Getting Ready for The Naked Roommate

1. Getting Ready for The Naked Roommate Building a College Transition Program on Your Campus Carolyn Stoddard, Hammond School Alex Scovel, University of South Carolina

2. Background & Roles • Higher Education & Student Affairs • First-Year Experience Course • Job Function • Admissions • College Counseling

3. What we’re hoping to do… • Understand first-year transition issues • Learn about relevant campus services and programming for students in transition • Gain ideas on initiating a college transition program in your high school

4. - August 10, 2011 “The class of 2015 was mostly born in 1993, and they have grown up with email, cell-phones and Starbucks. Most were in third grade on Sept. 11, so they are accustomed to heavy security and trusting adults in positions of authority. Their academic successes have been measured in standardized test scores, and their social ones are documented in Facebook newsfeeds.”

5. Words that best describe the 2011-12 cohorts of First-Year Students • “Millennials” • Optimistic • High Achieving • Civic-Minded • Moral • Over-programmed • Tech-savvy • Entitled • Group-oriented • Followers • Dependent • Multicultural • Collectivist • Non-political • Conformist

6. National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Founded in 1986 Clearinghouse for research, policy, and best practices for all postsecondary student transitions Supporting and advancing efforts to improve student learning and transitions into and through higher education

7. Two Challenges for First-Year Students Economic Realities Emotional Health & Wellness

8. Economic Realities • 40% of all undergraduates in the US are from low-income families • 58% of low-income undergrads are women • 48% of low-income undergrads are students of color • National Spending on Pell Grants has increased but not kept up with the increase in college costs • Rate of unemployment has increased; currently at 8.2% nationally and 9.1% in SC

9. Economic Realities College Choice • Have “major” concerns about financing college • Less likely to: • go to college over 100 miles from home • Attend their first-choice college • More likely to: • live with their family • structure college decisions around financial aid

10. Economic RealitiesStudent Employment • “Many Undergraduates Work Long Hours Balancing Jobs with Studies” THE CHRONICLE • 23% of FT students work 20 or more hours/week • 62% of PT students work 20 or more hours/week • The greater the number of hours worked, the more likely students are engaged in off-campus employment • Over half of first-year students report that their job responsibilities “interfere with their schoolwork” at least occasionally

11. Personal Challenges During the First Year

12. Physical Health & Wellness • High school drinking among new students is decreasing • Drinking goes up 10-12 percentage-points during the first year • 41.6% of male & 27.5% of female colleges students regularly binge drink • Students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and psychological disorders report higher rates of drinking • First-year students experience a decline in hours per week spent on exercising or sports & leisure activities • 41.7% of undergraduates reported getting enough sleep to feel rested 2 or fewer days per week

13. Emotional Health & Wellness • The number of student self-injury cases is rising • Significant increases in students who enter college already on psychotropic medication • Directors of campus counseling centers report: • 44% of their clients have “severe psychological problems” • 7% have impairments such that they cannot remain in school or do so with extensive psychological or psychiatric help • Increased pressure to share concerns about troubled students who might pose a risk

14. College ServicesHow do we Help at USC? • Counseling Center • Office of Student Conduct • University 101 • Living Learning Communities • Student Success Center • Student Disability Services • Service Learning • Campus Wellness • Multicultural Student Affairs • Off-Campus Student Services • Leadership Programs • Substance Abuse Prevention & Education • Student Organizations

15. What Colleges Expect of Students • Autonomy & Independence • Responsible for their college experience • Engaged Learners who can contribute to the campus community • Interests, goals, and dreams • Bonus traits: Maturity, Resiliency, Drive, Authenticity, Honesty, Self-Awareness

16. How Does this Translate to High Schools? • Duty to Prepare • Transitional Cycle • Brings the college process full circle • Search • Apply • Choose • Transition

17. Goals for High School Program • Dispel myths and convey reality • Provide opportunities for discussion about anxieties, plans, hopes • Offer advice to make an effective academic and personal transition while emphasizing that the experience is up to them • Build confidence that they can do it!

18. Sample Model • Half-day Program • Split into small groups • Sessions • 20 – 30 minutes • Students rotate through sessions • Several presenters or moderators per session • Balance of discussion and activity • Session Topics • Academics • Money Management • Defending Yourself • Wellness • Getting to Know Campus & Making a Place for Yourself • Student Panel of Alums

19. Sample Model continued… • Activities • Budget Planning • Roommate Scenarios • Laundry • Self-Defense • Fears Exercise • Goal Setting • Talking to Alums

20. Tasks Convey the right message Familiarity Respect Attention Come Prepared Who? Faculty Administrators College Professionals First-Year Experience Courses Student Affairs Professionals Campus Safety Credit Union Career Center Presenters

21. Schedule 8:00 – 8:50 a.m. Cap & Gown Photos 8:50 – 9:00 Introduction & Schedules 9:00 – 10:25 Sessions 10:25 – 10:45 Break with Snacks 10:45 – 12:10 Sessions 12:10 – 12:30 Laundry Competition 12:30 – 12:45 Wrap Up 12:45 BBQ

22. Considerations • Timing • When to begin transition work? • Campus Culture • Backgrounds, disabilities, activities • Student Concerns • Roommates • Branching Out • Pairing with Another Event

23. 1st Attempt Challenges • Presenters • Efficient guidance & setting expectations • Timing • Balance – enough time for discussion but not too long so as to lose attention • Buy-In • Students, Faculty, Administration • Coordination

24. Involving Parents • Suggestions for Programming • Opportunity to give parents a voice and expose them to college transition issues • Types of Programs • Morning Coffee Talk • Optional Evening Presentation • Combined Student/Parent Program

25. Suggested Reading The Naked Roommate – Harlan Cohen Letting Go, A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years– Coburn and Treeger You’re On Your Own (But I’m Here If You Need Me) – Majorie Savage I’ll Miss You Too – Woodacre Bane & Bane

26. Questions for the Group What have your alums experienced? What are you doing at your school for transition support? Additional questions from the audience?

27. Sources • National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. (Slides 6-11 created by Dr. Jennifer Keup, Director of NRC) • “Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs.” www.acpa.nche.edu/pgp/principle.htm

28. Contact Info Alex Scovel University of South Carolina scovel@sc.edu Carolyn Stoddard Hammond School cstoddard@hammondschool.org