STUDENT PARENT SUPPORT...

INNOVATIONS & BEST PRACTICES FOR PROMOTING STUDENT PARENT SUCCESS

A symposium by the sea co-hosted by

June 14 - 16, 2017 | Endicott College376 Hale Street, Beverly, Massachusetts

STUDENT PARENT SUPPORT SYMPOSIUM

13TH

ANNUAL

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Continuing Education Units (CEUs)The Student Support Symposium will offer social work CEUs for the three-day symposium. The Ohio State University College of Social Work will offer up to 1 CEUs based on workshop choices. Please refer to page 20??? for detailed CEU information.

EvaluationsSymposium evaluations will be conducted online. An email containing the link to the symposium evaluation will be sent out to all registrants of the 2017 SPSS. Your input is valuable to the planning of the annual Student Parent Support Symposium. Following the conference, please take time to complete your evaluation. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Social MediaAre you a member of Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Use the hashtag #2017SPSS and share with your friends and the world, your experience at the 2017 Student Parent Support Symposium! For your broader advocacy and awareness building efforts we also encourage using the hashtag: #studentparents

Check-In and Check-Out TimeCheck in will take place from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Marblehead Hall. Check out time will be scheduled for June 16 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. If you need to check-out early, a key and meal card drop box is available at the campus safety building. Please write your name and room number on the envelope.

Locked Out?It happens to the best of us! For lock outs and other housing issues between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. contact Brittany at (978) 833-7346. After hours, requests can be made directly to Campus Safety at (978) 232-2222 or extension 2222 from any campus phone or call box.

Airport TransportationAirport transportation is available with advanced reservation (made when you registered for the symposium). Return shuttles will depart at 2:45 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Friday, June 16. If you have not signed up for a shuttle, alternate transportation arrangements can be made through ride share or taxi companies. Local taxi companies include Tri-City Taxi at (978) 922-6999 and North Shore Taxi at (978) 532-2222. The MBTA Commuter Rail serves Beverly at the following stops (by distance from campus): Prides Crossing, Beverly Farms, Montserrat, and Beverly Depot. Visit www.mbta.com for the Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail schedule.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Announcements 2

Acknowledgements 4

Schedule at a Glance 5

About the National Center for Student Parent Programs 6

The ACCESS Collaborative 7

The Aspen Institute 8

Hands on Hats Student Parent Awareness Symbolism 9

About the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Best Practices to Support Single Parent Students in Higher Education Program 10

Wednesday, June 14 — Panels, Conversations, and Discussions 11

Thursday, June 15 — Panels, Conversations, and Discussions 17

Friday, June 16 — Panels, Conversations, and Discussions 23

Workshop Presenter Bios 27

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The National Center for Student Parent Programs and Endicott College are thankful to our funders who helped to make this symposium possible:

The U.S. Department of EducationFund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education

Center for Best Practices for Supporting Single Parent Students in Higher EducationProgram Officer: Kelly Harris

The funders who supported the Student Parent Ambassadors Program which helped to facilitate student parent participation at the symposium:

The Rogers Family FoundationThe Abbott and Dorothy Stevens Foundation

The Edward S. and Winifred Moseley Foundation

Symposium Committee:Sarah Galison, Boston College

Autumn R. Green, Endicott CollegeAnna Grimes, Endicott College

Sahar Haghighat, George Mason UniversityErika Kates, Wellesley Centers for Women

Sheila Katz, University of HoustonMarissa Mahoney, Ascend at the Aspen Institute

Patty McClarran, The Ohio State UniversityTraci Lewis, The Ohio State University

Jessica Parent, The Ohio State UniversityIsis Patterson, Endicott College

Brittany Ward, The Ohio State University

Terry Slater, Deb Anglosanto, and the rest of the Endicott College publications team behind our beautiful design materials!

All of our volunteers!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.Registration | LSB AtriumBreakfast | Callahan Dining Hall

9:30 – 10:45 a.m.Raising Kids In College: A Panel Of Student Parent Voices LSB Auditorium

10:45 – 11:00 a.m.Coffee Break | LSB Atrium

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.The Family Friendly Campus Toolkit: Results From 7 Pilot InstitutionsLSB Auditorium

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.Lunch | Callahan Dining Hall

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.Student Parents as a Two-Gen Approach: A Conversation with Endicott College President Dr. Richard E. WylieLSB Auditorium

2:45 – 3:00 p.m.Snack Break | LSB Atrium

3:00 – 4:15 p.m.World Café DiscussionCallahan Dining Hall

4:30 – 5:00 p.m.Tour of Keys to Degrees Program Bayview Hall

5:00 – 6:30 p.m.Meet Your Colleagues!Social OpportunitiesSign up at the registration desk

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.New England Clambake | Gully’s

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

THURSDAY, JUNE 15

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.Registration | LSB AtriumBreakfast | Callahan Dining Hall

9:30 – 10:45 a.m.Keynote Speaker: Lindsey Reichlin Cruse, Institute for Women’s Policy ResearchLSB Auditorium


11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.Breakout WorkshopsLSB 159, 161, 255, 257


1:45 – 3:00 p.m.Breakout WorkshopsLSB 159, 161, 255, 257

3:00 – 3:15 p.m.Snack BreakLSB Atrium

3:15 – 4:30 p.m.Breakout WorkshopsLSB 159, 161, 255, 257

4:45 – 6:00 p.m.Keynote Speaker: Jillian Duquaine-Watson, University of Texas at DallasLSB Auditorium

Book signing to follow in the LSB Atrium

6:30 – 8:00 p.m.Dinner | Gully’s

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast | Callahan Dining Hall

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.Keynote Panel: When Student Parents SucceedLSB Auditorium


9:45 – 11:00 a.m.Breakout WorkshopsLSB 159, 161, 255, 257

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Breakout WorkshopsLSB 159, 161, 255, 257


1:30 – 2:30 p.m.World Café: Ideas into ActionCallahan

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.Room Check-Out and Shuttle Departure Marblehead Hall

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THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STUDENT PARENT PROGRAMS AT ENDICOTT COLLEGE

The National Center for Student Parent Programs, founded at Endicott College in 2014-15, works to promote programming, research, and policy in support of comprehensive student parent services leading to successful degree completion, career development, and family well-being.

The successful completion of a college degree is one of the most effective strategies a low-income parent can take to permanently move out of poverty; however, support for higher education pursuits can be a significant challenge. As such we aim to:

1. Work collaboratively to build a national network of partner programs who aim to promote student parent success on college or university campuses.

2. Develop systems of program evaluation to help colleges and universities continuously improve their programs and services to better serve the academic, career and personal success of student parents.

3. Pursue equity in higher education access and opportunity by ensuring that student parents are afforded equal opportunity for full participation as college students, including parallel experiences to non-parenting peers.

4. Support development of expertise in the field of student parent success to guide programming and support public policies that increase degree completion rates for parenting college students.

5. Help families move out of poverty permanently through a two-generational approach that includes completion of a college degree, especially at the baccalaureate level or higher.

Our Advisory BoardTeresa Bill, University of Hawaii Bridge to Hope ProgramElise Buggs, Eastern Michigan UniversityJoan Demeules, MSW, St. Catherine UniversityLuisa Deprez, Ph.D., University of Southern MaineLisa Dodson, Ph.D., MPH, Heller School for Social Policy, Brandeis UniversityAmanda Freeman, Ph.D., University of Hartford & Freelance JournalistSheila Katz, Ph.D., University of HoustonGwendolyn Mink, Ph.D., Independent Scholar & Patsy Mink FoundationGinelle Perez, M.Ed., University of California at BerkeleyGloria Perez, Jeremiah ProgramLisa Witorff, LiCSW, Portland State UniversityRichard E. Wylie, Ed.D., Endicott College

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The ACCESS Collaborative Program is an academic and social support program to assist low-income, single parent students who are pursuing a college education at The Ohio State University. While the program strives to increase the retention rates of all low-income, single parent students, attention is given to the unique circumstances of students from diverse social groups, including minorities. By minimizing the barriers that may prevent their full participation, the ACCESS Collaborative Program works to create a campus climate that is inclusive for all.

