The FYE Collaborative

Measuring what matters: How much should we really care about retention?

Bryce Bunting — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:46:00 +0000

In his February 2010 TED talk, CEO and author Chip Conley tells a fascinating story about the nation of Bhutan and their transformation from an isolated, undeveloped nation to a modern, technologically rich nation that still manages to maintain the essence of their original culture and traditions. Bhutan’s story is one of striking the balance between progress and innovation, while stilll maintaining core elements of an identity (a rare feat for any country, organization, or school in today’s rapid-paced world). One of the most interesting parts of Conlee’s telling of the story is his reason for Bhutan’s ability to transorm in these ways. Quite simply, he believes that it is because Bhutan has learned to “count” the right thing, gross national happiness. Forty years ago, Bhutan’s King coined the term rather off-handedly to describe his commitment to building an economy that would allow for growth, while staying true to Bhutan’s Buddhist roots. Bhutanese officials ran with the concept, developed sophisticated instruments to measure the concept, and used it as a model for the development plan that brought Bhutan into the 21st century. This all stands in stark contrast to most nations’ preoccupation with Gross Domestic Product and their belief that it stands as the supreme indicator of a nation’s well-being.

There seems to be a lesson for higher education in all of this, particularly the first-year experience movement. Like anyone else, we count what is easily countable. So, in many ways “retention” has become our GDP. We work hard to measure it, argue over how it should be measured, showcase (or hide) it in reports to our administrations, and tout it at conferences. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t care about retention–the reality is that enrolled students bring money to the institution and that money keeps us running. But, there seems to be some danger in retention becoming what Conlee describes as a “misplaced metric,” an easy to count measure that gives little indication as to the real health of an institution.

So, what should we be counting? In many ways this question hinges on how we define success in the FYE movement and the factors that we believe contributes to a vibrant campus community. What does a “successful” student look like at the end of their first year? What skills, habits, and attitudes would they possess? While the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has contributed greatly to institutions’ ability to measure certain behaviors and attitudes of students, we don’t seem to do much on our individual campuses to measure the equivalent of the “gross national happiness” for our campuses.

What would these “intangibles” on our campuses be? While they will vary slightly across institutions, some possibilities might include

A personal reason for being at a particular institution. Do students know why they decided to come to your school? Their purpose and commitment to the educational ideals and objectives at your institution will make a huge difference in their engagement and persistence. If they don’t have a set of fairly good reasons for choosing a particular campus, there is likely to be trouble down the road.

Understanding of and investment in an institutional mission. This seems strongly correlated with the idea above, but it seems important for institutions to not only orient students to their physical surroundings, but to help them understand the culture and ideals of the institution they have enrolled in so they might become a part of the community and fulfill their role in it. So, if you are a faith-based institution that espouses character development, do students believe in that mission and pursue that growth? For liberal arts institutions, do your students value a well-rounded education and recognize the importance of breadth in their learning?

Passion for learning. What students believe and feel about learning are important. We want life-long learners that continue to grow and make contributions to society after they leave our institutions. Can the first-year experience nurture this passion? How would it be measured?

This is obviously not an all inclusive list. But, these would seem to be key indicators of the success of a FYE program. There are others including deep learning behaviors, formation of supportive mentoring relationships, and the development of grit and persistence. We probably can’t measure them all, but what for you are the key indicators on your campus? What could we start measuring on our campuses that would be meaningful and give us real insight into the success of our FYE programs?

Universities need leaders who know what to count.

The forgotten part of the First-Year Experience

Bryce Bunting — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:54:00 +0000

A recent discussion on the first year experience listserv has gotten me thinking about the way we allocate resources across the first-year experience. If your campus is like mine you likely have a variety of programming for first year students with most of it being front loaded to the first semester or even the first two weeks of their time on your campus (it’s always been interesting to me that we speak of our work in terms of the first year experience, when most of us do very little in the way of formal programming during the second half of that year).

This practice of front-loading makes sense (and has been advocated for by, among others, John Gardner). Among other things, it allows institutions to communicate expectations, help students feel connected to each other and to campus, and provides proactive support that positions students to be successful. These are all good things and the last two decades have provided plenty of data suggesting that they make a difference. The question raised on the listserv was about end of year rituals or ceremonies and that made me wonder if what we do at the end of the first year experience matters.

