Outreach: A New Way to Recruit Underrepresented Students

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Outreach A New Way to Recruit Underrepresented
Students

• Alfred Herrera
• Director Center for Community College
  Partnerships
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Stephen J. Handel
• Director Enrollment Planning Undergraduate
  Outreach
• Office of the President, University of California
• A Workshop for Excellence by Diversity. What does
  it take to make higher education a meaningful
  experience?
• June 2003 Amsterdam

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Outline of Presentation

• I. A New Model for Outreach
• II. Elements of a Transfer-Going Culture
• III. Programmatic Responses
• IV. USA and Europe Linking Our Work to Your Work

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Cultural Context (USA)

• Political shift away from race/ethnicity in the
  admissions process.
• Inexorable demographic trends.
• Rise in vocational tracking.
• How will higher education institutions remain
  accessible to underrepresented students?

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Cultural Parameters (USA)

• No other criteria can effectively replace
  race/ethnicity in the admissions process.
• Student outreach programs must assist all
  students, especially those that are educationally
  disadvantaged.
• Outreach is the only tool left to create a
  diverse class.

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I. A New Outreach Model Goals

• Diversity Contribute to the enrichment of UC
  campuses through a diverse student body.
• Access Improve opportunities for California
  students in educationally disadvantaged
  circumstances to achieve eligibility and to
  enroll at UC campuses.

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Outreach Model Characteristics

• Focus on long-term, systemic change.
• Recalibrate UC outreach away from recruitment
  toward academic preparation.
• Outreach programs as the engine of change.
• Assist all students in educationally
  disadvantaged circumstances.

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II. Elements of a Transfer-Going Culture

• Establish transfer to a four-year institution as
  a high institutional priority.
• Ensure that transfer is perceived by students as
  expected and attainable.
• Offer a rigorous transfer curriculum for all
  students that includes writing, critical
  thinking, mathematics, and the sciences.

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Elements of a Transfer-Going Culture

• Provide high quality instruction, including
  innovative and research-based pedagogies.
• Develop intensive academic support programs based
  on academic excellence models (e.g., academic
  counseling, peer tutoring, and reciprocal
  learning techniques).

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Elements of a Transfer-Going Culture

• Create an environment of belonging in which
  students feel stimulated to achieve at high
  academic levels.
• Establish strong community and family linkages
  that foster intellectually stimulating, secure,
  and culturally rich environments for students on
  and off campus.

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III. Programs Developed with a Focus on Creating
Transfer-Going Cultures

• Focus on 3 Constituencies
• Faculty
• Students
• Staff

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Programs Developed with a Focus on Creating
Transfer-Going Cultures

• Faculty Creating Transfer-Going Cultures in
  Partnership with Community College Faculty
  (UCLA)
• Students Academic Development Programs to
  Enhance Student Preparation and Expectations
  (SITE)
• Staff Professional Development Programs for
  Community College Counselors (ETS)

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UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships
(CCCP)

• The Center is responsible for developing and
  strengthening academic partnerships between UCLA
  and California community colleges. The goals are
  to work with community college administrators and
  faculty to develop a campus-wide transfer culture
  for all students, to strengthen and diversify the
  curriculum, to improve teaching pedagogy, to
  develop strong academic support programs, to
  increase the number of transfer eligible
  community college students, and, ultimately, to
  increase the diversity and academic
  competitiveness of the UCLA transfer applicant
  pool.

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UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships
(CCCP)

• An important focus of the work of CCCP is to
  challenge educators low expectations of
  underrepresented and under-served students, to
  create institutional change, and to foster the
  development of an academic climate and a transfer
  culture that emphasizes excellence and access to
  transfer for all community college students.

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UCLA/Community College Academic Consortium

• Develop a rigorous transfer-focused academic
  culture in order to increase transfer rates.
• Redefine curriculum, pedagogy, and academic
  support services.
• Employ strategies for academic acceleration
  rather than remediation.

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Disciplinary Workgroups

• Composition, mathematics, science, social science
  and academic support programs.
• Began to discuss and identify barriers to
  academic development and transfer for students
  from a particular institution.
• Conducted a review of existing practices and
  services at their campuses.
• Developed recommendations and pilot activities
  for addressing barriers at their campuses.