The Student Parent Support Symposium was founded by the ACCESS Collaborative in 2004 and has been hosted annually at The Ohio State University since that time. 2017 is the first year that the symposium has gone “on the road” to be co-hosted by another college or university partner.

Who We AreThe ACCESS Collaborative Program, which was established in 1989, was created to enable single parent students with custody of their children to earn an undergraduate degree and find employment suitable to their academic preparation. The program coordinates university and community support services to meet the single parents’ needs as students and heads of household.

Who We ServeThe ACCESS Collaborative Program welcomes both male and female undergraduate single parent students who are either full-time or part-time students at Ohio State. ACCESS Collaborative offers students three categories of involvement with corresponding services dependent on the level of participation.

Services Offered

• Programming on parenting and life skills; child development; and financial planning

• Single parent group

• Priority registration

• Scholarship opportunities, mentoring, professional development, evening child care, and housing assistance

• Workshops on parenting and

life skills topics including stress management, relationship building, communication skills, promoting children’s autonomy, improving family harmony, building self-esteem and guiding children to maturity.

THE ACCESS COLLABORATIVE AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYBreaking the cycle of poverty in single parent families one degree at a time

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Ascend at the Aspen Institute is a hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security. Ascend takes a two-generation approach to our work – focusing on children and their parents together – and we bring a gender and racial equity lens to our analysis. We believe that education, economic supports, social capital, and health and well-being are the core elements that create an intergenerational cycle of opportunity. As a new model of social innovation, we are building a brain trust of diverse leaders through a national fellowship program and learning network; elevating and investing in two-generation programs, policies, and community solutions; and sparking and expanding a conversation to ensure the perspectives and resilience of families inform program design and policy development.

In the United States today, nearly 45 percent of all children — more than 30.5 million children — live in low-income families. Almost three-fourths of single-mother families with children are low income. We believe that a country in which millions of families, especially those headed by women, are struggling for economic stability is not an equitable or sustainable one. The long-term economic prosperity of our country is at risk when parents and children, both of whom are resilient in spite of great odds, struggle to achieve educational and economic success.

Our ValuesEach of these values informs our belief that the solution is more powerful than the problem and that we can — and will — create conditions that allow economic security for all families.

AgilityWe adapt quickly and efficiently to take advantage of opportunities and overcome challenges, and we engage with diverse collaborators across sectors while pursuing our goals.

BoldnessWe are not simply willing, but eager, to make change happen. We take risks to catalyze change and accomplish our goals.

CreativityWe tackle problems in fresh ways by bringing diverse — and sometimes unconventional — resources and partners to the table.

DeterminationWe are clear about our goals and mission, and we are resilient in the face of challenges.

ExcellenceWe hold ourselves to the highest standards and maintain a strong focus on quality. We seek out partners and collaborators with the same high expectations and commitment.

ASCEND AT THE ASPEN INSTITUTE

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In June 2016, the NASPA Adult Learners & Students with Children Knowledge Community partnered with the National Center for Student Parent Programs at Endicott College to co-sponsor a student parent ally logo contest. The winning design from Taylor Grey, a student parent and marketing major at Portland State University, featured the idea of handprints on graduation caps. We were so inspired by this logo that it developed into a larger awareness campaign aimed to use the symbolism of parent & child handprints on graduation caps to build awareness and support for student parents.

Many student parents feel isolated and alone in their experiences balancing college with parenting and other life responsibilities.

HANDS ON HATS STUDENT PARENT AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Additionally, for many student parent families, college is a two-generation investment, whereby parents and children work together as a team to succeed in school. Some programs sponsor family-friendly graduations, but many students who would like to acknowledge their children at graduation, do not have the opportunity to do so. This spring colleges and universities from across the country have joined the campaign by hosting hat painting parties and creating stickers and otherwise creatively incorporating this symbolism into their commencement activities. This symbolism was also brought into the Student Parent Support Symposium this year to further connect to its role in supporting student parents.

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Created as part of the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the Center for Best Practices to Support Single Parent Students in Higher Education is a program the purpose of which is to support a center through which to study and develop best practices for institutions of higher education to support single parents who are also students attending these institutions. The Center must:

A. Assist institutions implementing innovative programs that support single parents pursuing higher education.

B. Study and develop an evaluation protocol for such programs that includes quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

C. Provide appropriate technical assistance regarding the

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S: CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES TO SUPPORT SINGLE PARENT STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

replication, evaluation and continuous improvement of such programs.

D. Develop and disseminate best practices for these programs.

An additional priority was created for four-year institutions of higher education that can demonstrate expertise in the development of programs to assist single parents who are students at institutions of higher education, as shown by the institution’s development of a variety of targeted services to such students, including on-campus housing, child care, counseling, advising, internship opportunities, financial aid, and financial aid counseling and assistance.

Importantly, although this program was created in 2008, it did not receive congressional funding until 2014 and further advocacy will be necessary for congress to renew

funding for this program in the future. Funding from this program has supported the following programs and initiatives from 2014-2017:

• The Family Friendly Campus Toolkit

• The Advanced Scholars and Graduate Research Fellows Programs

• The Keys to Degrees Replication and Innovation Program

• The Endicott Boston Student Parent Initiative

• The 2017 Student Parent Support Symposium

For more information visit the National Center for Student Parent Programs Information table in the LSB Atrium!

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

9:30 – 10:45 a.m.Raising Kids in College: A Panel of Student Parent VoicesLSB Auditorium

PanelistsAmber Angel Cal State University at Northridge and Los Angeles Valley CollegeMarpha Charles, Endicott College Boston ’17Sarah Galison, Boston College MSW Program & Endicott College ’16 Jonas Schmidt, University of Massachusetts at Amherst ’17Anjanette Vaidya, Rutgers University Students with Children

Moderated by Dr. Erika Kates, Senior Scholar, Wellesley Centers for Women

Panelist Bios

Dr. Erika Kates is recently retired from her position as Senior Research Scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) where her work focused on gender and the justice system with a focus on women, and low-income women’s access to higher education. She has extensive experience in policy analysis and research, focusing mainly on low-income women, women of color, and immigrants. In her previous job as Research Director at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMASS Boston, she was responsible for conducting research on the economic inequities among women, women in prison, incidence of HIV/AIDS among women of color in Massachusetts, homeless women and children, working conditions of nursing and home care staff, mentoring and leadership, women elected to public office, and welfare recipients access to education and training.

For over twenty years Dr. Kates examined the intersection of welfare, workforce development and higher education policies in her work on access to education and training for low-income women, publishing many articles, monographs and book chapters on this topic. In 1996, she co-founded the Welfare, Education, Training Access Coalition at the Heller School of Policy and Management at Brandeis University, directing the project for five years. She has worked actively with state and federal policy makers, providing testimony to numerous state hearings and U.S. Congressional debates on welfare reform in 1994 and 2002. Dr. Kates utilizes a participatory approach that actively involves multiple groups of stakeholders and has involved low-income women as researchers, and facilitated the formation of low-income student organizations. She has taught courses at Smith College, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Boston, and Tufts University. Dr. Kates holds a B.Sc. (Hons) from London University, and a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Heller School of Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

Amber Angel has expertise in student parent success and program development as a student parent and expert contributor to this field. As program coordinator at Los Angeles Valley College’s Family Resource Center, she supports student parents in achieving academic and professional success through a 2Gen approach. Amber oversees on-campus partnerships and streamlines academic, workforce, career technical education and childcare resources for students. Additionally, Amber is a student parent at Cal State University, Northridge and is working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Family & Consumer Sciences. Amber is a Student Parent Ambassador for Ascend at the Aspen Institute and has presented nationally on 2Gen student parent success.

Marpha Charles is a 23-year-old mother from Malden, Massachusetts. Marpha is mother to four-and-a-half year old Mar’Rayanna Davis. Marpha recently completed her Associate of Science in Integrated Studies Degrees at Endicott College Boston as a participant in the Jeremiah Program. She is now working toward her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Endicott Boston. In addition to being a full-time mom and student, Marpha also works as a Residential counselor at Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

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Sarah Galison is a graduate student at Boston College in the Master of Social Work – Macro Track Program. In the fall, she will be interning at the Jeremiah Program in Roxbury, MA. Sarah is a Student Parent Ambassador with Ascend at the Aspen Institute and has worked as a Research Assistant for the National Center for Student Parent Programs and as Coordinator for the 2017 Student Parent Ambassadors program during the symposium. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Education as part of the Keys to Degrees Program in 2016. After completing her MSW, Sarah intends to begin a career working with student parents at the high school or college level.