For much of the formal learning we see in schools and elsewhere, beginnings and endings get a lot of attention. Think about a typical college course. In the beginning students receive a syllabus that outlines the learning objectives for the course, an anticipated timeline for when and how they can expect to be learning, and some information about how to get help along the way. The syllabus (assuming it is a well-written one) becomes a guide for the semester. Plenty of important things then happen in the middle of the course to facilitate learning. Then, four months later there is an ending, an ending that in some cases is quite ceremonious and ritualistic. There is the “last lecture” where the faculty member reminds students of what the course goals were, a “testimonial” of sorts where she might remind them of what she thinks is the kernel of the entire course, and some sort of final exam or project that helps students tie things together and demonstrate their learning. We see this across the entire college experience as well (i.e. Orientation/Convocation followed by graduation/commencement four or five years later). I even vaguely remember it happening when I was a student in Mrs. Palmer’s pre-school class. On the first day I remember meeting Mrs. Palmer, getting a tour of the classroom, and hearing about all of the fun things I was going to get to do that year. Then at the end of the year we had a full-blown “pre-school graduation” (complete with homemade graduation caps) where we were honored by our parents and then given a chance to showcase the cutting, coloring, and singing talents we had worked hard to acquire that year. I would like to think that these practices, ceremonious as they may be, also have pedagogical value.

The question this raises for me is whether we could or should do something at the end of the first college year that would have value for students and campuses. The tendency would be to plan an end of year celebration with music, eloquent speeches, and a banquet or refreshments. That may not be a bad thing, but it is expensive and runs the risk of becoming a frilly show absent of any real value. So, are there simple, cost-effective ways of capitalizing on the end of the first year that would be both celebratory and educationally useful?

There are a few things that would seem useful to consider when designing a “second book end” for the first-year experience

1. Revisit the goals, learning objectives, etc. introduced at the beginning of the year. We spend a fair amount of time and effort introducing institutional missions and aims, learning goals, and expectations. It only makes sense that we would want to follow up at the end of the first year to remind students of these same things.

2. Celebrate successes. The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition sponsors a First Year Students Advocate program wherein they recognize faculty members and administrators who have done extraordinary work to improve the experience of first year students on their campuses. There isn’t any good reason why this couldn’t happen on individual campuses (I know there are a few campuses that are already doing this). Faculty members, staff, administrators, and student leaders who have done significant first-year work could be recognized. Additionally, first year students who have demonstrated tremendous progress towards first-year objectives could be highlighted. This would seem useful in at least two ways. First, people like to be recognized and when they are, they tend to work even harder because they feel appreciated. Second, it would give institutions the opportunity to recognize best practices and communicate a set of values to the rest of the campus community.

3. Bridge the gap between the first-year and sophomore experiences. I’ll confess that I have not followed the SYE (sophomore year experience) movement very closely as of yet. However, it seems to be commonly accepted that the transition from the first to the second year is challenging for many students. If that is true then an end of year book end could be designed to address some of these issues (e.g. how to prepare for the sophomore year, resources to connect with prior to starting classes in the fall, etc.)

4. Reflection on growth, challenges, and lessons learned. The first college year and its experiences provide students with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. Asking them to reflect on those experiences, make meaning from them, and share their learning in public ways could be beneficial (if you use portfolios on your campus this could be a required artifact in that portfolio).

The challenge in all of this is finding the time, resources, and space for something like this to happen. So, can it be done? And, how would it look on a large campus with a large freshman class? What challenges do small colleges face in considering the end of the first year?

In Virginia, We Are All Hokies Today (4/16/07)…What Has Transpired Since The Largest College Massacre In Our Nation’s History

Sandi Pope — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:23:49 +0000

Since the Virginia Tech tragedy, 3 years ago today, all Virginia Higher Educational Institutions must convene a Violence Prevention Committee to find ways to prevent another ‘VA Tech’ at their campuses. This is mandatory via legislation after the Va Tech tragedy. What does this mean? With huge budget cuts and increased enrollment, higher ed professionals in Student Services must find a way to protect their students from this kind of tragedy.

