhist proverb

3. Learning Objectives • Participants will create an action plan to further enhance their skills in working with first generation students • Participants will identify and list skills they can apply directly to their practice • Participants will identify their current level of competence in working with first generation students

4. Six Cultural Competence Stages of Advising • Non-Awareness of Difference • Awareness of Difference • Acceptance/Acknowledgement of Difference • Understanding Cultural Difference • Cultural Adaptation • Intercultural Skillfulness SEE HANDOUT ONE

5. Self Assessment Using the Advisor Competence Stages, reflect on your perceived level of competence in advising first generation students.

6. Who is a First Generation Student? First generation students are defined as students not having a parent who graduated from college with a baccalaureate degree

7. Numbers of First Generation Students? • The first-generation student makeup • 30% of the U.S. college population • 24% — 4.5 million; both first generation & low income • Nationally, 89% leave college within six years without earning a degree • More than a quarter leave after their first year, four times the dropout rate of higher income second generation students

8. Common Characteristics • Balance of Cultures • Lower Social Economic Group • Older Students • Family is Central • Part Time Students • Underprepared Academically • English Not Always First Language • Commuter Students • Less Involved with Campus Activities

9. Advising Tools to Use • Consider group advising • Involve parents • Have students create a time log and share it with their families • Create a credible advising environment—consider how your office décor and bookshelves reflect your commitment to diversity • Be aware of language choice during advising sessions • Start an appointment by relationship building, not asking what a student’s major is SEE HANDOUT TWO – PART ONE

10. Advising Tools continued • Practical Ways To Assist First Generation Students • Develop Positive Friendships • List Important Dates • Develop a Contact List • Use Technology to Help Students • Use all Campus Resources • Help Students Persist • Serve as an advocate • Assist them in maneuvering and learning the campus SEE HANDOUT TWO – PART TWO

11. Model of O’Banion Advising is Designed as a Top Down Approach Exploration of Life Goals Vocational Goals Program Choice Course Choice Class Schedule SEE HANDOUT THREE

12. Appreciative Advising • Discover • Ask students questions targeted at eliciting their strengths and passions. • Dream • Use positive, open-ended questions to help uncover students' hopes and dreams • Design • Develop both short- and long-term goals to accomplish the students’ dreams. • Destiny • Give the advisee space and support to accomplish the goals SEE HANDOUT FOUR – PART ONE

13. Intrusive Advising • Definition • Intentional contact with students to develop a caring and beneficial relationship that leads to increased academic motivation and persistence • Make first contact • Do not expect advisee to approach you • Have lunch with advisee • Act as a student advocate when necessary SEE HANDOUT FOUR – PART TWO

14. First Generation Student Case Study #1 John is a first-generation, low-income, first-year college student raised in a single-parent home in South Central Los Angles. He scored exceptionally well on his SAT and received a scholarship to attend an Ivy League school on the east coast. John’s high school student body was primarily Latino and African American, so college is his first experience being part of a racial/ethnic minority group. He has never lived away from home and has no family or friends that live on the east coast. Furthermore, most of John’s friends did not graduate from high school. Although the financial aid and scholarships he received are substantial, they are still not enough to cover all his expenses. John also needs to send money home to help his mother support his siblings. Therefore, he will have to work part-time to make ends meet. John feels lost and isolated in college because it seems that no one understands the challenges he faces. He has no idea whom he can turn to for advice about college life or his future aspirations of attending graduate school. SEE HANDOUT FIVE – PART ONE

15. Case StudyGroup Discussion • What are some resources that you as the advisor have to give to John to help his transition from Los Angeles to the east coast? • If John decides not to attend the Ivy League university what other options does he have available in Los Angeles? • What groups or organizations would you suggest for John to get involved with at the university so he doesn’t feel so isolated? SEE HANDOUT FIVE – PART ONE

16. First Generation Student Case Study #2 Maria’s family moved to the United States from Ecuador when she was in high school. She has had an easier time than her family adapting to life in a different country. Her parents still speak primarily Spanish and use it at home to communicate with their children. While her English comprehension hasn’t been enough to keep her from graduating high school she does face a challenge as she moves into college. Maria is in the first semester of her freshman year and she has been visiting you in academic advising as part of a program to assist first generation students. She started off the semester excited about her classes and as the weeks have gone by she has become more and more quiet. When you finally get her to warm up about how college is going, she explains that she is stressed. She is not doing as well as she thought she would in her classes. She is also dealing with several family pressures at home. SEE HANDOUT FIVE – PART TWO

17. Case StudyGroup Discussion • What suggestions do you have for Maria? • What strategies might you use for discussing options with Maria? SEE HANDOUT FIVE – PART TWO

18. Assessment Facebook Group:

19. Reflection Please reflect on what you learned today… Create an action plan using the skills you have learned today that you will take back to your office and put into ACTION…

20. Questions

21. References • Earl, W. R. (1987). Intrusive advising for freshmen. Retrieved October 22, 2006, from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Intrusive-Freshmen.htm • Folsom, P. & Chamberlain, B. (2007). The New Advisor Guidebook: Mastering the Art of Advising Through the First Year and Beyond. NACADA: Monograph Series No. 16. • Harding, B. (2008). Students with specific advising needs. In V.N. Gordon, W.R. Habley, & T.J. Grites (Eds.), Academic Advising: A Comprehensive Handbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

22. References • Kocel, K. (2008). Advising First-Generation College Students for Continued Success. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/080312kk.htm • Peters, L. (2007). Practical Ways We Can Assist First Generation Students. Academic Advising Today, 30(3). Retrieved from: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AAT/NW30_3.htm#11 • Thomas, Earl Preston., Farrow, Earl Vann., & Martinez,   Juan. (1998). A TRIO Program's Impact on Participants Graduation Rates: The Rutgers University Student Support Services Program and Its Network of Services. The Journal of Negro Education , Vol. 67, pp. 389-403.