Jonas Schmidt is an incoming student in the Master of Science in Applied Econometrics program in the Department of Resource Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After a long hiatus, he returned to complete his undergraduate studies as a non-traditional student parent, transitioning, in the process, from philosophy and religious studies to social science and STEM. He live in Amherst, Massachusetts with his five year old son.

Anjanette Vaidya is pursuing a double major in Geography and African Studies and a minor in Environmental Studies at Rutgers University. Her commitment to social and environmental justice has led to her volunteer with organizes such as Species Alliance, the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, and the People’s Improvement Organization in Phenom Pehn, Cambodia. As a former teen mother, she is committed to supporting positive outcomes for women of color and women from disadvantaged backgrounds through empowerment and greater access to resources. She firmly believes that an intersectional approach to supporting women in higher education means supporting mothers in higher education. As such, she is the founder and president of Rutgers Students with Children (RSWC), an on-campus organization made up of feminists and scholars who seek educational equity for student parents. She recently hosted a workshop entitled, Balancing Books and Babies: A Look at highly Success Teen Parents Past and Present” for pregnant and parenting teens across New Jersey at the 2017 PROJECT Teach Teen Conference. She has also developed an empowerment community outreach initiative for teen parents that is in the beginning stages. Her recent research on young mothers in higher education was accepted for presentation at the 2017 Feminist Geography conference held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a collective member of Black Women’s Birthing Justice and is currently a doula in training committed to reproductive justice for women of color, including teen mothers.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.The Family Friendly Campus Toolkit: Results from Seven Pilot InstitutionsLSB Auditorium

This panel will introduce the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit, a process for self-assessment and creation of an evidence-based campus-wide strategic action plan for improving conditions and outcomes for parenting students and their families. The toolkit will be introduced by its developers and panelists from seven pilot institutions will discuss their experiences with using the process and tools at their schools.

PanelistsAmber Angel, Los Angeles Valley CollegeRacine Amos, University of Rhode IslandTeresa Bill, University of Hawaii at ManoaPeggy Favorite, Purdue UniversityAmanda Johnson, Northern Kentucky UniversityTraci Lewis, MSW, The Ohio State UniversityMarni Roosevelt, Los Angeles Valley CollegeCandace Shaffer, Purdue University, and James Stewart, DePaul University

Moderated by Joan Karp and Elizabeth Osche, Program Evaluation & Research Group

Joan Karp is a Senior Research Associate at the Program Evaluation & Research Group (PERG) at Endicott College. In recent years, a large portion of her work has been focused on student parents in higher education. Joan is an author of PERG’s study: Baccalaureate Student Parent Programs and the Students They Serve, and The Family Friendly Campus Toolkit. She has also worked with colleagues to study Keys to Degrees replication programs, and a non-residential Jeremiah Program partnership with Endicott Boston. Her other work at PERG has involved a variety of projects ranging from evaluation of museum exhibitions, K-16 teacher professional development projects, and partnerships between K-12, community college, and universities, often involving STEM education.

Elizabeth Osche is the Associate Director at PERG where she has been for over 10 years. Recently Elizabeth has been involved in the research and evaluation of 2-Generation programs, aimed at helping young student parents succeed in college. This work is highlighted by the study Baccalaureate Student Parent Programs and the Students They Serve, the development of the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit, and an implementation study of a non-residential model for the Jeremiah Program in Boston. She has also worked on a variety of other projects in multiple capacities ranging from large Math/Science partnerships to small museum and aquarium projects.

Racine Amos is a former parenting undergraduate and graduate student who recently concluded service as the Interim Director of the University of Rhode Island (URI) Women’s Center. Dedicated to access and engagement of students and providing supporting resources to encourage student success, Racine returns to her role as Coordinator of Violence Prevention and Advocacy at the URI Women’s Center.


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Teresa Bill is the system-wide coordinator for the 10-campus University of Hawaii “Bridge to Hope” program, which is a nationally recognized innotative program supporting welfare participants attending college. Ms. Bill initiated and slowly developed the “Student Parents at Manoa” (SPAM) program in 2008. The Bridge to Hope motto, “Education to Leave Poverty, Not Just Welfare” reflects Ms. Bill’s ongoing advocacy for college access, and “asset building” policies in Hawaii.

Peggy Favorite is the Director of Span Plan Nontraditional Student Services at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and Music from Valparaiso University straight out of high school, but went back to school in her 40’s to earn a Master of Science in Family Studies with Gerontology Minor at Purdue University. Human development, with a focus on adults, has always been a keen interest for Peggy. While working on her graduate degree, Peggy worked at Purdue and raised a house full of teenagers.

Amanda Johnson is the Learning Experience and Parenting Coordinator at Northern Kentucky University. In this role, she coordinates programming for student parents, connects student parents to resources both on and off campus, and serves as case manager for those student parents on government assistance. As a student parent herself, Amanda graduated from NKU with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. She is currently working toward her Master’s in Public Administration with a focus on Nonprofit Management.

Traci Lewis, a 28 year employee at The Ohio State University, is Director of the program, A Comprehensive College Experience for Single-Parent Students (ACCESS). A retention and graduation program, ACCESS provides academic, social and emotional support to income-fragile single parent students by minimizing barriers that may prevent their participation in school. A licensed master level social worker, Traci has presented at several local and national conferences, regarding student parent in higher education. She is adjunct faculty in the OSU College of Social Work and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve. Traci sits on the executive board and is a member of several committees of the National Association of Black Social Workers and was a founding member of the national organization, Higher Education Alliance of Advocates for Students with Children.

Marni Roosevelt has extensive experience in all areas of early childhood education. As a faculty member at Los Angeles Valley College, she founded and serves as Director of the Family Resource Center, the only center of its kind on a community college campus in California. Since 2000, she has created and directed programs that respond to the unique needs of community college student parents and family support for workforce training program participants. Her efforts to use a “2Gen” model have resulted in ongoing collaboration with Ascend at the Aspen Institute, and multiple state and national awards in recognition of her innovative leadership.

Candace Shaffer is currently serving as Interim Associate Director of Benefit Programs at Purdue University. She is resonsbile for vendor management within the benefits department which includes health & wellness, retirement and family programming. She focuses family programming around lactation support services, family friendly policies and vendor management for two early care and education centers on-campus. Candace earned her bachelor’s degree in child development and family studies with a focus on youth and adults at-risk, then her Master’s Degree in family studies from Purdue University. Before returning to Purdue, she spent time as an Education Manager at Head Start, Assistant Director for Bright Horizons and Program Development Director at Indiana’s state affiliate of NAEYC.

James Stewart serves as Director of Adult, Veteran and Commuter Student Affairs at DePaul University in Chicago. Prior to DePaul, James was the Assistant Director of Student Development Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) working with commuter student resources. Prior to UIC, James served in the Campus Life office at Knox College. James holds a M.Ed. from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Science from Lyon College. He is now completing a Doctorate of Education in Curriculum Studies at DePaul University.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.Student Parents as a Two-Gen Approach: A Conversation with Endicott College President Dr. Richard WylieLSB Auditorium

In 2015 Ascend at the Aspen Institute convened a working group on Postsecondary Strategies for Two-Generation Mobility and Student Parent Success. This working group included leaders from across the U.S. who came together both remotely and in-person over the next two years to develop a set of recommendations for best-practices in support of college access and success for low-income parents and their families using a two-generational lens. This session, led by Marissa Mahoney of Ascend at the Aspen Institute will provide an overview of Ascend and the Two-Generational approach as well as the working group’s recommendations. Endicott College President and Ascend Inaugural Fellow Dr. Richard Wylie will join this conversation reflecting on his experience working with 2-Generational approaches through Endicott’s Keys to Degrees Program as well as prospective and insight on convincing other postsecondary institutions to take on a two-generational approach in supporting their student parent populations.