A simple email to me last summer from my program lead, asked me to create a program that addressed ‘threat assessment management’ with my students. My first question was, can we call it something else? My next thought was how do I fund this and make it something students will attend. Luckily, I have a great network of community professionals that were ready and eager to take time from their busy schedules and help the community college students that we all serve. I called in my network and got a program together called “Wellness, Life’s Hard We’re There”. This program consisted of guest speakers to address topics such as: The Connectedness of Everything, Campus Safety, Suicide Prevention, Healthy Relationships, and Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness. I also, applied for a mini-grant and was approved for extra funding. I also asked my current students and college alum to be available for any students who need to talk about problems, knowing that this generation is more peer related than any other generation. I put together a brochure with local help hotlines and the peer’s information for students. This program was immensely popular and to my surprise found more students interested in becoming a mentor than ones who declared they needed help. I will never know how many individuals this program touched but I do know that this is the first of its kind in the Virginia Community College System that this simple program may lead to a new community ‘Wellness Initiative’ that brings local businesses and community leaders in to help students in the future and I am excited about this new endeavor. Stay tuned for how this comes together.

So out of tragedy, comes something positive.

How do we get young men to want to go to college and want to work hard once they get there?

Bryce Bunting — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Earlier this week I read an article about the challenge of engaging male students in a meaningful college experience. I saw the anti-intellectual attitude alluded to in this article displayed at the high school level when I was a teacher and coach, and I see it now in my work in higher education. It’s not that male students aren’t intelligent, don’t work hard, or aren’t prepared for college-level work. It’s just that, in far too many cases, being a good learner and being a “man” are mistakenly viewed as being mutually exclusive. This false dichotomy leaves young men feeling like they have to choose one role or the other. And, at 18 years old being “cool” or “chill” generally wins out. This means that participating in class, being seen in the library, or having any sort of academic conversation outside of class is strictly taboo (Note: many will do “academic” things when no one is looking, but my experience has been that the best kind of learning is, at least part of the time, public and social).

Really, there are two related problems here: (1) Getting males to want to go to college, trade school, technical training, etc. and (2) Helping those that do go to take full advantage of the opportunity rather than doing enough to not kicked out, but without looking like they really care all that much. I realize that my mentioning these problems is not earth-shattering and that there are a lot of people thinking about the same thing. The shortcoming I see is in the way we go about trying to remedy these problems.

This made me wonder how we could package some of our basic messages about the value of education and deliver them in ways that would resonate with the students we are trying to reach, particularly male students. The Inside Higher Ed article I linked to above mentions a strategy employed by Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia wherein students are introduced to the concept of a “Morehouse Man” that embodies a set of core values that the institution believes are characteristic of the type of men they hope to graduate (Morehouse is an all-male institution). The intent is to help students see and believe that being a man includes being well-dressed, well-spoken, well-educated, etc. and that to become that sort of man a student needs to do certain things while they are in college. The question I would have is whether the audience they are intending to reach (those students that for whatever reason aren’t living up to the ideals held out by the institution) really want to become a “Morehouse Man” or at least the image of a “Morehouse Man” that has been created by this messaging.

An example of this same sort of challenge is outlined in Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath. In a nutshell, the state of Texas wanted to decrease the amount of litter on their highways. And, they knew which Texans were most likely to litter, so they targeted their campaign at “Bubba.” Bubba represented the 18 – 35 year old male, pickup truck driving, country music listening demographic that seemed to be at the heart of the litter problem. The idea was to give the standard “don’t litter” message using both language and messengers that “Bubba” would relate to. So, they brought in members of the Dallas Cowboys, Mike Scott of the Houston Astros, and Willie Nelson and the now well-known phrase “Don’t mess with Texas” was born. These weren’t just famous people, they were people that Bubba saw as real Texans, men that Bubba wanted to be like. The strategy worked and visible litter along Texas roadways had decreased 72% within five years.

So, the question am left with in all of this is who our Bubbas are and how we can package two old messages (education is valuable and education means doing things that lead to good learning) in new ways. Who would male students respond to and what could that person or group of people say that would make an 18 year-old male student want to be a scholar?

LMS, FYS, going green and other fun things

Joan Giblin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:21:30 +0000

Almost two weeks ago I presented at the NASPA conference on Infusing Technology into Student Affairs. While the presentation focused on developing strategic partnerships to utilize your Learning Management System (LMS), we also discussed tapping into free technology solutions such as big huge labs, creating word art, and googledocs to create learner centered classrooms. I love big huge labs in particular as they allow you to make successories style posters, among other cool things. It is a great tool to engage your students around copyright, creative commons and other ethical/legal issues.

