COLLEGES INITIATING STRUCTURED GUIDANCE Reducing the Need for

COLLEGES INITIATING STRUCTURED GUIDANCE: Reducing the Need for Social Know-How? Regina Deil-Amen University of Arizona for Student Advising in High School and College Panel at Persistence in High School and College: Tools to Help Increase Persistence and Degree Attainment Friday, April 30, 2010

Problem? Approx. three-quarters of degreeseekers who begin in community colleges leave postsecondary education without any degree after five years (Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, & Person, 2006). Research Question? How does a community college’s organizational environment either reduce or sustain the obstacles to degree completion faced by firstgeneration college students?

Institution Sample and Research Methods with James Rosenbaum, Northwestern University 7 community colleges 7 “occupational” colleges 3 not-for-profit 4 for-profit • In Chicago area • conducted one-hour interviews with 234 students, administrators, administrative staff, program coordinators, deans, departmental chairs, advisors, and faculty • administered survey to targeted occupational classes

Majors/Programs Included in Study Public Community Colleges Private Occupational Colleges Business/ Secretaria l Health Computer / Electronic s Business Accounting Management and Marketing Administrative Assisting Office Technology Executive Secretary Business Administration Accounting Management Administrative Assisting Office Technology Paralegal, Legal Office Assistant Court Reporting Medical Assistant Health Information Technology Occupational/Physical Therapy Asst Cardiac Tech Radiography Medical Assistant Health Information Technology Computer Aided Drafting, Architectural Drafting, Electronics/Computer Tech, Mechanical Engineering Tech, Computer Info Systems Computer Aided Drafting/Design Electronics Computer/Electronics Engineer Tech Computer Info Systems Info Technology Business Computer Programming

Student Survey Characteristics Public Community Colleges Private Occupational Colleges Parents’ Income < $30, 000 41% 45% Parents’ Education < BA 83% 89% 25% 28% HS Grades C or Lower

Study Goals • This study was NOT a comparison of good colleges and bad colleges, it was an examination of different practices. • Our goal was to identify good practices that are particularly helpful for first generation, lower-income, nontraditional students. • How might public institutions “borrow” the ‘good’ practices of the private occupational colleges? – Consistent with more recent findings among students at four-year public university.

FINDINGS

The community college context: "It's a balancing act, and we have these external pressures on us to do 14 million things” (A community college Career Dean)

Student’s “social know-how” is extremely relevant WHAT IS SOCIAL KNOW-HOW? • “knowing the ropes, ” the rules of the game • awareness of effective college planning, strategies for navigating the institution, and procedural actions necessary for success

• First-generation students are most likely to possess limited social knowhow. Students with limited time and finances, and those with many work and family obligations are particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of limited social know-how. • The community colleges required more “social know-how” to negotiate the college-going process. • At the occupational colleges , a student’s social background had less influence.

Consequences for Students with Limited Social Know-how • less information • • confusion misinformed choices mistakes in decision-making wasted time

ASPECTS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES THAT ARE PROBLEMATIC FOR STUDENTS WITH LIMITED SOCIAL KNOW-HOW • organizational complexity and bureaucratic hurdles • no systematic help with long-term goals and planning • guidance must be initiated by the student • low counselor-to-student ratios • arbitrary registration process • lack of strategic career counseling

organizational complexity and bureaucratic hurdles Students reported the need to: • acquire and assess extensive information • interpret complicated class schedules and difficult and time consuming course catalogs • overcome difficulties in filling out enrollment forms, registering for classes, applying for financial aid, choose classes in correct sequence to meet degree requirements • search all over campus for information • self-educate themselves about the financial aid process • deal with contradictory information from different

As a result, students: • wasted time, made wrong assumptions about financial aid and program requirements, acted on wrong information, and got extremely frustrated.

Dean in charge of academic support center at community college: “[Students] were constantly saying to us, ‘Nobody told me. I didn’t know. ’ …We can claim that …everything that they need to know we write down (laughs). It doesn’t work that way. So they were getting frustrated, we were getting frustrated. ”

Dean of Career programs at cc notes: Students want to know… • “How long is it going to take me? ” • “I don’t wanna take a lot of unnecessary courses. I need to have a time line. ” Parents want to know… • “This is how much money I got. How much is it going to cost? They got two years, they’d better be at the end of the road. ”

Students … “One of my friends went [here] and she told me, ‘Don't go there because you're going to waste your time. You're going to take classes that you won't need when you transfer. ’” "I went to registration at 12 and I didn't get out until 7. "

“They're rude. This lady kicked me out. … I didn't have. . . my security card. . She said, ‘Ah, just get out of here. Just go. You don't have anything ready. Go. ’. . . I understand they get frustrated, but they don't have to be rude. “The financial aid office wasn't what I expected. . . I've had a bad experience with them. They're just very nonchalant about your funding and I feel like a lot of them don't care because it's like, ‘It's not me getting the money and I don't really care. ’ And I've been yelled at a couple of times in financial aid by my counselor. ”

no systematic help with long-term goals and planning Many students: • Do not have a clear sense of their goals, making it difficult to seek advice. • Do not seek counselor advice in their first year about their course selections if they have not chosen a specific degree program yet. • Are uncertain about general education requirements, course prerequisites • Receive no structured guidance to clarify their understanding of class schedules and course and program catalogues.

In the words of one administrator, this often results in students “wandering aimlessly through the curriculum, amassing large numbers of hours but not making progress toward a degree. ”

Guidance must be initiated by the student What’s the burden of studentinitiated assistance? To benefit from guidance, students must: 1. be aware of what kind of help they need and when they need it 2. be informed about how and where to get this help 3. actually go get it 4. seek this information well in

• Sonia: Well I was confused…I had to talk to a counselor… He wanted to know what I was going to major in. . . I told him I liked math so I'm taking math courses… So that's it. • Regina: Did you try to talk about other degrees, like accounting? • Sonia: No. • Regina: Did you tell him that you were interested in those things, too, or just math? • Sonia: Just math. I figured math and accounting were maybe the same. I'd never taken accounting.

low counselor-to-student ratios = limited counselor availability • High student-to-counselor ratios (800: 1) • Overburdened with multiple responsibilities – Academic planning – Transfer process and requirements – Career exploration – Part-time job placement – Personal issues

According to one counselor: "We don't have a command performance. Obviously we couldn't have with just eight of us for over 6, 000 students. " Community college administrator: "They're going for pre-registration and they go make an appointment, and then it's October and the counselors say, 'Well, you could come in December 6 th”

STUDENT: I talked to one of the counselors, but since there was a lot of people waiting, it was kind of fast. We didn't have much time to talk. Also, when you go to a counselor, many times you don't really know what you're going to talk about. You have an idea, but you don't know what questions to ask. I think counselors should ask more questions of us. They just answer our questions then say, "OK, you can go, since you don't know what to ask. " It's hard. There are things we don't know.

“People are walking around blindfolded. . . they don't know what to do. ”

university students • Responses to “academic shock” rarely involved seeking help from advisors/instructors – Some students doubted whether they should have come to the university – “Maybe I don’t belong here. ” • I better not tell anyone – “I didn’t want to ask for help from anybody…I just tried to act like there was nothing wrong. ” – Other students realized they were not as prepared as they thought they were - “I felt deceived. ” • I need to figure this out on my own

Occupational colleges ‘structure out’ the need for social know-how, making the “rules of the game” explicit rather than implicit.

Occupational colleges ‘structure out’ the need for social know-how, making the “rules of the game” explicit rather than implicit. They have found ways to transform implicit "rules" into explicit organizational structures and policies.

HOW DO OCCUPATIONAL COLLEGES ‘STRUCTURE OUT’ THE NEED FOR SOCIAL KNOW-HOW • Structured curriculum • Limited choices for students • Career and program guidance upon enrollment • Mandatory and frequent advising • Close monitoring of students’ progress • Detailed scheduling guidance • Predictable course schedules • Shortened program length • Strategic advice on combining school and

Eliminating bureaucratic hurdles Simplified enrollment process – Handled by a single individual – Information available in one place – Students choose a structured “package” of courses – Financial aid is integral and forms are filled out with staff

Reducing confusing choices • OC’s offer a clear set of course sequences aimed at efficient training for specific career goals. • Directive approach to exploration – help students to determine from the outset what degree program best coincides with their abilities, interests, and needs.

“You go through all the programs, and they evaluate you, and you take some tests. They just interview you, what you like, what you don't like. . . they get a feel for you and they tell you, you know ‘We recommend this one. We think you'd be good at it. ’”

College-Initiated Guidance and Minimizing the Risk of Student Error The occupational colleges have 'structured out' the need for students to take the initiative to see a counselor/advisor when they need assistance. Instead, the colleges take the initiative by developing systems that provide guidance without students having to ask for it.

• Advisors are assigned to students – Meetings are required at least every term – Academic progress is monitored • Registration guides are made available – List exactly what courses to take each term to complete their degree in a timely manner – Facilitate timely degree completion

Student: “I think it's a good idea, a lot of people start taking classes that they don't really need and it throws them off. I think it's good. . . it's simple. . . all you have to do is follow it. There's no ‘Oh my god, I didn't know I had to take that class!’ There's a lot of classes where you have prerequisites. But, if you go in that order you have no problem. ”

“Have you ever taken any course which you later discovered would not count toward your degree? ” _______________ “YES” _______________

Investing in Advisors/Counselors • Lower student-to-staff ratios, 260: 1 • Separate staff for job placement and career counseling • Regularly scheduled interactions advising to be more individualized and personal

Reducing conflicts with outside demands • Year round schooling – shortened terms • “blocking” of courses • Consistent class schedules from term to term

MODEST POLICY SUGGESTIONS • improve financial aid assistance • tighter advising • college-initiated guidance (class or one-on-one format) • more structured programs • more predictable schedules • make implicit requirements into explicit structures • high school - 4 year college/university partnerships – Summer bridge modeling of time management/

Improve communication of facts, emphasizing advantages, accomplishments, and pitfalls Provide clear information about • class sizes, teaching styles, flexibility • job placement in career majors • completion/transfer rates as function of * students’ initial academic preparation