Lead by Marissa Mahoney, Ascend at the Aspen Institute

Presenter Bios

Marisa Mahoney is a Senior Program Associate at Ascend at the Aspen Institute, the hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security. She helps manage the Ascend Fellowship, and works with leaders across sectors, including postsecondary education, workforce development, and affordable housing. After beginning her career in investment baknking and private equity real estate, she worked as a social impact consultant for entrapreneurs, churches, and non-profits, providing analysis and strategic planning services. A native of Richmond, VA, Marissa is an ordained Baptist minister, and a graduate of Howard University with a BBA in Finance. She also attained joint graduate degrees in business (MBA) and theology (MDiv) from Emory University.

Dr. Richard E. Wylie is Endicott’s president and founder of the flagship Keys to Degrees program. It was Dr. Wylie’s vision that all colleges and universities should provide support for single parent students inspired and led to the development of Keys to Degrees National Replication Program and, eventually, the launch of the National Center for Student Parent Programs. Dr. Wylie was among the first cohort of Ascend Fellows with the Aspen Institute for his work to promote postsecondary strategies for two-generation mobility for single parent students. He remains actively involved in the work of the National Center for Student Parent Programs as an advisory board member.

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3:00 – 4:15 p.m.World Café DiscussionCallahan, Lower Level

The World Café is a forum designed to provide opportunities for generating ideas and dialogue among colleagues with overlapping interests and commonalities. Participants will be invited to join two different discussion groups based on the region in which they are located or do most of their work, and their role in working with student parents. Ideas and brainstorming will be shared with the small and large group to promote increased collaboration for student parent success across the field.

Groups by RegionNew England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)Mid-Atlantic (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA)Northwest (AL, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA) Western (CA, HI, Pacific Islands)Southern (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA)North Central (AR, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, SD, WI, WV, WY)

Groups by RoleCollege and University AdministratorsNon-Profit and Partnership Program RepresentativesResearchers and Faculty MembersAdvocates and Policy MakersPhilanthropic PartnersStudents

4:30 – 5:00 p.m.Tour of the Keys to Degrees ProgramBayview Hall

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THURSDAY, JUNE 15

9:30 – 10:45 p.m.Policy KeynoteLSB Auditorium

Lindsey Reichlin Cruse is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). Lindsey manages projects under IWPR’s Student Parent Success Initiative, which promotes access to and success in college for students who are parents of dependent children. She also contributes to IWPR’s research on support service provision in the workforce development system and on global women’s issues, including conducting domestic and international case studies on employer-provided child care supports. Lindsey has presented IWPR research at numerous events and conferences, including serving as a panelist on private sector strategies to promote work-family balance at UNDP’s Third Global Forum on Business for Gender Equality in Panama City, and leading a workshop on programmatic and policy approaches to supporting the success of parenting college students at the 2016 Student Parent Support Symposium. An expert on access to postsecondary education, Lindsey has been quoted in several media outlets including The Washington Post, the National Journal, and Market Watch. Prior to joining IWPR, Lindsey held positions at the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health and at Global Policy Solutions in Washington, D.C. Lindsey has a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she studied human rights, and a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Policy Keynote Speaker Lindsey Reichlin CruseInstitute for Women’s Policy Research

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THURSDAY, JUNE 15 | 11:00 –12:15 P.M. | CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS

Breakout Session 1-A: LSB Room 159

Collective Knowledge: A Participatory Model for Studying Student ParentsSahar Haghighat, Graduate Student Parent in Sociology, George Mason University and Graduate Research Fellow, National Center for Student Parent Programs

Developing organically out of a session presentation at the 2016 Student Parent Support Symposium, a collective of scholars, student parents and program directors developed and tested a participatory research model for expanding research towards a national guide to colleges and universities for students with children. This presentation will present a history of the guidenbook and of participatory action as a research model (PAR). Participants in the workshop session will get to experience a PAR-based group activity to gain better understanding of nonhierarchical, communally focused solutions to social problems. We will conclude with a discussion about the current status of the guidebook and projections for its completion. Participants will be asked to contribute to the development of the PAR-Guidebook model.

Breakout Session 1-B: Cancelled PowerPoint available

Breakout Session 1-C LSB Room 255

Latinx Community College Student MothersHortencia Jimenez, PhD, & Nereida Oliva, PhD, Hartnell College

Drawing on qualitative research, our workshop addresses the following overlapping areas: college access, retention, parenting, and motherhood. We center the experiences and voices of student mothers at the intersection of age, race, gender and class, in navigating the community college system. Our research moves the conversation forward of the educational pipeline at the community college by focusing on under-researched student mothers,, particularly, Latinx student mothers. Our research findings call for a critical and intersectional analysis to understanding the Latinx student mother at the community college.

Breakout Session 1-D: LSB Room 257

Q&A on the Family Friendly Campus ToolkitJoan Karp, Senior Research Associate, Program Evaluation & Research Group and representatives from the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit Pilot Institutions

Following the plenary session panel on the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit, this workshop will provide an opportunity to learn in more detail about this self-assessment process. How might it be utilized to improve the conditions for student parents at your institution? How might it be implemented in your type of situation? What kinds of challenges might occur? How are specific aspects of the process carried out? What are recommendations for getting the process started? The workshop will be set up as a round-table discussion with some of the people who have piloted the toolkit at their colleges. Individual consultations will also be available.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 15 | 1:45 – 3:00 P.M. | CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS


Advocating for Ourselves: A Conversation Among Student Parent Leaders Sarah Galison, Boston College and Amber Angel, Student Parent at Cal State Northridge, Program Coordinator at Los Angeles Valley College

This workshop will present a conversation by and for student parents. The workshop will be presented in a large circle format giving participants the opportunity to connect with one another, sharing their experiences as student parents, and to collaboratively develop recommendations for improving the success of student parents through the process of “insider” conversation.

Breakout Session 2-B: LSB Room 161

Building Relationships Using TechnologyJudith Marks and Karsten Cash, One Family Scholars Program

We will spend time discussing how we build relationships with our student parents who are all over the state of Massachusetts. We will discuss how we leverage technology including phone, email, social media, and text to build relationships with people we have met few times in person. We will cover how to maintain connections with people and how we troubleshoot when people fall out of contact.

Breakout Session 2-C: LSB Room 255

The Challenges of Providing Outcome Data with a Limited Budget: One Program’s ExperienceJoan Demeules, Beth Hamer, and Stephanie Bowman, St. Catherine University, Access and Success for Katie’s with Kids

Access and Success faced challenges identifying student parents, keeping and tracking data, developing outcomes measures and working with funders. This workshop will use the experiences of Access and Success to provide some guidelines and tips for developing a process for securing outcome data for your program. Please note the presenters are all skilled social workers and not evaluation professionals.


Building Social Capital Among Student ParentsAmanda Johnson and Heather Cole, Northern Kentucky University

The purpose of this workshop is to emphasize the importance of social capital among student parents and share our journey in assisting student parents to build it. Using the information gathered from both an on-campus survey and focus-group, we formulated a plan to build student parent programming. In the workshop we will share our journey with building student parent programming, both the successes and failures. Participants will also be provided with a survey

to use with their student parents in order to collect data on the programming that would best serve their needs, as well as an action plan template to be used when developing programming.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 15 | 3:15 – 4:30 P.M. | CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS


If My Money Could Talk: The Financial Empowerment ApproachJocelyn Fetalver, Family Scholar House

Family Scholar House is a nonprofit agency with a mission to end the cycle of poverty and transform our community by empowering families and youth to succeed in education and achieve lifelong self-sufficiency. We are an education program with a housing component that takes a holistic approach in serving single parent families. Family Scholar House provides family support services, academic advising and career services. The foundation of our services comes from a strength based, trauma informed lens which acknowledges the student parent as an expert in their life. Guiding our practice is an understanding of human behavior in social environments and how our student parent families are engaged with multiple systems (family, community, education, social services, etc). Family Scholar House family advocates and academic advisors have specific focus to support participants with their individual, family, academic and career goals. Often our families come to us experiencing a significant hardship in life that is combined with financial instability. The social issues and financial burden can affect an individual’s emotional and physical wellbeing. Financial conversations are essential in both family support and academic advising services. Family advocates assist participants navigating government assistance

programs such as TANF and SNAP and other community based resources. In addition, advocates partner with participants to review monthly spending plan (income and expenses), credit, debt, the importance of a banking relationship, asset building and protecting their identity. Going to college often is the first large financial commitment for students. Advocates and advisors take a financial empowerment approach and partner with the student parent to create a strategic and individualized plan. Financial empowerment approach can shift a student parent’s perspective in their financial wellbeing. It also benefits the advocate who is working with the student parent. The presentation will discuss the intersectionality of social issues and financial wellness for student parent families and the financial empowerment approach. Those who work with student parent families will engage in their own financial empowerment and be able to engage their student in a financial conversation that is supportive and non-judgmental.