In any case, I was reading Wesley Fryer’s Speed of Creativity blog the other day and he featured edmodo.com, a social network for the classroom. You can check out his great instructive blog post here: http://tinyurl.com/ykfbr4f

This fit in well with what we discussed during the NASPA presentation. Edmodo.com can make your First Year Seminar class paperless and develop some online community, almost like a cross between Ning.com and a Learning Management System. Because I use Blackboard, my institution’s Learning Management System, I haven’t tried out Edmodo.com yet, but I am intrigued by the possibility and may be using it for some upcoming Orientation staff training.

At my institution, we decided to move the First Year Seminar to our Learning Management System for a variety of reasons. The largest reason was philosophical. Many of our major classes use Blackboard in the first semester to post lecture notes, syllabi and tests or quizzes. Therefore, it made sense that the First Year Seminar acclimate students to using our LMS. We built one of the first seminars around accessing and gaining familiarity with the most commonly used tools Blackboard. The rest of the seminar then used Blackboard as a supplement to the face to face classes, allowing students to gain a tremendous comfort level with the platform before they took their first test or quiz.

The other main benefit is that the LMS, like edmodo.com, is web-based. This allows both instructors and students to access the course from anywhere. For students, we posted a helpful resources folder that contained a guide to Boston as well as links to time management tools and other helpful items. Students could access this folder from anywhere they had an internet connection. Instructors could prep their classes at home without lugging binders around. Using an LMS facilitated an easier connection to the course as well as allowed us to go “paperless” and live up to the commitment to be more environmentally responsible.

The best part about moving to an LMS was that it was free. We ended up with a more environmentally friendly class that gave students the opportunity to practice a vital skill needed for success at our institution. To boot, we ended up with easier facilitation of the class for instructors and a more mobile version for the students. It was a win-win for us.

Chances are very good that you already have an LMS on your campus. Find the instructional designers or academic technology people in the phone directory and call them up (or email them). Find out what they have and whether or not you can tap into it. Start collaborating across the digital divide. If you run into roadblocks, trying checking out edmodo.com as an option.

Managing Transitions: What FYE can learn from the corporate world

Bryce Bunting — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Recently I have been reading a book from business literature called Managing Transitions. In it the author (William Bridges) describes a philosophy and accompanying set of strategies that organizations can employ to successfully navigate difficult transitions (e.g. a merger, downsizing, closing, etc.). The premise of the book is that transitions, while filled with anxiety and the sometimes debilitating potential for failure, present tremendous opportunities for growth and innovation.

This has been interesting reading for me because my area on campus is in the midst of a fairly dramatic transition. But, as I read another chapter this afternoon it occurred to me that some of Bridges ideas could be applied to my work in first-year experience. New freshmen on college campuses look, in some ways, a lot like a mid-level manager trying to grapple with changes in her organization. Both are anxious and somewhat frightened of the uncertainty that lies ahead, both are probably questioning their ability to succeed in their new environment, and both are likely to brush up against experiences that expose weaknesses and deficiencies.

So, what can those of us in FYE learn from corporate America about managing transitions?

Bridges’ identifies three fluid stages–(1)Letting Go, (2) the Neutral Zone, and (3) The New Beginning (see image below).

It’s important to note that these are not three static phases that are moved through in sequential order (like walking through three separate doors). Rather, we find ourselves in all three phases at any given point within a transition. The concept of a new beginning was not new to me–it is where we focus most of our efforts as we design orientations, first-year programs, etc. However, my sense in talking with colleagues on other campuses is that most of us haven’t spent much time thinking about the letting go and neutral zone elements of students’ transitions onto our campuses. That’s where I’ll focus the rest of this post.

