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  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 18.8% 11.9% 9.1% 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 2 nd, 2012

Non-Traditional Students 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 2 nd, 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  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  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  Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education  NASPA Knowledge Community for Adult Learners & Students with Children  NASPA Knowledge Community for Veterans  ACPA Commission for Commuter Students & Adult Learners  National Clearinghouse for Commuter Programs

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  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 Natalie Gempesaw-Pangan University of Washington - Seattle Region 4 Representative: La’Cresha Moore UNT Health Science Center Non-Traditional Student Network List Serv:

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)