Making the Case for Supporting Single Mothers in College: Research, Outreach and Program Innovation to Increase InvestmentsLindsey Reichlin Cruse and Liz Noll, Institute for Women’s Policy Research;Ann Reynolds and Michel Cocuzza, Mt. Wachusett Community College

Low postsecondary attainment among single mothers has sweeping

implications for family well-being and the health of the U.S. economy. Single mother families are increasingly common and have lower incomes and higher poverty rates than other family types. In 2015, nearly a quarter (23 percent) of children were being raised in single-parent households, compared with 11 percent in 1970 (U.S. Census Bureau 2015). As of 2015, only 18 percent of single mothers held a B.A. or higher, compared with 44 percent of married mothers, and 33 percent of women overall (U.S. Census Bureau 2015; Ryan and Bauman 2016). Investing in single mother college attainment would allow substantially more families to bene$t from college through gains in earnings, and positive outcomes for children, better health, and a stronger U.S. economy. This session will describe program and research initiatives designed to inspire and increase investments in single mother student success. Lindsey Reichlin Cruse of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) will present new analysis of the single mother population, in and out of college, their financial and time related challenges while in school, and their comparative completion rates. Dr. Elizabeth Noll will introduce the goals and methodology a new IWPR cost-benefit study that will assess the costs and benefits of greater institutional, state, and federal investments in single mothers’ postsecondary educational attainment. Ann Reynolds will share perspectives on single mothers’ experiences while pursuing college from her standpoint as CCAMPIS Adviser

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at Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC), as well as a former student mother herself. She will discuss institutional engagement and program strategies pursued to promote single mothers’ college persistence and graduation. Attendees will also hear from Michel Cocuzza, a MWCC student mother about the challenges and benefits of being a parent in college, the supports she has received that have been the most effective in helping her remain enrolled, and her perception of the role a college education will play in her life and the life of her children. The session will conclude with an open discussion with session attendees about the array of benefits of higher education for single mothers, their children, and communities more widely. Presenters will also seek attendees’ input into the program models, interventions, and policy mechanisms that show promise as scalable initiatives to improve single mother college enrollment and attainment.


Understanding Single Mother Stories in the Community CollegeDelia “Dee Dee” Bober, Cuyahoga Community College

This presentation is based on my qualitative dissertation research which sought to explore and understand single-mother community college students’ perceptions of their ability to succeed. The theoretical framework which guided this research was the Bandura’s (1977) social

cognitive theory concept of self-efficacy, defined as a persona’s belief in his/her ability to succeed. Given prevalent deficit mindset surrounding the single-mother population, this study sought to flip the negative narrative and investigate these students through a strengths-based lens.


Keys to Degrees: What We Can Learn from Wraparound Programs About Supporting Single Parents in CollegeAutumn R. Green, Ph.D., Endicott College, Lisa Wittorff, Portland State University, Joan Demeules, Beth Hamer & Stephanie Bowman, St. Catherine University, Roland Bullard, Dillard University, and Elise Buggs, Eastern Michigan University

Wraparound program models such as the Keys to Degrees model have been incredibly successful in helping single parent students succeed in completing college,

boasting some of the highest degree completion rates for student parents nationally. This is despite a tendency of these programs to serve the highest risk student parent sub-populations (e.g. young parents, families experiencing homelessness, people escaping domestic violence prior to enrollment, etc.). These programs, often led by trained social workers, provide a comprehensive approach to student parent success which often includes on-campus housing, safe affordable childcare, social and family gatherings, academic support, coaching or case management, and mentoring. However wraparound programs are uncommon on college and university campuses, in part because they are viewed as cost prohibitive. In this workshop representatives from the Keys to Degrees Programs at Endicott College, Dillard University, Eastern Michigan University, Portland State University and St. Catherine University will discuss their experiences working with wraparound programs, challenges to supporting and sustaining these initiatives on their campuses, and opportunities for growth within wraparound program models.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 15

4:45 – 6:00 p.m.Keynote Address: Learning Against the Odds: Single Mothers as College StudentsLSB Auditorium

Although these has been a good deal of attention to the various ways in which single mothers are marginalized in American society, there has been realtively little attention to the experiences of single mothers who attend college. Single mothers who are college students tend to regard their pursuit of a college degree as an extension of their mothering work—that is, as something they do to set a good example for their children and to help move their families toward a middle-class lifestyle. They also pursue postsecondary education as a means of demonstrating to themselves and to others that they are “good mothers”. Yet within the context of postsecondary institutions, single mothers face a challenge that is unique: a “chilly climate” that marginalizes that stigmatizes them and, consequently, can threaten their ability to successfully complete a college degree.

This presentation, drawing on data collected during an 8-year ethnographic study that included the experiences of nearly 100 women, details the “chilly climate” facing single mothers who are college students. It attends to both the obvious and the subtle aspects of the “chilly climate,” including how the stigmatization and marginalization of single mothers who are collect students is evident in the actions and attitudes of faculty, staff, and students as well as in formal and informal institutional policies. Yet single mothers do not bear the “chilly climate” or its effect passively. On the contrary, they employ a variety of strategies to manage their identity and attempt to avoid stigmatization. They also actively challenge the stereotypes of single mothers they encountered in classrooms and across campus. And in doing so, they help shape knowledge, counter stigma, and take important steps to help adjust the thermostat and make institutions of higher education a bit less “chilly” for themselves and other single mothers.

Keynote Address Jillian Duquaine-Watson, Ph.D.

Jillian Duquaine-Watson, Ph.D., author of the bookMothering by Degrees: Single Mothers and the Pursuit of Postsecondary Education

Dr. Jillian M. Duqaine-Watson earned her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa. She is an educator and anti-oppression advocate with diverse teaching and research interests. She has long been involved with non-governmental and non-profit organizations and holds certificates in non-profit management, responsible NGO management, cultural competence and maternal and child health. At present, Dr. Duquaine-Watson is a full-time Senior Lecturer II and Program Head of the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Program (MAIS) at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is an award-winning educator who has taught a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in Women’s and Gender Studies, American Studies, Political Science, Rhetoric/Communication Studies, Anthropology, International Development and Sociology.

6:00-6:30 Book Signing | LSB AtriumA limited number of books will be available for sale at the registration desk.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 16

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.Keynote Panel: When Student Parents SucceedLSB Auditorium

PanelistsKatrina Costa, Endicott College ’14 Associate Research Scientist at Cell Signaling, Beverly, MAMaria Valgoi, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health AllianceNicole Parsons, Ed.D. Candidate ’17, Endicott College

Moderated by Dr. Sheila M. Katz, University of Houston

Panelist Bios

Sheila Katz uses qualitative methodologies to explore women’s experiences in poverty, on welfare, accessing health and human services, in higher education, and during the Great Recession. She conducts longitudinal qualitative research with single mothers who graduated from higher education while participating in the welfare system in the San Francisco Bay Area. She interviewed the same participants three times, in 2006, 2008, 2011 with a 78% retention rate, and her research explores the needs of families who pursued higher education while on welfare, how families fared during/after the “Great Recession,” the role of grassroots advocacy organizations in their lives, and policy issues for welfare reauthorization. This project received national funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Poverty Center. She is currently writing the book manuscript based on this research: Reformed American Dreams: Welfare Mothers in Higher Education During the Great Recession. Dr. Katz is an elected board member of the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology. (CAPACS), and also contributes to the ACLU Reproductive Freedom project and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Student Parent Initiative.

