THE TRANSITION TO COLLEGE
(submitted by Joann Gromel-Barnard)
Bartlett, Thomas. “Freshman Pay, Mentally and Physically, as They Adjust to Life
In College”. The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://nsse.iub.edu/articles,
February 2002.
The article focuses on a 2001 study, conducted by the higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, which administered a freshman orientation survey over two years. The survey hoped to identify what happens to students during the important first transition year, that could help colleges understand factors that influence student success.
Overall, survey findings indicate that students felt more overwhelmed, with higher rates of depression and fewer students incorporating physical exercise into their weekly schedules. The study showed that almost 40% of freshman said they felt bored in class, valuing faculty lectures less than group discussions and field experiences.
A significant change was observed in numbers of students attending religious services, but many continue to search for a way to integrate spirituality into their lives in a new way. The survey also showed that students show greater interest in developing a meaningful philosophy of life.
Mr. Bartlett challenges college faculty to “pay close attention” to these study results and statistics. Another survey was slated to be conducted, involving 125 colleges, in follow up to this article.
Krouse, Ann & Paul. “Learning a New Role…For Parents”. National Research
Center for College and University Admissions,
http://www.nrccua.org/student.
The authors are parents of four children, who each entered college from 1987-1994. They also publish “Who’s Who Among American High School Students”.
This brief article highlights important ways that parents can stay involved and supportive of their children, during the college selection process and as they prepare for those final decisions. Be involved from the beginning, including attending student/counselor meetings, college fairs and college tours. Listen to your child’s preferences and remain patient with the process. The authors call for parents to understand that separation is a stop-and-start process, and reluctance to complete tasks may not be an indicator of laziness but rather a sign of normal anxiety and fear of change.
I particularly liked that this article addressed the importance of parents respecting their child’s privacy, during this process. They caution parents to let their student disclose personal information, like SAT scores and GPA, rather than letting these be items of conversation at family gatherings or cocktail parties. They use the analogy of a student disclosing a parent’s income or bank account information openly. Many parents display remarkably bad judgement, when it comes to the personal details of their child’s life.
Swail, Dr. Watson Scott. “Barriers to Student Retention and Success on College
Campuses.” Student Success, a publication of the Educational Policy
Institute, March 2006.
“Student Success” is published monthly and is available at www.studentretention.org. This is a first article, in a three part series about student retention on college campuses.
Dr. Swail is the President of the Educational Policy Institute.
The importance of student relationships and involvement in campus life is the focus of Dr. Swail’s concerns in this article. He provides a history of campus studies conducted in the 1970’s and 1980’s, that focused on factors affecting student retention and graduation, indicators of positive transitions to university and college campuses. Dr. Swail’s primary thesis is that administrators must ensure there is support for students across all areas of student life, not simply academic support, in order to assist with the “social integration into the fabric of the university”. He identifies five areas of campus responsibility, that support students towards a positive transition to campus life, and provides an interactive framework for improving student retention and academic success.
Dr. Swail goes on to identify student experiences that negatively impact student persistence and the overcoming of transition issues: poor relationships, bureaucratic processes, isolation, bias/prejudice, sense of failure, unsupportive environments, lack of meaningful connections and interactions with the community and faculty.
This article places responsibility directly on campus administrators and other professionals to address students’ social and emotional issues during the freshman transition process. “What is it that your students need to succeed, and what are the major reasons that students leave?” is a primary question posed. He argues that “cognitive, social and institutional factors must be in some balance to support student success”. Student success is obviously a shared responsibility, bringing together the student’s talents and background with a university’s culture, traditions and challenges. Who is responsible for building the bridge to ensure an early sense of belonging for every student? An important question for every college administrator to ponder.
National Research Center for College and University Admissions
This is a valuable website, for both secondary school counselors, and for students and parents. In its mission statement, the National Research Center serves as a communication link between professional admissions personnel and other educational providers with students, families and counselors in order to help them make better educational, financial and career decisions. The “Your Future” Newsletter archives articles that answer common student questions about their college search, and provide important things to think and talk about within families, as students prepare to move away for the first time.
Check out “25 Common Myths About College” which addresses common fears that families wrestle with, when building their college “wish list”.
Colleges That Change Lives
The first edition of College That Change Lives was published in 1996. Written by Loren Pope, a journalist and education editor for The New York Times, he sought to profile a small group of lesser known colleges that met his high standards of scholarship, student engagement and positive educational outcomes for students. In his book, Mr. Pope seeks to provide parents with alternative rationale for selecting colleges, rather than national rankings and guidebooks that rely on surveys.
