Advising First-Generation Students & Their Sub-Populations: How To Personalize Your Services

Description  Challenge - Identifying and meeting the needs of First-Generation Students As first-generation students enter college, it is important that academic advisors understand the unique characteristics that define this exceptional population. Identifying the needs of these college students as early as possible and providing them with the personalized advising services they need contributes directly to the continued viability of today’s colleges and universities. First-generation students make a significant contribution and add to the overall quality of the educational experience on campus; understanding their dynamic and distinctly inimitable perspective enriches the collegiate environment for everyone.  Key Takeaway Participants will learn how to be more effective when advising first-generation students; i.e., how to recognize and respond effectively to the unique needs of this special student population in order to maximize their potential for success. Overview “First-generation college students, or students whose parents have not earned a four-year degree, face unique psychological challenges. Although perhaps supportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling. The challenge of higher education is to recognize the psychological impact that first-generation status has on its students and to provide help.” ~ Linda Banks-Santilli (GreatSchools.org)“First-generation students can come from families with low incomes or from middle- or higher-income families without a college-going tradition. Some have parents who support their plans for higher education; others are under family pressure to enter the workforce right after high school. Often these students don't know what their options are regarding higher education, and they may have fears about going to college and misconceptions about college and its costs. These students may come from families who speak languages other than English at home or from cultures outside the United States with different education systems.” ~ College BoardIn this interactive webinar, we will explore the characteristics of first-generation college students from a variety of different perspectives, discuss the advising challenges inherent to this population as well as how to overcome them and provide evidence-based best practices for retaining these students to graduation. We will explain the various roles that all members of the campus community can play in responding to the advising needs of first-generation students. We will also examine successful programs and initiatives from across the nation that are currently being used to effectively and cost-efficiently meet their advising needs – and how these programs and initiatives can be adapted to a variety of higher education environments. Equal emphasis will be placed on helping both institutions, as well as individual first-generation students, achieve their mutually-complementary objective: graduation and job placement. Objectives Review the general characteristics of first-generation college students, with an emphasis on their advising needs Review the general characteristics of first-generation college students from various subpopulations including veteran, minority, LGBTQIA, rural, urban and suburban, lower socioeconomic, transfer, international, and immigrant backgrounds Investigate the role of leadership in identifying and responding to the advising needs of first-generation college students Conduct a needs analysis to determine how well their institution is doing at identifying and responding to the advising needs of first-generation college students Discuss what can be done before first-generation college students arrive on campus, including how to partner with elementary and secondary schools to achieve the best possible outcome for these students for their advising needs Assess and anticipate the evolving advising needs of first-generation college students for academic preparation, social integration, mental and emotional health considerations, and financial support Investigate the available platforms and applications that can be used to facilitate the process of advising first-generation college students from various populations Explore evidence-based best practices in coordinating comprehensive retention initiatives related to academic advising for first-generation college students Examine mechanisms for keeping everyone at the institution on the same page for meeting the advising needs of first-generation college students Critique real-life examples of effective and ineffective ways of responding to the advising needs of first-generation college students Who Should Attend Academic Advising and Retention Career Services/Career Center Orientation and Advising Admissions and Recruitment Enrollment Management Alumni Affairs/Placement Services Academic Affairs/Advising Faculty Student Services/Affairs Housing/Residence Life Student Activities Any educator interested in learning more about advising first-generation students