Prior to coming to the University of Houston, Dr. Katz was an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at Sonoma State University. From 2003-2013, Dr. Katz collaborated with community based organization, Low Income Families’ Empowerment through Education (LIFETIME), conducting community based participatory research in the “Family Violence is NOT an Option” and the “Education Works” projects. Dr. Katz holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Vanderbilt University.

Katrina Costa is an IHC Research Associate at Cell Signaling a leading biotech research firm in Beverly, Massachusetts. Katrina graduated from Endicott College’s Keys to Degrees Program in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biotechnology. While at Endicott Katrina served as a peer tutor and received multiple honors including nomination to Mortarboard Honors Society.

Maria Valgoi received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology with an academic concentration in African American studies from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Safety Net program at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. This position allows her to reach vulnerable youth through interdisciplinary partnerships with Cambridge Health Alliance Victims of Violence Clinic, Cambridge Police Department, and Cambridge Public Schools.

Nicole Parsons is a doctoral candidate in Endicott College’s Ed.D. in Higher EducationLeadership program, currently completing her dissertation on the developmental experiences of young single parents as residential undergraduate students. Nicole completed three consecutive research fellowships with the National Center for Student Parent Programs in 2014-15 and has been an active contributor to Endicott

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College’s Keys to Degrees program, the Keys to Degrees young parents’ college retreat, and the Jeremiah-Endicott single parent partnership program in Boston. Nicole’s projects with the National Center for Student Parent Programs have included the New England Survey of Student Parent Support Programs, the National Survey of Residential Student Parent Programs, and research related to the Jeremiah-Endicott partnership. Nicole is a trained facilitator of the Jeremiah Program’s empowerment curriculum. She is also an actively engaged middle school teacher in the Beverly Public Schools, and a mother of three.

Katrina Costa is an IHC Research Associate at Cell Signaling a leading biotech research firm in Beverly, Massachusetts. Katrina graduated from Endicott College’s Keys to Degrees Program in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biotechnology. While at Endicott Katrina served as a peer tutor and received multiple honors including nomination to Mortarboard Honors Society.

Maria Valgoi received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology with an academic concentration in African American studies from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Safety Net program at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. This position allows her to reach vulnerable youth through interdisciplinary partnerships with Cambridge Health Alliance Victims of Violence Clinic, Cambridge Police Department, and Cambridge Public Schools.

Nicole Parsons is a doctoral candidate in Endicott College’s Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership program, currently completing her dissertation on the developmental experiences of young single parents as residential undergraduate students. Nicole completed three consecutive research fellowships with the National Center for Student Parent Programs in 2014-15 and has been an active contributor to Endicott College’s Keys to Degrees program, the Keys to Degrees young parents’ college retreat, and the Jeremiah-Endicott single parent partnership program in Boston. Nicole’s projects with the National Center for Student Parent Programs have included the New England Survey of Student Parent Support Programs, the National Survey of Residential Student Parent Programs, and research related to the Jeremiah-Endicott partnership. Nicole is a trained facilitator of the Jeremiah Program’s empowerment curriculum. She is also an actively engaged middle school teacher in the Beverly Public Schools, and a mother of three.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 16 | 9:45 – 11:00 A.M. | CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS


Balancing Books & Babies: Teen Parents Past and PresentAnjanette Vaidya, Rutgers University Students with Children

This workshop looks presents a format for outreach to teen parents looking at highly successful teen parents past and present’. I start out by showing the stats on teen pregnancy as well as how many young single mothers there are entering college per year. Then participants will play ‘the student parent game’ to explore how and why young mothers have a less than 2% chance of completing a bachelor’s degree by age 30. Anjanette weaves in her own experiences as a young mother to highlight the challenges of completing college and will then highlight highly successful teen parents and to critique their lives--not through the lens of the common narrative that if only teen moms work hard enough they can be like these women — but really, what supports and resources did these successful women tap into? What do these moms need? How can we help them succeed?


Mothers Who Made It: Best Practices for Student Parent SuccessSheila M. Katz, Ph.D., University of Houston

Using sociological research with low-income mothers in college, this workshop will explore the common characteristics of the student parents who “made it” after graduation. Several of

the “characteristics” are common experiences based on knowledge of social programs, job search techniques, budgeting, planning, and negotiation of the next phase of their parenting and career building. Many of these characteristics can be taught or emphasized by student parent support programs, while participants are still in college, so that student parents are optimally situated when they graduate to move into career-track employment at wages that support their families. This workshop will have three components, first I will briefly cover the research these recommendations are based on. Second, we will discuss what workshop participants’ programs currently do in these areas; last, we’ll brainstorm how to implement these practices to increase student success.


Stories We Tell: Narrative and ResistenceJoanne Levenson and Ellisha Walker, University of Massachusetts Amherst

“Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”

-- Chimamanda Ngozi AdichiePersonal narrative is frequently dismissed as “just stories”, mere anecdotes, of limited utility when compared against “real data.” But stories are powerful, programmatically and in terms of student parent identity and growth. Writing and sharing

these stories represents real opportunity for empowerment, affirmation, possibility, and hope. This workshop seeks to explore the power of narrative as a site of voice, vision, agency, and resistance for underrepresented student parents, particularly underrepresented student parents. The workshop provides facilitators working with dual generation families the knowledge, tools, materials, and support necessary to develop a family book and enhance literacy practices.


The Boston Student Parent InitiativeMarcelo Juica and Brian Pellenin, Endicott College Boston

This session will provide an overview of the parent-support strategies at Endicott College Boston. Our campus is five years old and parent and family work has been one of the cornerstones of the campus since its inception. Since 2012, at least 40 parenting students participated in coaching, academic and social-development support services while pursuing their undergraduate degrees. Some students participate in a more intensive wrap around support system with us and our partner, Jeremiah Program (a Minneapolis-Based non-profit). Other students participate in a less intensive support model that includes campus-based coaching, family support events, and social capital development with other campus parents. The focus on students AND their families has helped the Boston campus achieve extraordinary retention and graduation success.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 16 | 11:15 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. | CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS


Mindful Parenting Workshops: Using a 2-Generation Approach to Improve Family Coping Skills & Student SuccessLisa Wittorff, MSW, Portland State University

Mindfulness techniques have been shown to improve self-regulation, mood and general coping skills . Brain-based parenting takes mindfulness a step further, recognizing that understanding how a child’s developmental level affects their behavior can be a very useful tool in parenting. Understanding the brain’s role in stress reactions can lead to reduced stress and intentional management of both the child’s and parent’s stress levels. Services for Students with Children (SSWC) at Portland State University combined mindfulness and brain based parenting and developed a series of workshops to help parents use these techniques and related information with their families to improve family coping skills and student success. The workshops were developed using a 2-Generation approach, providing developmentally appropriate curriculum for children and parents using a mindfulness perspective. This presentation will outline the program as developed by SSWC, using a combination of lecture, large and small group discussion, and Q&A.


Growing Up Together on Campus: Single Mothers as Residential UndergraduatesNicole Parsons, Endicott College

This workshop will present the findings of a single-case study investigation of student mothers who participated in the full residential experience, with their child alongside them. We will learn how student mothers managed to deal with the dual challenges of developing as a student and as a mother through the following themes: entrance to college, maturing as a college student, maturing as a mother, becoming a career-driven professional, and growing up together. A summary of how student parents met the dual developmental challenges and what the college did to mitigate the challenges will be learned.


Single-Mother Students: The Geographic Context of Motivation for Degree Seeking PursuitsPerry Threlfall, Ph.D., George Mason University

The research presented in this workshop will provide a qualitative discussion of the motivations that single mothers in college

communicate regarding their decisions to seek an education. These discussions will be triangulated with quantitative evidence of the geographic patterns that single mothers in college attend various programs, as demonstrated in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study of 2012-3. Mixed methods examinations of the experiences of single mother students will offer greater insight to the particular motivations for the degree seeking behavior of these women. This feminist oriented research is grounded in the notion that the facilitation of educational inclusion for single mother students must be a priority, as it addresses the conditions of marginalization during a period of profound economic and sociopolitical change.