The coalition of 40 colleges and universities that are part of CTCL are committed to helping students find the best college “fit”. This website features dozens of links that help students and families find answers to the many questions that arise during the college search process. The site assists students in their search by geographical area of the country. It provides secondary school counselors with facts about CTCL colleges, and addresses questions like “what kind of student is a good ‘fit’ for a CTCL school?”
I particularly enjoyed reviewing the list of Good Books for Parents, which provides an annotated bibliography of books that focus on the tasks of raising children to become happy and productive adults.
National Association for college Admission Counseling
This is obviously a website with a wealth of up-to-date information for counselors. But, it also has a wonderful “Steps to College” Newsletter with articles that can help students and parents mentally and emotionally prepare for this important change in both of their lives. Three articles that I found on the subject of transitioning include:
The article addresses the mixed feelings that every parent experiences, as their child moves away from their daily care into the larger world of college. It gives parents some good clues, as to how they can communicate appropriate concerns without creating distance. It also gives parents information about resources available on campus, to help during the transition time.
Quintessential Careers
This is an interesting professional website, ten years old and recognized for the quality of its internet services, that provides career advice and support tools. For example, allows you to post your resume for free, build a portfolio, job searching services etc.
The website has a special link for college students. The College Planning page contains articles relevant to writing and editing your college essay, with samples of successful essays. It also provides information and links related to standardized testing for college admissions.
The link that I especially liked was “Teen Life/College Life”, with many well-written articles on surviving and thriving through your freshman year of college. Examples include:
Goodman, Robin F. Ph.D; Gurian, Anita, Ph.D. “Transition to College: Separation and Change for Parents and Students”, http://www.med.nyu.edu.
This is written by staff of the New York University Child Study Center, and relates to the special needs of students with learning disabilities. However, the articles on transition are very well written, and are relevant to all students going through the move from home to college. This article identifies the departure of freshman as a “significant milestone in the life of a family”. It focuses on the increasing stress levels of college freshman, quoting surveys that go back to 1985 through present, and lays out the challenges for both parents and students, as each moves through the voids created by the separation process.
The article gives sound advice to both parents and students, such as “parents must readjust their identity as parents…(moving towards) the relationship which will become for peer-like”, and “young adults benefit from hearing their parents’ views (on sex, drugs, alcohol and academic priorities)”. I particularly liked the philosophy of “Parents must allow for the candlestick maker to emerge if that’s what is best. College should be a time of self-discovery…”
A second article, relevant to transition, and written by the NYU staff is entitled “Decision Day”, and talks about how to handle ‘the envelope’ and your child’s feelings of elation or rejection. It is worth reading.
Gonyea, Robert M. “The Relationship Between Student Engagement and Selected
Desirable Outcomes in the First Year of College”, Indiana University Center
For Postsecondary Research, May 2006.
This paper was presented at the 46th Annual Association for Institutional Research Forum. The study examines relationships between student engagement on campus and educational/intellectual outcomes for first year college students. It was conducted with students at Indiana University Bloomington.
Questions posed in this study are:
· “Does student engagement predict first-year student success as represented by the three domains of desired college outcomes (grades, curriculum knowledge and intellectual skills)?”
· “Do student background characteristics (ie. sex, race, first-generation status) have conditional effects upon the relationships between student engagement and the three measureable outcomes?”
Mr. Gonyea reviews relevant literature, defines his outcome measures and student outcome models in highly professional jargon. This is certainly not a study to pass on to parents, as an opening in discussing the importance in student involvement on campus. However, Mr. Gonyea arrives at some important conclusions and implications.
This study continues to underline the important role that university administrators play in improving the college experience for first year students.
Cruce, Ty M., Moore, John V.III. “First-Year Students’ Plans to Volunteer: An
Examination of the Predictors of Community Service Participation”.
2006 Annual Forum for the Association for Institutional Research, May 18,
2006. http://nsse.iub.edu/conferences.
The authors state that “educating people for responsible citizenship has been a part of the missions of colleges since their inception in the United States.” They go on to cite the impacts of volunteerism on college student development, as indicated by university studies throughout the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s.
The study seeks to identify the characteristics of students who choose to volunteer in college, over those who state they have no intention. Since engagement on campus has been identified as an important indicator of student academic success, and a positive connection (bridge) to relationships on campus, the role of volunteerism may be an opportunity for colleges to support student transitions to college campus.
Cruce and Moore suggest that “greater levels of parent education increase the student’ odds of volunteering during the first year of college”. Females tended to volunteer more frequently than males during the first year of college, older ‘non-traditional’ student more frequently than younger, and academically stronger students volunteered more frequently than students with lower levels of achievement. Student race did not change student rate of volunteerism.
Authors go on to note that “students who attend larger institutions are less likely than students at smaller institutions to volunteer”. They challenge universities to create initiatives that target new students, providing them with the resources and programs that will increase numbers of students who participate in community service while in college.