LearnmoreMN Blog

Recruitment isn’t enough

By Sunny Kase, January guest blogger

One of the points I made in my last post was that students who come from low-income or first-generation families or who are students of color, are taking charge of their own educational experience on their own terms. Two decades ago, when I was starting my career, I was struck by how much importance was put on “recruiting” students from diverse backgrounds, compared to how much effort was spent retaining and graduating them. Students would come in and basically either sink or swim. It was still a situation where the student was expected to assimilate and conform to their new environment.

At the time I remember hearing a faculty person tell me that “these” students needed to learn how the real world worked and they shouldn’t be coddled or judged by any different standards than the traditional college student. I had helped create an afterschool program on campus where college students received academic credit for tutoring school-aged students. The tutors we hired were the absolute best. Their life experiences mirrored those of the students we were asking them to tutor. The college students could see mini versions of themselves in their students — who could see role models in their tutors.

As a sassy young 20-something just out of college, I remember backtracking to the same faculty person’s office who had given me the original lecture. While I was waiting patiently for him to sign off on the academic credits that our students had earned, I asked him if he thought our afterschool program tutors could be held up as an example of “those” students he was referring to — those needing real life experiences to help them succeed in college. He gave me another very long lecture on measurable results and not having a large enough of a pool to base this on. He also said he would be interested in knowing if any or all of our eight tutors even graduated. “You see we can get these students in our doors, but what they do here isn’t something we can control.” Hmm…I clearly remember walking out of his office wondering how long it would be before he retired.

Fast forward 20 years and I can see that the climate on many campuses has changed. Overall, the focus is less on recruiting students and more on actually retaining them and supporting them to graduation. There are many great programs like TRiO, College Possible, AVID and Achieve that help bring college-ready students to our campuses. The challenge still lies in how to get them from admission to graduation. My afterschool tutoring program is just one example of students finding places to volunteer where they can work with kids whose backgrounds mirror their own. There are many other amazing efforts — study abroad experiences that are culturally relevant, internship programs that allow students to work with and for other first-generation and people of color, and post undergrad prep programs that identify students early on to go to grad school and beyond.

Where I have witnessed the most innovation and change on campuses is when students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members have worked to cross-germinate and find interesting solutions on how to recruit, retain and graduate ALL students. Oh and for the record — ALL eight of my original afterschool tutors did graduate from their four-year institutions. Four of them went on to become licensed educators, one is a journalist, one is a physician, one has his MBA and works for a large Minnesota company and one works as an admission officer at his alma mater.

Putting themselves out there

By Sunny Kase, January guest blogger

Getting into college can be hard. Students spend hours in the buildup — researching campuses, studying, taking the ACT, filling out application forms, choosing the right school and finally actually graduating from high school. Then when they actually get to college there can be a real panic when students wonder, “What am I doing here? How did I get here? Am I supposed to even be here?”

For a low-income student, or a student of color or a student who is first in the family to go away to college — all of those above challenges and anxieties are heightened. With all of that going on their internal and external self, then someone, maybe another student or someone who works at the college asks the question, “What are you?” Hmmm…that is a really loaded question because it asks someone to choose one or two or more pieces of their self so others can put them in a box.

I’ve been working on college campuses for the past couple of decades in a variety of capacities and lately what I am struck by is a wonderful boldness in students. They don’t allow themselves to be put into neat little boxes that allow others to define their identity. They are now creating language and words and communities where they are defining themselves. I’ve been to lots more student-led activities that are about valuing the whole student life experience. Here is an example:

Years ago I went to an event at a campus that was billed, “Cinco de Mayo. Come learn about this special day. Free Taco Bar!” When we got there it was clear that there would be a panel of Chicano-Latino heritage students whose role was to educate their white counterparts on what Cinco de Mayo is. And yes, there were free tacos afterward. The question that opened the panel was “What are you?” When a panelist replied, “What do you mean?” he was told, “Well tell us where you are from.”

Recently I was invited to an event on a campus that was all about empowering younger Latino students and their families in how to go to college. It was hosted by a student group on the campus and a staff person. A lot went on at this meeting that was welcoming and empowering. For one, the people organizing the event reflected the population they were trying to reach. Another aspect of success was that there were lots of opportunities for non-English speakers to engage. Parents could ask questions in Spanish and staff people were on hand to respond. Most importantly, no one asked “What are you?”

This is bold and not in a condescending way. Students are simply taking charge to leave a legacy at their campuses not only for other students who are like them who have had similar experience. It is also bold because these students are leading their larger student body to understand who they are on their terms. Not only can this impact future admission of low-income, first-generation and/or students of color, it also directly impacts the retention of those students themselves. We know that if college students are able to find opportunities to advocate and interact with a community that reflects their own experience, they are more likely to graduate.

If our college campuses are smart they will listen to this boldness. They will hear the voices of these students as their future.