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.World Café: Ideas into Action Closing & TakeawaysCallahan Dining Hall

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Workshop Presenter Bios


Delia (Dee Dee) Bober serves at Cuyahoga Community College as the Dean of Academic Affairs at the Metropolitan Campus. In her 19 year higher education administration career, she also served as Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts, Director of Faculty and Curriculum, Director of Marketing and Program Director at Cuyahoga Community College, Ursuline College, and Lake Erie College respectively. Prior to her profession in higher education, Dee Dee was a marketing professional with a local advertising agency and Fifth Third Bank. Among her notable accomplishments, De Dee has earned the League for Innovation 2013 “Innovation of the Year Award” and is a two-time winner of the Usuline College Accelerated Program “Teacher of the Year” Award (2009 and 2003). She holds a Ph.D. from Kent State University (May 2017) in Higher Education Administration and has both Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Communication from Ohio University. Stephanie Bowman is Assistant Coordinator of the Access and Success Program at St. Catherine University. Stephanie has been with Access and Success since 2013 after completing a Master of Social Work degree from St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas. Stephanie works with associate degree and certificate students, providing assessment, referral and individual support to student parents. Stephanie works with the program staff to manage a variety of support services and several social events held each year from student parents. Stephanie also provides ongoing support and case management for students participating in the Keys to Success program. Roland Bullard is Vice President for Student Success at Dillard University through which he oversees the Keys to Success Program and Student Parent Center. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Elise Buggs is Director of Academic Success Partnerships at Eastern Michigan University through which she has overseen the Keys to Degrees Program. She holds an MBA from Davenport University.

Karsten Cash. As College and Career Success Counselor, Karsten works with a caseload of One Family Scholars offering them academic advising and career coaching. Karsten attended Wesleyan University where he received a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies with a concentration in American Government. Following his undergraduate work, he matriculated into the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he obtained a Masters in Social Justice Education. Beyond college, he did college access work through non-profits; student affairs work (academic advising and event programming/support) on multiple college campuses and was an assistant principal at both charter and public schools in the greater Boston area.

Heather Cole is a student parent at Northern Kentucky University majority in geology. Additionally, she was one of the first residents at the Northern Kentucky Scholar House in Newport, Kentucky. She works as a student assistant in the Parents Attending College (PAC) program on the NKU campus, and volunteers at the Brighton Center, a local nonprofit. Ms. Cole started at NKU in January of 2013, but it wasn’t until late 2016 that Ms. Cole became involved in PAC and started to meet other non-traditional students who share many of the same struggles she experienced. In the months since, she has devoted her time in the program to finding

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community resources for financially insecure student parents, developing calendars of educational and volunteer opportunities, and organizing presenters for Parent Cafes on campus. Ms. Cole finds immeasurable strength and inspiration in her 7-year old son Elijah. They live with their cats Socrates and Paris and guinea pig Charlie Snicker Piggleworth in Kentucky.

Michel Cocuzza is a student parent and CCAMPIS participant at Mt. Wachusett Community College.

Lindsey Reichlin Cruse – See Keynote Speaker Bio

Joan Demeules is the director of the Access and Success program for student parents at St. Catherine University in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. In 1994 Joan began Access and Success as a small pilot program and has helped it to grow to serve parenting students at all degree levels across two campuses. Joan is co-author with Beth Hamer of “Retaining Young Student Parents: A Growing Challenge” in the higher education journal About Campus. She directs overall operation of the program for student parents including outreach, service provision, fund development, and budget management. A licensed social worker, Joan has worked with low-income women and families since 1977.

Jocelyn Fetalver is the Family Services Coordinator of Family Scholar House and has been with the agency for over 10 years. Her position is focused on the coordination and delivery of family support services for low income single parent student families. Jocelyn has specialized in health initiatives and financial wellness programming for both adults and children at Family Scholar House. Jocelyn provides supervision to family advocates and social work interns at the agency. In addition, Jocelyn facilitates Financial Empowerment Training for the community in partnership with Louisville Metro Government. She is also an adjunct social work professor at the Kent School of Social Work. Jocelyn has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology from the University of Louisville and Masters in Social Work from the University of Louisville Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work. Jocelyn is from Louisville, Kentucky and enjoys her time with her family, traveling, art, farmers markets and being in nature.

Sarah Galison is a graduate student at Boston College in the Master of Social Work – Macro Track Program. In the fall, she will be interning at the Jeremiah Program in Roxbury, MA. Sarah is a Student Parent Ambassador with Ascend at the Aspen Institute and has worked as a Research Assistant for the National Center for Student Parent Programs and as Coordinator for the 2017 Student Parent Ambassadors program during the symposium. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Education as part of the Keys to Degrees Program in 2016. After completing her MSW, Sarah intends to begin a career working with student parents at the high school or college level.

Autumn R. Green is the Director of the National Center for Student Parent Programs andAssistant Professor of Sociology at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. Dr. Green is an expert in the areas of poverty, family & social policy, higher education access and success for non-traditional students and student parents, and two-generation anti-poverty strategies. As Director of the National Center for Student Parent Programs, Dr. Green has overseen multiple initiatives including the Keys to Degrees National Replication Program, Advanced Scholars and Graduate Research Fellowships, and partnerships between the Program Evaluation & Research Group and National Center for Student Parent Programs. Dr. Green completed her own education as a student parent and holds a Doctorate in Sociology from Boston College, a M.Ed. in Arts Integrated Programs from Lesley University, and undergraduate degrees from University of Oregon and Chemeketa Community College.

Sahar Haghighat is a doctoral student of Public and Applied Sociology at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She was the 2015- 2016 graduate fellow at the National Center for Student Parent Programs at Endicott College and continues to work with the Center in support of a national guidebook to colleges and universities supporting student parents. Her current research explores women’s

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participation in the 2009 Iranian Green Movement closely examining how this participation shaped the gendered aesthetics and transnational frames of the movement. Sahar specializes in participatory, qualitative and feminist approaches to social research. She practices public sociology, which necessitates close engagement with the communities she studies. Her interest in student parents originated from her experiences working with this population as a community college instructor. This professional concern became personal in 2015 when Sahar became a student parent.

Beth Hamer has had a long career working with families and children. She has worked in St. Catherine University’s Access and Success program since 1998. Ms. Hamer provides support and assistance to student parents working toward a baccalaureate degree, including intensive case management with students participating in the Keys to Success program. She advises the Students Who are Parents (SWAP) club, works with the St. Kate’s Violence Prevention Collective, Food Insecurity Project and the Retention Advisory Committee. Prior to her work at St. Kate’s, Ms. Hamer worked with refugee adolescents from Southeast Asia and with families joined together by adoption.

Hortencia Jiménez earned her Ph.D from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a professor of Sociology at Hartnell College and the editor of the forthcoming book Readings in Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration. Her work has appeared in Social Problems, Latino Studies, Journal of Community College Moment, and Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas En Letras y Cambio Social.

Amanda Johnson is the Learning Experience and Parenting Coordinator at Northern Kentucky University. In this role, she coordinates programming for student parents, connects student parents to resources both on and off campus, and serves as case manager for those student parents on government assistance. As a student parent herself, Amanda graduated from NKU with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. She is currently working toward her Master’s in Public Administration with a focus on Nonprofit Management.

Marcelo Juica is the founding director of the Endicott College Boston program. Prior to coming to Endicott he ran a project at the Urban College of Boston under a federal FIPSE research grant to study bilingual early childhood education associate degree students. His leadership in this project helped the institution to develop new student support systems to ensure that bilingual students could graduate a faster while addressing their needs to improve in English Language Skills while employed as early childhood providers. Mr. Juica has a master’s degree from Boston University in Bilingual Education and Technology, and is writing his doctoral dissertation about the experiences of undocumented students in college through Lesley University. He is interested in immigrant and underserved populations in higher education through his research and courses that he teaches. He is a native of Chile and has lived Boston for many years.