Letting Go. Among other things, Bridges recommends that those assisting individuals in transition pay attention to what is being lost by those experiencing the change. What are they giving up? What are they likely to long for in the new situation? etc. The first implication here is that we both expect and accept the fact that most if not all new students will experience some sort of “grieving” during their first year on campus. For some it will come in the first few weeks and in other cases it could come much later (e.g. after Thanksgiving or Christmas vacations). But, we shouldn’t be surprised or discouraged when we see students struggling with the “I wish I was at home” sorts of feelings. In fact, recognizing and addressing those feelings is necessary for students to eventually become integrated into our campuses. At times, those of us who interact with new students (faculty, advisors, residence hall staff, etc.) might be guilty of trying to skip to the “new beginning” without ever allowing students to let go. One way that this might happen would be to mark the ending in a very public or visible way. Could something happen during new student Convocation or another part of orientation that ritualizes the ending (this could also more effectively signal the new beginning we hope students engage in)? Also, could students be invited to discuss with one another or with a peer mentor/advisor the sorts of things they are giving up as they transition into college (e.g. old study habits, friendships, their own room, etc.)? This could help lead to a conversation about the many things that we provide on our campuses to compensate for these losses–student organizations, academic help centers, residence hall advisors, and more.

The Neutral Zone. The neutral zone is that place between the ending and the beginning where we are trying to find our place, reframe our identity, and figure out how to make it in our new situation. It’s in the neutral zone where we see students anxious, stressed, ambiguous, and questioning their ability to make it. And, in some ways, our programs are intended to move students through this uncomfortable place as quickly as possible. The interesting idea presented in Managing Transitions is that the neutral zone isn’t necessarily something that we should try to rush people through because of the opportunities for growth and innovation that it presents. A quote from the book (p. 52) captures this idea very well:

“The key to succeeding in these efforts [the efforts to help individuals navigate the neutral zone] is to look at the neutral zone as a chance to do something new and interesting–and to pursue that goal with energy and courage.”

I like that thought because it shifts the responsibility for success on to the individual and essentially asks “what can you do during this time of transition to grow, change, be creative, etc” That seems like a liberating thought and one that should be shared with students. In addition, Bridges recommends that the neutral zone be “normalized” such that it becomes clearly understood by students and others on campus that the transition to college won’t happen overnight and won’t happen without some growing pains. Carol Dweck’s ideas in Mindset seem like they would have particular application here; in a nutshell she discusses the idea of a “growth mindset” wherein individuals view intelligence and success as malleable and responsive to hard work and practice. This sort of attitude can help students reframe the way they view failures and help them use the neutral zone and its “failures” as learning experiences that lead to eventual growth and success.

So, the take home for me was that for FYE professionals to really help students “begin” their college experience, we need to pay a bit more attention to the other two elements involved in the transition to college. Thoughts? How are you helping students let go or navigate the neutral zone?

Hall Government Programs

Mike Hamilton — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:41:58 +0000

I would like to talk about Residence Hall Government and how it helps to further First Year development. Residence Hall Government groups are known by many names on campuses around the country such as, RHA, RHC, IRHA, RSA, RSO, IRHC and many more. A common structure is one where hall government programs work on a campus level and with individual in-hall councils. Hall Governments have the opportunity to work with a regional/national organization called NACURH, Inc or the National Association of College and University Residence Halls. NACURH is an organization very similar to ACUHO-I. NACURH is also split into 8 regions that cover the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Now how does this relate to first year experience? I think that hall councils have the ability to be huge leadership growth tool for first year students. The hall councils I have worked with work with students within a hall being elected to exec board and representative positions within the first couple weeks of the school year. In a first year building this means that students are taking on this role in the first couple weeks of college. What other organizations on a college campus recruits students to be leaders so early? Add in the fact that the hall government programs can implement leadership and position training early on, with ongoing training throughout the year, you have the potential to see very well developed student leaders by the end of the first semester.

On my current campus we have a 65% first year population, and 5 buildings that have first year students with a hall council in each. The campus hall government body has 2 retreats a year (they call them advancements) and have a leadership topic presentation each week at their general body meetings. We have 850 first year students on campus and 70 of them participate actively in hall council. We do see some drop off as the year goes on and we do have some students that participate out of popularity, however overall we have had a great success with the program here in its first four years.

Some benefits we have seen from our first year hall council groups;

Increase in number of first year RA applicants
Increase in programming initiatives in residence halls
Increase in hall pride
Increase in suggested improvements from residential students
Decrease in residence hall damage
Leaders branching out to participate in other campus organizations

Creating a residence hall government program can be beneficial in the creation of a successful first year residential experience program. The key is getting student buy in. My suggestion is to try to get your students to attend a regional or state conference. Check out this link to find your regional information. If that is not possible to attend a conference, connect with some advisors that are out there. I am willing to help you or put you in contact with advisors that I know that have worked with starting a hall government program. There are also some guidebooks here that may help in your creation journey.