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Peer Counselors

• Former transfer students from that institution.
• Serve as role models.
• Provide information about life as a transfer
  student.
• Provide referrals to UCLA/UC Admissions
  representatives.
• Provide presentations to classes and student
  organizations.
• Discuss transition between 2- and 4-year
  institutions.
• Provide information on success and excellence in
  college.
• Serve as a liaison between the students/campus
  and UCLA.
• Organize campus visits to UCLA.

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Barriers to Student Academic Achievement and
Transfer

• Inability to read and write at levels high enough
  to perform successfully in their coursework.
• Lack of motivation, particularly in the sciences.
• Inadequate academic tutoring and counseling.
• Emphasis on remediation rather than excellence.

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Barriers to Academic Achievementand Transfer

• Lack  of incentive and support for redesigning
  curriculum and rethinking pedagogical practices.
• Lack of coordination and synergy among academic
  support programs.
• Need for greater communication among academic
  support programs, counselors, and financial aid
  officers.
• Sense that transfer is a remote possibility
  rather than an expected result of community
  college education.

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Outcomes and Activities

• Math
• Supplemental instruction model required two hours
  of mandatory tutoring every other week, allowing
  for additional complex problem solving and more
  time on task and comprising 10 of their grades.
• A UCLA mathematics professor mentored the tutors
  on a weekly basis, reviewing the worksheets and
  quizzes they developed for the tutorial sessions
  and assisting with the Saturday tutoring.

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Outcomes and Activities

• Fast-Track English
• Fifteen students with strong performance records
  in English 57 or placed into the English 60 were
  invited to by-pass English 60 and join the
  English 101 Fast Track class.
• Students enrolled concurrently in a one-unit
  course requiring two extra hours of instruction
  weeklyan hour meeting one-on-one with the
  professor and an hour in a writing lab with
  tutors.

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Outcomes and Activities

• Paired Courses
• English courses are paired with courses from
  other departments such as social science,
  history, psychology, and science to accelerate
  learning.
• Many of these courses involve supplemental
  tutoring.

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Outcomes and Activities

• Writing Seminar
• UCLA Writings Program faculty conduct a
  composition seminar for community college
  faculty. It is an opportunity for a conversation
  centered around composition and writing.
• This collaborative study of theories and
  practices is open to faculty in English and other
  disciplines.
• The seminar is small, no more than 15
  participants so the group can engage in
  meaningful discussions about the use of writing
  in the classroom

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Summer Intensive Transfer Experience (SITE)

• Six day residential and academic program that
  provides academic information and prepares
  students for the road to transfer, prior to their
  enrolling in a community college, or as soon as
  possible.

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SITE Philosophy

• Provide motivation and mentoring.
• Create a sense of belonging.
• Introduce students to the concept of a learning
  community.
• Provide tools to navigate through the system.

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SITE Philosophy

• Expose students to the University of California
  campuses.
• Encourage students to prepare for transfer early.
• Provide network of support for achieving
  excellence.
• Introduce students to the academic rigors of a
  research university.

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SITE Agenda

• Welcome and keynote speech.
• Workshop for students and a separate session for
  parents.
• Informal BBQ so parents can talk to UCLA faculty,
  staff and students.
• Writing workshops conducted by UCLA faculty and
  support service staff.

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Teaching and Learning

• Writing Across the Curriculum -- Students attend
  a 4 session writing workshop taught by a UCLA
  faculty member.
• A UCLA professor provides students with a
  simulated lecture over 3 days. The professor and
  TA discuss note taking, time management and other
  college excellence skills.

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Counseling and Advising

• Students meet with UCLA staff and team leaders to
  discuss the basics of transfer and to develop a
  plan to help them prepare for transfer to
  UC/UCLA.
• Counselors from local community colleges conduct
  workshops on maximizing students time at the
  community college.