Joan Karp is a Senior Research Associate at the Program Evaluation & Research Group (PERG) at Endicott College. In recent years, a large portion of her work has been focused on student parents in higher education. Joan is an author of PERG’s study: Baccalaureate Student Parent Programs and the Students They Serve, and The Family Friendly Campus Toolkit. She has also worked with colleagues to study Keys to Degrees replication programs, and a non-residential Jeremiah Program partnership with Endicott Boston. Her other work at PERG has involved a variety of projects ranging from evaluation of museum exhibitions, K-16 teacher professional development projects, and partnerships between K-12, community college, and universities, often involving STEM education.

Sheila Katz uses qualitative methodologies to explore women’s experiences in poverty, on welfare, accessing health and human services, in higher education, and during the Great Recession. She conducts longitudinal qualitative research with single mothers who graduated from higher education while participating in the welfare system in the San Francisco Bay Area. She interviewed the same participants three times, in 2006, 2008, 2011 with a 78% retention rate, and her research explores the needs of families who pursued higher education while

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on welfare, how families fared during/after the “Great Recession,” the role of grassroots advocacy organizations in their lives, and policy issues for welfare reauthorization. This project received national funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Poverty Center. She is currently writing the book manuscript based on this research: Reformed American Dreams: Welfare Mothers in Higher Education During the Great Recession. Dr. Katz is an elected board member of the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology. (CAPACS), and also contributes to the ACLU Reproductive Freedom project and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Student Parent Initiative.Prior to coming to the University of Houston, Dr. Katz was an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at Sonoma State University. From 2003-2013, Dr. Katz collaborated with community based organization, Low Income Families’ Empowerment through Education (LIFETIME), conducting community based participatory research in the “Family Violence is NOT an Option” and the “Education Works” projects. Dr. Katz holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Vanderbilt University.Joanne Levenson M.S. is the ෨rst Director of the O෨ce of Family Resources at the Universityof Massachusetts Amherst. The O෨ce of Family Resources was established in 2006 to improve the quality of life for campus families with young children. The program’s main mission is to provide UMass Amherst parents with young children access to education and enrichment opportunities so that they can better manage the challenges of parenting while pursuing academic and/or professional responsibilities. Prior to working at the O෨ce of Family Resources Joanne was Director of the campus’s Commuter Services and Housing Resource.

Judith Marks. As Program Coordinator, Judith works with a caseload of One Family Scholars offering them academic advising and career coaching. Prior to joining One Family, Judith was a high school teacher in a Title I school in North Philadelphia. In addition to teaching, Judith founded and facilitated a Peer Mediation program at Olney Charter High School. Judith has a B.A. in International and Global Studies from Brandeis University and an Ed.M. from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Liz Noll is a Senior Research Scientist with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Student Parent Success Initiative. A former community college student parent raising a four-year old daughter, Liz was instrumental in starting the first Children’s Center at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania more than twenty years ago. After receiving an Associate Degree in Computer Science, she went on to complete bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sociology from Temple University and a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Pennsylvania. Liz’s work focuses on policy research and program evaluation related to supports for student parents.

Nereida Oliva received her PhD from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah and is currently a professor of Ethnic Studies at Hartnell College. Olivia’s co-authored chapters on community student mothers has been published in Readings in Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration edited by Hortencia Jiménez and a forthcoming chapter in Chicana M(other)work Anthology: Porque Sin Madres No Hay Revolución edited by C. Caballero, Martínez-Vu, Y., Pérez-Torres, J.C., Téllez, M., & Vega, C.

Elizabeth Osche is the Associate Director at PERG where she has been for over 10 years. Recently Elizabeth has been involved in the research and evaluation of 2-Generation programs, aimed at helping young student parents succeed in college. This work is highlighted by the study Baccalaureate Student Parent Programs and the Students They Serve, the development of the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit, and an implementation study of a non-residential model for the Jeremiah Program in Boston. She has also worked on a variety of other projects in multiple capacities ranging from large Math/Science partnerships to small museum and aquarium projects. Nicole Parsons is a doctoral candidate in Endicott College’s Ed.D. in Higher EducationLeadership program, currently completing her dissertation on the developmental experiences of young single parents as residential undergraduate students. Nicole completed three consecutive research fellowships with the National Center for Student Parent Programs in 2014-15 and has been an active contributor to Endicott College’s Keys to Degrees program, the Keys to Degrees young parents’ college retreat, and the Jeremiah-Endicott single parent partnership program in Boston. Nicole’s projects with the National Center for Student Parent Programs have included the New England Survey of Student Parent Support Programs, the National Survey

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of Residential Student Parent Programs, and research related to the Jeremiah-Endicott partnership. Nicole is a trained facilitator of the Jeremiah Program’s empowerment curriculum. She is also an actively engaged middle school teacher in the Beverly Public Schools, and a mother of three.

Brian Pellinen serves as the Academic Dean of Professional Studies and Endicott College Boston. He brings to this position more than 20 years of experience in higher education, including experience as a community college vice president, department chair, English/Humanities professor, and various student advising roles. As the Academic Dean of Professional Studies, Brian is responsible for creating programs that increase student access and oversees a curriculum that helps students advance their career options. At Endicott College, Undergraduate Professional Studies includes branch campuses, evening programs, online options, as well as Endicott’s summer classes, and January intersession courses.

Ann Reynolds is the CCAMPIS Program Advisor at Mt. Wachusett Community College (MWCC). She started her own educational journey when her eldest of four children left for college. Ann received an AA in Human Services from MWCC before transferring to Assumption College, where she obtained a BA in Human Services and Rehabilitation Studies and is currently studying for an MA in Rehabilitation Counseling. At MWCC, Ann oversees 30 student parents. She helps them adjust to the role of student parent by offering workshops, connecting them to resources on & off campus, and providing ongoing support. Ann is also the advisor to the Parent Support Group, a club committed to supporting fellow students throughout their academic journey. She is also a member of The National Coalition for Campus Children’s Centers and its newly formed ad hoc committee on advocacy and CCAMPIS. Ann resides in Fitchburg, MA with her husband & dog Moose. She enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, reading, & travel.

Perry Threlfall is an instructor of sociology at George Mason University and an associate researcher in the Center for Social Science Research at George Mason University. She examines the institutional forces that facilitate mobility in the context of rapid sociopolitical change using critical feminist analysis. Her research focus is social capital, mobility, and inequality at the public discourse and policy application levels for women in marginalized spaces.

Anjanette Vaidya is pursuing a double major in Geography and African Studies and a minor in Environmental Studies at Rutgers University. Her commitment to social and environmental justice has led to her volunteer with organizes such as Species Alliance, the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, and the People’s Improvement Organization in Phenom Pehn, Cambodia. As a former teen mother, she is committed to supporting positive outcomes for women of color and women from disadvantaged backgrounds through empowerment and greater access to resources. She firmly believes that an intersectional approach to supporting women in higher education means supporting mothers in higher education. As such, she is the founder and president of Rutgers Students with Children (RSWC), an on-campus organization made up of feminists and scholars who seek educational equity for student parents. She recently hosted a workshop entitled, Balancing Books and Babies: A Look at highly Success Teen Parents Past and Present” for pregnant and parenting teens across New Jersey at the 2017 PROJECT Teach Teen Conference. She has also developed an empowerment community outreach initiative for teen parents that is in the beginning stages. Her recent research on young mothers in higher education was accepted for presentation at the 2017 Feminist Geography conference held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a collective member of Black Women’s Birthing Justice and is currently a doula in training committed to reproductive justice for women of color, including teen mothers.

Ellisha Walker is a student parent and recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Lisa Wittorff is the Director of Services for Students with Children at Portland State University. Lisa obtained her Master of Social Work degree from California State University at Sacramento, and then worked for 22 years in child welfare. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, but ෨nds her joy in working with student parents.

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She came to her current position in 2012, and completely revitalized the program for students with children at Portland State. The program now includes a fexible childcare center, a large childcare subsidy program, a dedicated lounge space for students and their children, and much more. Services for Students with Children won the 2017 NASPA Adult Learners and Student Parent Knowledge Community’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student Parent Program award under Lisa’s direction. The program is currently excited to be working on a replication of the Keys to Degrees program, thanks to a sub-grant from Endicott College.

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