I would love to hear your expereniences with Hall Government.

Please get in touch if you have any thoughts or questions!

conferencing…

Joan Giblin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:02:57 +0000

I am here at the NASPA2010 annual conference in the great city of Chicago. While the weather has left something to be desired, the conference so far has been great. I spent some time exploring Universal Design principles, thought critically about how my institution engages commuter and adult students and listened to a fantastic group of educators explain how they expanded their common reading program into a full fledged experience. The most thought provoking part of my day was the keynote speech with Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State under George W. Bush. I confess I arrived at the session ambivalent and not really sure what to expect. To my surprise, she was funny, relevant and engaging. Dr. Rice shared personal stories about higher education based on her experiences as a student, professor and provost. She told poignant stories about a crisis of confidence that caused her to change her major, the value of education in her family and her father’s legacy as a student affairs professional.

As intellectually stimulating as this day was, my key take away from the day had nothing to do with the sessions I attended. For some reason, as I was making my way to the 8:30 AM session with Dr. Rice, I found the conference venue incredibly difficult to navigate. I felt like I was surrounded by people I did not know, who all seemed to know each other. I felt stressed that if I didn’t arrive on time, I would be embarrassed to walk in late to the session. I got annoyed that there weren’t very good signs pointing the way. I almost gave up trying to find the session.

As I was on the verge of retreating back to my hotel room, I realized this was the first time in years I had been immersed in something completely foreign and new. If you were at the conference you might have seen the light bulb go on over my head as I stood there with a dumbfounded look on my face. That was me blocking the escalator (sorry!). I was viscerally experiencing some of the feelings that my first year students experience on their first days on campus. Don’t get me wrong, I try new things, especially technological things, in my job all the time. I try new food, new restaurants, new work outs and new routes to work. However, all of those things have an element of familiarity to them. This was different as I was completely encompassed, completely in this new, foreign experience. I may start a new project at work, but I am comfortable in my job. I may try a new restaurant, but with old friends. Very rarely am I in a new environment surrounded by unfamiliar faces trying to find my way.

As I literally struggled to find my way through the conference, I pledged to remember this feeling as I work through the craziness that is August in Student Affairs. I also decided to make sure I get completely immersed in something new and foreign every once in awhile. It is a powerful reminder of the experience of our new students

A “Third Place” on campus: What would an academic town hall for freshmen look like?

Bryce Bunting — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:09:00 +0000

I just returned from a meeting with a group of librarians on my campus (as an aside, whatever stereotypical illusions I held about librarians being socially awkward book worms were destoryed in the 90 minutes I spent with them). Our conversation centered on (1) their desire to create a third place space within the library that students can come to when they aren’t at home and aren’t in class and (2) my department’s desire to create a space where freshman students and their mentors can build relationships, work collaboratively, and engage in meaningful dialogue. The concept of third place was pioneered by Ray Oldenburg and, in short, describes a public space where members of a community can come together to dialogue and form bonds.

During the meeting my mind wandered a bit (who hasn’t had that happen in an administrative meeting) and I began to think about a recent blog post by Gary Daynes in which he drew connections between universities and cities. In his post Gary describes a number of ways in which cities and universities are similar including power systems, food distribution, and police forces. One element of cities or towns that I see missing from my University (and I would imagine a large number of institutions across the country) is the town square or commons area where members of the community congregate to do what I see as the real work of a city (e.g. share opinions about the health or malaise of the community, make suggestions for improvement, and showcase local products and creations). I’ve oftened wished I lived in small town USA where this sort of thing happened more regularly.

So, this left me wondering about what an “academic town square,” particularly one targeted at first-year students, might look like. My initial thoughts are that those desigining a space like this would need to keep a few things in mind:

1. Comfort. This needs to be a place where students would choose to go when they don’t have anything better to do. Part of this is attending to physical comfort–it needs to include comfortable places to sit and to work and should “homey”–but, social comfort would be critical as well. Care needs to be taken in encouraging social equality wherein a diversity of people and ideas are welcome. And, a place to buy inexpensive, high-quality food (think coffe shop/cafe) would help as well.

2. Invitations to collaborate. The physical layout and objects placed in the space need to signal to those who enter it that this is a place where dialogue and group work are not only allowed but expected. That means no desks, very little fixed furniture, and lots of studio-like space where people and congregate and engage in “messy” learning.