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Additional SITE Workshops

• Careers vs. Majors
• Using the Internet for Research
• Overcoming Transfer Obstacles
• Preparation for UC Transfer
• Teaching and Graduate Programs

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Follow-Up Saturday Academies

• Provides students with
• On-going opportunities to interact with UCLA
  students, staff and faculty.
• Introduce students to a variety of academic
  excellence workshops.
• Help students become familiar with a University
  campus and the resources and services available.

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UNIVERSITY
OF
CALIFORNIA
E
NSURING
T
RANSFER
S
UCCESS


Counselor Institute
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Ensuring Transfer Success

• provides community college counselors with
  comprehensive information about UC and CSU
  transfer admission policies and practices in a
  seminar-like environment, allowing in-depth
  discussion and exchange.

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How does ETS work?

• Institute Curriculum
• Instructional Focus
• Institute Publications and Materials

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ETS Institute Curriculum

• Provide substantive strategies for transfer
  student preparation.
• Real Advice What does it take to be admitted to
  UC?
• Admission vs. Selection
• Major preparation vs. general education

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ETS Instructional Focus

• Above allDialogue
• These Institutes were intended to bring two-year
  and four-year transfer staff together to share
  problems and solutions.
• This can only be accomplished through active
  engagement of the issues.

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ETS Instructional Focus

• Dialogue requires a comfortable space.
• There is a need to create opportunities for
  participants to engage in substantive discussion.
• How? By emphasizing a common purpose helping
  students to transfer.

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ETS Instructional Focus

• Creating a common purpose is best achieved using
  the case study method.
• Good case studies help represent in a concrete
  and personal way essential transfer issues.

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ETS Instructional Focus

• Small groups
• Case study method requires discussion.
• This only can be accomplished if participants
  have opportunity to interact.
• Understanding requires time.

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ETS Instructional Focus

• Addressing Different Levels of Expertise
• Expertise influences effectiveness.
• Veteran counselors need different information
  than new counselors.
• ETS provides workshops for both groups.

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Institute Publications

• Gatherings like ETS are useful, but how do you
  influence long-term learning and professional
  development?
• Develop reference material for on-going reference
  throughout the academic year.

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Institute Publications

• Publications are low-cost, desk-top productions.
• More attention is paid to the specific needs of
  transfer counselors and staff.
• Wide distribution on the web and CD.

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ETS Participation Levels

• Since its inception, in 1993, ETS Institute
  participation has increased 237, serving over
  5,000 counselors.
• Last year nearly all of Californias community
  college sent representatives.
• Over 70 of of the community colleges that
  participated sent more than 4 representatives.

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ETS Counselor Institutes Enduring Elements

• Practical and specific advice.
• Commonality of purpose.
• Meeting the unique needs of participants.
• Colleagues as equal partners.
• Advising materials for on-going reference.
• Active engagement by all.

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IV. USA and Europe Linking Our Work to Your Work

• How can the characteristics of a transfer-going
  culture and UCs programmatic responses be
  translated to the Dutch experience?

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The Dutch Experience Discussion

• Students
• Who is underrepresented?
• Do they have special academic needs?
• What kinds of programmatic responses are
  suggested?

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The Dutch Experience Discussion

• Faculty
• What are the major characteristics of the the
  faculty?
• Are faculty supportive of diversity goals?
• Is the curriculum appropriate for the new
  students preparing for university?

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The Dutch Experience Discussion

• Staff
• Who advises students? Faculty? Trained
  counselors?
• Who is most influential in advising students?
• What professional development programs can be
  developed to foster diversity among student
  advisers?

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Reporting Back

• Programmatic Proposals for
• Faculty
• Students
• Staff
• Follow-up and Wrap-Up

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For more information

• Alfred Herrera
• Director, Center for Community College
  Partnerships
• University of California, Los Angeles
• 2217 Campbell Hall, Box 957176
• Los Angeles, CA 90095-7176
• 310-267-4441
• FAX [phone]
• aherrera_at_college.ucla.edu

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For more information

• Stephen J. Handel, Ph.D.
• Director Transfer Enrollment Planning
• Undergraduate Outreach
• Office of the President
• University of California
• 1111 Franklin Street, 9th Floor
• Oakland, California 94607
• [phone]
• stephen.handel_at_ucop.edu

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