Big Fish, Little Pond: Investigating transition for the rural community college

student

Tyler Billman, Southeastern Illinois CollegeChad Flannery, Southeastern Illinois College

Objectives

1. To understand the challenges of rural, low socioeconomic (SES) status students

2. Provide a brief literature review on the rural community college and their students.

3. Provide advisement and student development practices that will help rural, low SES students transfer to a four-year institution

Context

• Southeastern Illinois College (SIC)• 2,000 Students

– Traditional Undergraduates, Dual Credit, Industry Training• District Population

– 55,000• Largest Town

– Harrisburg—9,100• Service Area

– Parts of 7 Counties—1,700 square miles

Challenges for Low SES Students

1.Affordability2.Access3.Prospects

Affordability

• Maximum Pell Grant Award for 2013-2014– $5,646.00

• Average Cost of 4-Year Institution– $14,951.00

• Average Cost of SIC– $2,760.00

Affordability

• Poverty Rate– 18.5%

• Median Household Income—Family of 4– $35,626.00

• Median Home Value– $69,400.00

Access

• Distance to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale—Carbondale, IL– 39 miles—51 minutes

• Distance to University of Southern Indiana—Evansville, IN– 56 miles—1 hour, 8 minutes

• Distance to Murray State University—Murray, KY– 101 miles—1 hour, 51 minutes

Access

• Choice for Students– Rent vs. Gas

• Online Courses– Very little access to high speed internet– Dial-up internet access still prevalent

Prospects

• Coal Industry– Mining and affiliated industries (trucking, welding, etc.)

• Hospitals/Healthcare– Harrisburg Medical Center—200

• Community Colleges/Public School Systems– SIC—100

• Department of Corrections• Wal-Mart

Brief Literature Review

1. Praise for the rural community college2. Unique issues for rural students3. Issues with transferring

Praise for the rural CC

• Improves and helps the identity of rural America.

• Contributes to economic and workforce development.

• Helps rural youth/adults access postsecondary opportunities.

Praise for the rural CC

• Multiple missions and the presence of local kinship networks.

• Right-sized, not rural• Responsive relationships• Institutional flexibility

Unique Issues for the rural student

• The relationship between geographic and social mobility.– Negative pressure for those that must leave for

goals– Expecting to leave, but reluctant• Not attracted to urban areas• Family

Unique Issues for the rural student

• Ties that bind– Pull of family– Pull of community• Leaving one rural community for another• Psychological elements

– Intergenerational network

Unique Issues for the rural student

• Lowering and/or changing goals to remain home.

• Conflict of integrating into a new and/or different community setting.

Issues with Transferring

• Lack of information– CC aren’t helping in knowing what info to provide

students on universities• Logistics • Transferring of credits• Scheduling • Campus Living

Issues with Transferring

• Family responsibilities• Academic shifts between CC and university• Social dilemmas – More difficult to make friends– Involvement shift– Forming a new identity

Issues with Transferring

• Orientating to University Life– Still need the same orientation care as a university

freshman, but not receiving it.

Application

1. Student Development Practices2. Advisement Practices

Student Development Practices

• Mimicking the 4-Year Institution Set-Up– How do our practices aid in the transition process?– New Student Orientation• Focus on academics during orientation• Introduction of group/peer advising

Student Development Practices

• University Partnerships– SIUC Transfer Representative housed on SIC

campus• Provides student with 1-on-1 contact similar to what

most community colleges provide• Transfer Representative helps students navigate issues

with admissions, advising, financial aid, etc.

Student Development Practices

• Transfer Seminar– Led by Transfer Academic Advisor– Tailored to include university-specific information– Topics include:

• Application and Admissions processes and requirements• How SIC courses transfer to a university• Cost of Attendance/Financial Aid/Scholarships

Student Development Practices

• Self-Help Kiosk– Emphasis on building accountability and self-

responsibility– Familiarizing students with the tools already

available to them– Allows students to find answers when 1-on-1 help

may be unavailable

Advisement Practices

• Gaining more information and knowledge on area universities.– Attend campus visits

• Gain social awareness of campus and its opportunities

– Meet with area university transfer specialists– Learn more about credit evaluation on the university

campus– Scholarships

Advisement Practices

• Implement an advisement syllabus– Teach students how to think about their academic

trajectory– Redirect academic responsibility– Train for university life– Set goals with students on becoming self sufficient

Advisement Practices

• Follow up with your outgoing transfers– How do you improve if you don’t know?– Survey – Consider the source

Advisement Practices

• Read more on this topic– on academic factors– on social/family factors

• Conduct research– Lack of literature/aging literature– Lack of solutions

References

Berger, J. B., & Malaney, G. D. (2003). Assessing the transition of transfer students from community colleges to a university. NASPA Journal, 40(4), 1-23.

Carlan, P. E., & Byxbe, F. R. (2000). Community colleges under the microscope: An analysis of performance predictors for native and transfer students. Community College Review, 28(2), 27-42.

Davies, T. G., & Caey, K. L. (1998). Student perceptions of the transfer process: Strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for improvement. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 5(2), 101-110.

Hektner, J. (1995). When moving up implies moving out: Rural adolescents conflict in the transition to adulthood. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 11(1), 3-14.

Howley, C., Chavis, B., & Kester, J. (2013). “Like human beings”: Responsive relationships and institutional flexibility at a rural community college. Journal of Rural Education, 28(8), 1 – 14. Retrieved from http://jrre.psu.edu/articles/28-8.pdf.

References

King, S. B. (2012). Increasing college-going rate, parent involvement, and community participation in rural communities. Rural Educator, 20-26.

McCarron, G. P., & Inkelas, K. K. (2006). The gap between educational aspirations and attainment for first-generation college students and the role of parental involvement. Journal of College Student Development, 47(5), 534-549, doi: 10.1353/csd.2006.0059

Scanlon, L., Rowling, L., & Weber, Z. (2007). “You don’t have like an identity…you are just lost in a crowd”: Forming a student identity in the first-year transition to university. Journal of Youth Studies, 10(2), 223-241. doi: 10.1080/136762660098.3864

Townsand, B. K., & Wilson, K. (2006). “A hand hold for a little bit”: Factors facilitating the success of community college transfer students to a large research university. Journal of College Student Development, 47(4), 439-456.