Transcript Today’s College Student: The “New” Traditional

Today’s College Student:
The “New” Traditional
La’Cresha Moore
Student Development Coordinator
University of North Texas Health Science Center
Brett Bruner
Director of Persistence & Retention
Fort Hays State University (KS)
2013 NODA Region IV Conference
Little Rock, AR
Overview
 Learning Outcomes
 Framework of the “New” Traditional
 Campus Examples
 Resources
 Roundtable Sharing
Learning Outcomes
After attending this session, participants will
 Discuss the profile & needs of today’s college student.
 Identify barriers for non-traditional student populations.
 Share research & proven processes/approaches to meeting
the unique needs of these populations.
 Brainstorm strategies for emerging needs & innovative
programs.
Who are Non-Traditional
Students?
The Non-Traditional Student Network defines the non-traditional
student as anyone who is not a first-time, full-time, straight out of high
school, college student. This means that any student that identifies as
any one or more of the following categories is non-traditional:
 Part-time
 Returning (re-entry)
 Commuter
 Veteran
 Works full-time while enrolled
 Has dependents other than a spouse/partner
 Does not have a high school diploma (completed a GED or
equivalent or did not finish high school)
Framework of the “New” Traditional
Complete College America (2011). Time is the Enemy: The surprising
truth about why today’s college students aren’t graduating…AND
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE.
 Seventy-five percent of today’s college student are juggling some
combination of families, jobs, and school while commuting to class.
 Only twenty-five percent go full time, attend residential colleges and have
most of their bills paid by their parents.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics (April, 2009). A profile of military Service Members and
Veterans enrolled in postsecondary education in 2007-2008.
 Over 660,000 undergraduate students are Veterans, constituting about 3% of
all undergraduates.
 Only 15% of student Veterans are traditionally aged college students (18-23).
 Most student Veterans are enrolled in public 2-year (43.3%) and 4-year
institutions (21.4%).
Non-Traditional Students
Enrollment Considerations
Referral
9.1%
18.8%
Convenience
11.9%
16.9%
18%
Availability of
Program
Location
Class Format
InsideTrack. An Analysis of inquiry, nonstart, and drop reasons in
nontraditional university student populations, prepared by Kai Drekmeier &
Christopher Tilghman. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved February 2nd, 2012
Non-Traditional Students
Reasons for Dropping Out
8.6%
9.3%
29.7%
13.2%
Managing
Commitments
Finances
Effectiveness
25.9%
Commitment to
graduation
Health and
Support
InsideTrack. An Analysis of inquiry, nonstart, and drop reasons in nontraditional
university student populations, prepared by Kai Drekmeier & Christopher Tilghman.
San Francisco, CA. Retrieved February 2nd, 2012
Framework of the “New” Traditional
Lewin, T. (2013, January 24). To raise graduation rate, colleges
are urged to help a changing student body. The New York
Times.
 Agreement that completion needs to be priority
 Calls for extensive reforms to serving changing college
population
 Services & flexibility for nontraditional student populations
 “We concentrate on getting the bodies in (admissions) but [not]
seeing that they get through & graduate” (Gee, 2013).
 Policies & practices built when higher ed populations were
traditional-aged
Framework of the “New” Traditional
Lewin, T. (2013, January 24). To raise graduation rate, colleges
are urged to help a changing student body. The New York
Times.
 Intersection of the higher education community as a whole

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American Council on Education (ACE)
American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU)
Association of American Universities (AAU)
Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (APLU)
National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities
(NAICU)
Campus Examples:
University of North Texas Health
Science Center
 Public State Institution: Graduate and Professional Students
 Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician Assistants,
Physical Therapy, School of Public Health and Graduate School of
Biomedical Science
 1,949 Students
 Veteran Benefits Coordinator
 On-line tutoring
 On and off-campus counseling services
 Spouse Support Organization
 Housing and Relocation Fair
 In-person orientation required for all new students
 On-line orientation in development stages
Campus Examples:
Fort Hays State University (KS)
 Regional public institution of 12,500 students
 8000+ students enrolled in the Virtual College
 Tiger Tots Nurtury Center
 Housed within Student Life Cluster in Division of Student Affairs
 Resource for students with dependents
 Hiring of a full-time Military Student Success Specialist (through
the Virtual College)
 Adult Learner Orientation (in-person & streamed online) during
Tiger Impact Week
 Roadmap for 2020 Strategic Plan
 Enrollment Growth: Serve more Kansas adult learners
 Persistence: Improve persistence of virtual learners
Resources
 NODA Non-Traditional Student Network
http://noda.orgsync.com/network_nontraditional_student
 Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education
http://www.antshe.org/
 NASPA Knowledge Community for Adult Learners & Students with
Children
http://www.naspa.org/kc/alsckc.cfm
 NASPA Knowledge Community for Veterans
http://www.naspa.org/kc/veterans/default.cfm
 ACPA Commission for Commuter Students & Adult Learners
http://www2.myacpa.org/commuter-home
 National Clearinghouse for Commuter Programs
http://nccp.nsuok.edu/
Roundtable Sharing
 Areas of interest to discuss –
 What are the needs of non-traditional students on your campus?
 What challenges/barriers do you face in meeting these needs?
 What programs, strategies, resources, services, etc. have been
successful for you?
 What innovative ideas would you want to share with the group?
 Non-Traditional Student Populations
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Part-time
Returning (Re-entry)
Commuter
Veteran
Works full-time while enrolled
Has dependents other than a spouse/partner
Doesn’t have a high school diploma (completed a GED or equivalent
or didn’t finish high school)
Non-Traditional Student Network
Network Chairs:
Justin Jones
Arizona State University
[email protected]
Natalie Gempesaw-Pangan
University of Washington - Seattle
[email protected]
Region 4 Representative:
La’Cresha Moore
UNT Health Science Center
[email protected]
Non-Traditional Student Network List Serv:
[email protected]
Today’s College Student:
The “New” Traditional
La’Cresha Moore
Student Development Coordinator
University of North Texas Health Science Center
[email protected]
Brett Bruner
Director of Persistence & Retention
Fort Hays State University (KS)
[email protected]