By Karen Morrow, Manager, Student Success Center, Greenville Technical College
Everyone needs a sense of belonging. Nowhere is that more critical than on a college campus, where it can make all the difference in whether a student stays in college and succeeds.
Success for a student means success for the entire community. One graduate in a family leads to more. The graduate is ready for employment, and if he or she has been involved in student organizations and activities along the way, that graduate brings other skills to the job that result in a better team member and leader.
According to studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, students who enter college with risk factors are much less likely to earn a degree. Those who wait to attend college after graduating from high school, study part-time, work full time, support themselves, have children, are single parents, or have earned a GED are likely to leave college without a degree. Some of those risk factors are associated with characteristics including being the first in a family to attend college.
First-generation students are entering a foreign world without familial guidance. Instead of a parent who understands the importance of completing the FAFSA, paying the application fee, and meeting with an advisor, they are navigating the system without that support. The Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development reports that half of all college students today are first generation. Low-income, first-generation students are four times more likely than others to leave higher education after the first year.
With practically everything in their family backgrounds indicating that they don’t belong on a college campus, first-generation students need to find that sense of belonging and find it fast. Studies show that the first 30 days will determine whether a student stays in school and finishes.
It’s not just the individual who is at risk. When the first person in a family succeeds in college, others follow. Many times, we see a student encouraging a parent or sibling to enroll, so once that first person has navigated new waters, the path becomes easier for everyone. It also sets a new expectation. In many families, there’s no doubt that college is what happens after high school. When a first-generation student enrolls in college and graduates, he or she can change the dynamic for the next generation while pulling the previous generation along, too.
How can we make sure that every student, first generation or not, feels a sense of belonging on a college campus? By giving them a place to get information, a place where they can find out about the resources and opportunities that can make their experiences better. Sometimes that outreach effort can be as simple as an email from someone with no agenda, checking on how things are going, or it can be a place to go where a friendly face is waiting to answer what may seem like a very basic question.
Parents, especially those unfamiliar with college, need a place to connect, too. They need advice on being involved in the student’s life while also affording that college student some space in which to become independent.
In “Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition,” Vince Tinto writes that not engaging a student is issuing that student an invitation out the door. The invitation, he says, can’t be the same for everyone. Rather it should be customized to fit the need.
At Greenville Technical College, we’re working to create a sense of belonging through the Student Success Center we opened in February. We’re functioning as a support system for students, a place where someone will ask a student a question and then a second or third question on top of that, to find out what’s going on and to provide the help needed.
Let’s say, for example, that a student comes to us and shares that his grade in a class is suffering. We may suggest that the student speak to the instructor outside of class. We can help that student learn to understand and navigate the responsibilities and expectations while at the same time stepping up to be a self-advocate. This may sound basic, but for someone who’s new to college and whose family is also unfamiliar with that environment, it’s simple advice that can make a big difference.
There are so many resources and opportunities available to students at our college. Our office works to connect them with answers and opportunities for engagement. We know that each time a student finishes college, the family wins, and the community wins, too. Want to learn more? Connect with the Greenville Technical College Student Success Center by emailing belong@gvltec.edu.
