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Bucking the T rend: Balancing W ork , Family, Commuting, and A cademics

Bucking the T rend: Balancing W ork , Family, Commuting, and A cademics. Jennifer P. Hodges, Ph.D. Session Overview. College transition for Commuter students Brief summary of findings from 2012 Focus on financial concerns, hours worked per week, and family obligations

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Bucking the T rend: Balancing W ork , Family, Commuting, and A cademics

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  1. Bucking the Trend:Balancing Work, Family,Commuting, and Academics Jennifer P. Hodges, Ph.D.

  2. Session Overview • College transition for Commuter students • Brief summary of findings from 2012 • Focus on financial concerns, hours worked per week, and family obligations • Interventions and Outcomes at The University of Akron

  3. Transition to College for Commuters • 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 and need for expanded office hours • Students must “Start Over” each term (Roe Clark, 2006) • Issues specific to Non-Traditional Age Students

  4. Categorizing Commuter Students • “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

  5. The Assessment ProjectPrior Work

  6. The Academic Future of 10 High School Students 3 will fail to complete high school 2 will graduate HS but not attempt post-secondary 2 will attempt college but not complete post-secondary Only 3 of 10 HS students graduate from post-secondary If we get them to our doors, how can we keep them from leaving?

  7. Predicting Retention Admissions controls which students come to your institution.… …But, these are within your influence

  8. Whole Is Greater… Inform Coordinate & Intervene Identify & Motivate Analytics &Outcomes Manage

  9. MAP-Works Data Set

  10. Commuters:Cognitive Measures NOTE: “Good grades” mean GPA >= 3.0; poor grades mean GPA < 2.0

  11. Commuters:Demographic Factors NOTE: “Good grades” mean GPA >= 3.0; poor grades mean GPA < 2.0

  12. Commuters:Non-Cognitive Measures NOTE: “Good grades” mean GPA >= 3.0; poor grades mean GPA < 2.0

  13. Commuters:Behavioral / Environmental NOTE: “Good grades” mean GPA >= 3.0; poor grades mean GPA < 2.0

  14. The Assessment ProjectFocusing Attention

  15. Financial Concerns • To what degree are you confident that you can pay for: • Next term's tuition and fees • Monthly living expenses • Social activities with your friends But a sizeable portion of successful commuters also report financial concerns Over 1/3 of unsuccessful commuters reported higher levels of financial concern

  16. Interference from Work If Working, Interference Due to Work Schedule Conflicts But, nearly 1/4 of successful students also have work interference issues Nearly 1/3 of unsuccessful commuters report strong interference from work

  17. Family Obligations Number of Dependents in Home 1 out of 5 commuter students have dependents at home under their care Regardless of dependents, are family obligations interfering with coursework? Over 1/3 of successful and nearly half unsuccessful commuters are strongly impacted by family obligations

  18. Successful vs. Not Successful

  19. The Assessment ProjectFinancial Concerns

  20. Financial Concerns and Outcomes Fall Term GPA Commuters Experiencing Financial Concerns Strong Concern Persistence

  21. Financial Need Being Met No significant differences in financial need being met betweensuccessful and unsuccessful students

  22. Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levelsthan unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

  23. Unsuccessful Students withStrong Financial Concern Please specify other factors that interfere withattendance or completing your coursework:

  24. The Assessment ProjectWorking for Pay

  25. Work Interference and Outcomes Fall Term GPA Commuters Experiencing Work Interference Strong interference Persistence

  26. Number of Works Worked Successful students work slightly fewer hours than unsuccessful students

  27. Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levelsthan unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

  28. Unsuccessful Students withStrong Work Interference Please specify other factors that interfere withattendance or completing your coursework:

  29. The Assessment ProjectFamily Obligations

  30. Family Obligations and Outcomes Fall Term GPA Commuters Experiencing Interference fromFamily Obligations Strong interference Persistence

  31. Number of Dependents in Home Successful students are slightly less likely to have dependents in the home under their care

  32. Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levelsthan unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

  33. Unsuccessful Students withStrong Family Obligations Please specify other factors that interfere withattendance or completing your coursework:

  34. Common Traits of Unsuccessful Commuters

  35. Need Time Management Training? In an average day, how many hours do you spend relaxing or socializing? Unsuccessful Students A sizeable group of unsuccessful students with strong concerns/obligations spend 4+ hours per day relaxing/socializing Successful Students

  36. Understand Impact of Studying? In an average week, how many hours do you spend studying/coursework? Unsuccessful Students Over ½ of unsuccessful students with strong concerns/obligations spend very little time studying per week Successful Students

  37. Crossing IssuesAre these the same students?

  38. Students ExperiencingStrong Financial Concerns Question: Are these students also experiencing other concerns? What % of unsuccessful students with financial concerns have additional concerns? What % of successful students with financial concerns have additional concerns? TAKE AWAY: More unsuccessful students are struggling withMULTIPLE issues compared to successful students

  39. Students ExperiencingStrong Work Interference Question: Are these students also experiencing other concerns? What % of unsuccessful students with strong work interference have additional concerns? What % of successful students with strong work interference have additional concerns? TAKE AWAY: More unsuccessful students are struggling withMULTIPLE issues compared to successful students

  40. Students ExperiencingStrong Family Obligations Question: Are these students also experiencing other concerns? What % of unsuccessful students with strong family obligations have additional concerns? What % of successful students with strong family obligations have additional concerns? TAKE AWAY: More unsuccessful students are struggling withMULTIPLE issues compared to successful students

  41. Quick Summary of Results Compared to Successful Students,Unsuccessful Students are more likely to be…

  42. Turning Data Into Action

  43. What strikes you about this data? What conclusions could you make from this data? • What suggestions do you have about engaging commuter students in discussions about how to organize their time?

  44. What structural changes and 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?

  45. Institutional Example:The University of Akron

  46. Who is The University of Akron? • 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)

  47. The University of Akron • 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

  48. UA Off Campus & On Campus Students

  49. UA Commuters • 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

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