Holly Hassemer, MS University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

A first year academic support program for students who are first generation college students and/or students of color.

Cohort Cohort Cohort Cohort First Generation 94%100%97%96% Low Income28%31%No data Students of Color 36%33%18%31%

Data compiled 2012 for pre-research cohorts

Paired Classes RELS 110—Issues in Religion GEN 100—Foundations for Academic Success Community Building Activities Tutoring Support (through sophomore year) Peer Mentoring Faculty/Staff Connections Undergraduate Research

According to Kuh (2008), if there is one thing colleges and universities can do to enhance student engagement and success, it is to “make it possible for every student to participate in at least TWO high-impact practices in his or her undergraduate program, one in the first year, and one taken later in relation to the major field”. The gains made by underserved students who participate in HIPs are dramatic, but underserved students are the least likely to have access to HIPs.

First-Year Seminars and Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing-Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community-Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects Undergraduate Research Kuh, G. (2008)

Development of research skills Development of problem-solving skills Increased interaction with faculty Greater satisfaction with the educational experience Increased retention* Improved grades* Higher rates of graduate school enrollment* Self-perception* * Compensatory effects experienced by underserved students Underserved students—underrepresented students of color (African, American, Latino/a, and Native American), low-income students, and first generation college students. Brownell & Swaner (2009)

Does early participation in the high- impact practice of undergraduate research impact retention and engagement rates of academically at-risk students? RETENTION: Four-year and six- year graduation rates for members of intervention group and comparison group ENGAGEMENT: Rates of participation in undergraduate research for members of intervention group and comparison group QUALITATIVE DATA: Course evaluation- based feedback on the research component of GEN 100

Offer intentionally designed curricula that enhance students’ research skills and build those skills over time, including prior to intensive undergraduate research experiences. Encourage faculty to provide mentoring, rather than just program oversight, and attend to the quality of the mentoring relationship (balancing challenge with support). Provide opportunities for “real-life” applications, whether through publication, presentations, or project implementation. Brownell & Swaner, 2009

Fall Semester What is research? Being a consumer of research Research ethics Developing a research question Sampling Data collection techniques Creating the interview protocol Piloting the interview protocol Spring Semester Faculty and student research presentations Refining the data collection process Collecting “practice” data Collecting “real” data Analyzing QUAN and QUAL data Determining results Formulating recommendations Disseminating the information

GEN 100 students Lead instructor for GEN 100 Faculty research mentor Student research mentor CB student mentor Guest lecturers

Hands-on experiences

Research Focus: “What factors lead to academic success among academically at-risk students?” Participants were randomly selected from current and former UWEC Collegiate Bridge program students, n=24 Average age of respondents=19.42 years; 83.3% female, 16.7% male 70.8% white, 29.2% non-white; 50% of respondents were first generation Members of the GEN 100 class engaged in semi-structured interviews with respondents. The semi-structured interviews focused on a variety of topics related to the UWEC experience. Thematic and quantitative analyses were performed on the data. Key findings indicated that social factors, such as “partying” or a lack of support may impact academic success; however, more than half of the respondents were satisfied with their current GPA.

Research Focus: Transition experiences of first-year students at UW-Eau Claire Participants were initially recruited from classes with large numbers of first year students; however, a convenience sample was utilized due to lack of response, n=24. The semi-structured interview was focused the following themes: College Choice: What was the main reason you chose to attend UWEC? Academic Experience: Have your study strategies or habits changed since entering college? Social Experience: Where have you met the majority of the people you socialize with here at UWEC? Family Experience: Describe your family’s role in your decision to attend college. Financial Experience: Has your financial situation had an impact on your transition to college? Additional Questions: Imagine you are talking with a group of students at UWEC’s Freshman Orientation. What advice would you give them? Data is in the process of being analyzed

Experimental Group (n=12) ACT 19.38, RIC 65.6% Control Group (n=19) ACT 18.9, RIC 62.5% Retained Semester Three92%89% Retained Semester Four92%68% Retained Semester Five75%56% Retained Semester Six75%53%

Being able to go through all this early in my college years was very interesting. It all benefits me. Being able to present the research is very fun and gave me a lot of insights on doing research. Getting our research organized and presenting it. New experience and it got me out of my comfort zone. It was a great experience overall. I really enjoyed every aspect of it and it made me want to do another research in the near future. Just everything! I enjoyed the research and this experience has prepared me for further research opportunities. Learning about the research projects and how to get involved because I didn’t know anything about it. What I found most beneficial was actually doing that research and analyzing the data it gave me a good experience of what research was. Especially for a freshman and I would love to do more research I the future. I loved being a part of student research it introduced a whole new career path that I knew nothing about. It opened up opportunities that will help me in the future plus it was a lot of fun. Working with a professor and analyzing the data

Doing research sounded very scary at first. Now it is something that I would like to do again. It really helps to be able to experience this very early in my college life. The results that we got back was very interesting and I had lots of fun presenting it. I never knew about any research going on here and how cool it is until Gen 100. It was challenging at some parts but overall it was fun and a great experience that I am thankful I got to have. At first, I did not want to do it and was upset that we had to. But after we got going it was actually fun and I enjoyed it. It was a very good experience and it took me out of my comfort zone which is good. Now I am very glad I had the opportunity to do it. I never know about student research until it was introduced to this class. I though doing the research was fun, and I liked being a part of something where our data could benefit future students. It really opened my eyes to a new career path, as well as something I could enjoy in the future. I will for sure be doing more research in the future because of this opportunity. This research project makes me feel like I did more than other freshmen who didn’t do a research and makes me feel confident in myself.

“I just started my new internship at the bank as a marketing intern, and it's so funny because on my first day I did some survey tabulations and had to condense all the answers in "most common responses" and all that stuff. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if this help any, I really feel like the research project section for GEN 100 is essential! Not only for the experience but for the general knowledge, no matter what field you go into there is bound to be some sort of research and data collecting that you are going to be a part of. Whether it is to improve your business or just overall job performance. I just had to share that little tidbit of information.”

Funding and staff development Recruiting faculty partners Placing students after initial experience Collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs