Jennifer P. Hodges, Ph.D. Bucking the Trend: Balancing Work, Family, Commuting, and Academics

College transition for Commuter students Brief summary of findings from 2012 Focus on financial concerns, hours worked per week, and family obligations Interventions and Outcomes at The University of Akron Session Overview

Commuter Students –Defined by Jacoby (1989, 2000) as all students who do not live in institution-owned housing on campus –Research has most often treated Commuter Students as a homogeneous group and compared Commuters to Residential students to explore the transition to college Transition Challenges for Commuter Students –Involvement with Peers (Krause, 2006) In-person vs. Online Interactions –Needs emerging from “The Act of Commuting” (Jacoby & Garland, 2004) Transportation challenges and need for expanded office hours –Students must “Start Over” each term (Roe Clark, 2006) –Issues specific to Non-Traditional Age Students Transition to College for Commuters

“Commuter” Student vs. “Off Campus” Student –Distance from campus (Kuh et al., 2001) –Living with family members vs. living with others (Roe Clark, 2006) Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Age Commuters –How to categorize traditional age students with “adult” experiences (e.g., military service, marriage, parenthood) First Semester GPA –Highly Successful– GPA of 3.0 or higher –Successful – GPA of 2.0 to 2.99 –Unsuccessful– GPA less than 2.0 Categorizing Commuter Students

The Assessment Project Prior Work

Demographic Factors Non-Cognitive Measures Behavioral/ Environmental Cognitive Measures Predicting Retention Admissions controls which students come to your institution.… …But, these are within your influence

MAP-Works Data Set Participants 79 4-Year Institutions submitting over 133,000 students Of those, 14,847 (11%) commute to school Fall 2011 Fall Transition Survey 76% response rate Fall 2011 Fall Check-Up Survey 46% response rate Individual Student Profile 68 institutions provided fall term GPA 59 institutions provided fall-to-spring persistence data

Findings from the Previous Study Most high performing commuters were high performing HS students Slightly more low performing commuters reported low levels of communication skills Slightly more higher performing commuters reported high levels of analytical skills Cognitive Measures First-Generation commuters were less likely to earn higher GPAs Female commuters were more likely to earn higher grades than male commuters Commuters with no financial aid (and needing it) were at higher risk for poor grades Demographic Factors Commuters with stronger institutional commitment perform higher Commuters with higher levels of academic integration perform higher Commuters with higher levels of discipline & self-efficacy perform better Non-Cognitive Measures Commuters failing to spend sufficient amount of time studying earn lower grades Commuters attending their first-choice are slightly more likely to earn good grades Commuters with financial concerns or family obligations are more likely to perform poorly Behavioral, Environmental, Attitudinal

The Assessment Project Focusing Attention

Financial Concerns Over 1/3 of unsuccessful commuters reported higher levels of financial concern To what degree are you confident that you can pay for: Next term's tuition and fees Monthly living expenses Social activities with your friends But a sizeable portion of successful commuters also report financial concerns

Interference from Work Nearly 1/3 of unsuccessful commuters report strong interference from work But, nearly 1/4 of successful students also have work interference issues

Family Obligations Over 1/3 of successful and nearly half unsuccessful commuters are strongly impacted by family obligations

Successful vs. Not Successful Why can some students overcome issues and be successful in school while others can’t? Who are these successful students and what makes them different?

The Assessment Project Financial Concerns

Financial Concerns and Outcomes Commuters Experiencing Financial Concerns Fall Term GPA Persistence Strong Concern

Financial Need Being Met No significant differences in financial need being met between successful and unsuccessful students

Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levels than unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

Unsuccessful Students with Strong Financial Concern Please specify other factors that interfere with attendance or completing your coursework:

The Assessment Project Working for Pay

Work Interference and Outcomes Commuters Experiencing Work Interference Fall Term GPA Strong interference Persistence

Number of Hours Worked Successful students work slightly fewer hours than unsuccessful students

Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levels than unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

Unsuccessful Students with Strong Work Interference Please specify other factors that interfere with attendance or completing your coursework:

The Assessment Project Family Obligations

Family Obligations and Outcomes Commuters Experiencing Interference from Family Obligations Fall Term GPA Persistence Strong interference

Number of Dependents in Home Successful students are slightly less likely to have dependents in the home under their care

Better Transition to College… For every transition metric, successful students report higher levels than unsuccessful students Largest discrepancy is in Behavioral / Environment areas

Unsuccessful Students with Strong Family Obligations Please specify other factors that interfere with attendance or completing your coursework:

Common Traits of Unsuccessful Commuters

A sizeable group of unsuccessful students with strong concerns/obligations spend 4+ hours per day relaxing/socializing Need Time Management Training? In an average day, how many hours do you spend relaxing or socializing? Unsuccessful Students Successful Students

Understand Impact of Studying? In an average week, how many hours do you spend studying/coursework? Unsuccessful Students Successful Students Over ½ of unsuccessful students with strong concerns/obligations spend very little time studying per week

Quick Summary of Results Male, First- Generation, Part- time student Less prepared for college work Spending more time relaxing and less time studying Dealing with multiple concerns (financial, work, family) Struggling with Behavioral / Environmental issues Compared to Successful Students, Unsuccessful Students are more likely to be…

Turning Data Into Action

What strikes you about this data? What conclusions could you make from this data? What suggestions do you have about engaging commuter students in discussions about how to organize their time?

What structural changes and passive resources (those that students have to seek out) could your campus provide to enhance commuter student success? What intentional interventions could your campus initiate to enhance commuter student success?