3. Opportunities for students to make the space their own. The initial design needs to leave room for students to “move-in” and make it their own. I’m not exactly sure what this would look like, but the space should be living and dynamic such that students can make their mark and create a sense of identity or sense of place there (for an example of what I mean, see this blog post from last summer). This might include showcasing of student work (e.g. art, film, music, writing) and not just course projects or assignments.

4. Central and visible. By definition the town square is the hub of the community, both physically and conceptually. An academic town square needs to be accessible to students and should be highly visible so that students know where it is and can see the work that goes on there even if they don’t actively participate. A “lab” tucked away in the basement of a building or the corner of the library will fall flat on its face.

5. Commonly accepted “house rules.” Some sort of expectations as to what constitutes appropriate use of the space would need to be developed. I’m not suggesting a placard of rules at the entry to the space like what you find at the neighborhood pool. To be effective the code would need to be developed by those that use the space, not a university committee (or even a committee of students for that matter). I’m not sure what the process would be here, but it seems important (anyone with ideas or suggestions for how this could be organized in an organic, grassroots way?).

Part of me thinks I’ve outlined an expensive plan for replicating the student union building. But, the other part of me thinks that there is a need for a new space that is different from the student union in critical ways: academic dialogue and deep learning experiences, but in an environment that feels like a student lounge. As I walk through the student center on my campus I see lots of activity and energy but it happens in microbursts–a short conversation in the Taco Bell line, a hurried lunch with friends, stopping in to the Career Center to pick up a brochure, etc. What’s missing are sustained dialogues about what students are learning in classes, informal conversations about the recent campus forum, or students arguing about healthcare and pulling up C-SPAN interviews online to illustrate their points.

Am I crazy? Could a space like the one I’ve described work on a college campus? And, what would it look like if the target population was college freshmen?

How much should we “require” of students?

Bryce Bunting — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:01:00 +0000

Brigham Young University (BYU) recently announced a new and expanded Freshman Mentoring initiative that will provide every incoming freshman with the opportunity to connect with an upperclassmen peer mentor and enroll in two linked university core courses. While most people associated with BYU are very excited about the change, we have encountered some resistance from incoming students and their parents who don’t like the idea of being “required” to participate.

My experiences over the last week or so with these students has left me wondering how two principles of learning can peacefully coexist:

(1) Students should have opportunities to make meaningful choices about how and what they are learning and

(2) Universities expect students to engage in selected learning activities because they are believed to lead to desirable outcomes.

So, the question I’ve been left pondering when I hang up the phone with a frustrated mother is how much an institution can rightfully require their students to do. It is almost universally accepted that institutions can require certain things of students in the way of graduation requirements; however, in most cases these requirements are merely a list of courses that a student must take or a number of curricular requirements that must be fulfilled. There are some institutions who also require students to complete capstone experiences or to create portfolios demonstrating competence in particular learning outcome areas. My first undergraduate institution (Mars Hill College) even required students to attend “chapel hour” 40 times during the course of their four years in order to graduate.

For good or for bad, BYU “requires” very little of students. As long as they fulfill a set of broad general education and religious education requirements, and meet the requirements of their particular program, they can graduate with a degree. This has always bee interesting to me because I often hear high-level administrators praise the merits of captsone-like internships, study-abroad experiences, and mentored learning. I’ve wondered why, if these things seem to make a difference in student learning, we don’t ask all students to participate.

This all begs the question of student volition and how connected it is to how much and how well they learn. Do things like having a mentor, being part of a learning community, or attending weekly devotionals make a difference for all students or just those that choose to participate? And, what happens when we compel, somewhat forcefully, students to participate who might not otherwise? Not surprisingly, mentoring literature from fields outside of higher education suggests that informal mentoring relationships generally lead to positive learning outcomes at a higher rate than assigned relationships. What’s more, formal mentoring relationships are prone to becoming dysfunctional and leading to a host of negative outcomes for both mentors and proteges.

It’s possible that the resistance my colleagues and I have seen will decrease over time as peer mentoring becomes part of the culture of BYU. But, it’s also possible that we’ve made a terrible mistake by requiring students to participate in the program. Thoughts? When should institutions require things of students? And, how do we make those pills easier to swallow in cases when learners object to the co-curricular things they are asked to do?