CREATING A GOLDEN BEGINNING FOR FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS IN TRANSITION TO COLLEGE

CREATING A GOLDEN BEGINNING FOR FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS IN TRANSITION TO COLLEGE

As I sit here and write this blog post, I am reflecting back on last week and the hustle, bustle, energy, and excitement that a move-in and welcome week brings to a college or university. New student arriving to campus with vehicles filled with microwaves, clothing, and all the essentials for residence hall life. Parents and family members accompanying them with smiles and perhaps a few tears. New student orientation leaders bursting with warm welcome, ready to support these students and help them get acclimated to campus life. This week is, perhaps, one of my favorite weeks of the entire year!

Yet, amidst the busyness of move-in day and welcome week, I am perhaps more invigorated and excited by 60 first-generation college students (both incoming first year and transfer students) who opted to move in four days before the rest of their cohort to participate in a pre-orientation program. For some of these students, the decision to sign up for this optional, free program was an intentional choice. For others, it was the recommendation (or decision) of a parent, family member, friend, or guardian. For all, though, the week provided an opportunity to engage in a curriculum intentionally design to focus on community building, identity development, and resource sharing for this cohort.

Fall 2018 was the fourth year of the Golden Beginnings Pre-Orientation Program for First-Generation College Students. The program, housed out of the Office of Transition & Student Conduct, provides a conduit for and community-building tool for new first-year and transfer first-generation college students as they navigate the transition into the university. The program aligns with Kathryn Thompson and Consi’s (2007) definition of a pre-orientation program as “a voluntary activity that takes place for incoming students before the start of a fall orientation or welcome week/weekend and is generally structured around a common theme” (p. 75). Pre-orientation programs, which primarily occur at 4-year institutions in the United States, are designed to facilitate the transition of students into institutions of higher education (Bell, Reid Holmes, and Williams, 2010). Students who participate in pre-orientation programs are able to interact with other new students either with a shared common interest or with a common identity, create connections with returning students in the form of student staff members working the program, gain familiarity with the campus and local community, and examine personal expectations, interests, and opportunities for growth and involvement (Farnan & Pei, 2016).

With a rapidly growing number of incoming students identifying as first-generation college students during the past four years, staff members at Fort Hays State University began a very intentional process during the 2014-2015 academic year to discern programs, events, services, and initiatives to support this student population in transition to the university. After examining dark data already in existence and the institution but not being utilized and listening to the stories and recommendations of current first-generation college students, the decision was made to reimagine the existing extended orientation program and create a pre-fall orientation experience specifically for this growing population.

Each year for the past four years, approximately 60 incoming first-generation college students have opted into this 4-day/3-night free program that allows students to move directly into their residence halls before the rest of the incoming student cohort. Curriculum is focused on the primary themes of community and relationship-building, campus resource familiarity, and identity development. Students are guided through large group general assemblies and small group team time by Golden Beginnings Guides, returning students who proudly identify as first-generation college students. General assembly presenters throughout the program include faculty, staff, and alumni who also identify as first-generation college students, providing an additional network of support as the students prepare to begin their first day of classes as an FHSU Tiger.

On the final day of the program, we conclude Golden Beginnings with an activity entitled “I Will ____________.” A Golden Beginnings t-shirt is passed around the circle of program participants, guides, and staff members, asking all to identify what they will do this year. During last Wednesday’s program, tears began to well in my eyes as I heard so many students announce that they will be proud of their first-generation college student identity, they will not be afraid to ask questions, they will step out of their comfort zone and get to know other students, they will be a role model and mentor for their siblings, cousins, and other family members in the college search process, and they will continue to pay it forward to the next generation of first-generation college students!

I recently had coffee yesterday with one of the inaugural program participants from 2015. She is now completing her senior year and preparing to graduate from the university in May with a degree in graphic design. She has already completed her capstone experience in her academic department. She spent her summer doing an internship with a prestigious advertising agency. She has grown from a quiet incoming student to a true campus leader! As we ended coffee, and I shared that I will be transitioning to a different role at a different institution in the next two weeks, this student shared that the Golden Beginnings Pre-Orientation Program for First-Generation College Students sat her up to be successful during her time at the university. My charge to my colleagues is to think about how you, too, can leverage data and listen to the voice of your first-generation college students to examine how you can reimagine the transition experiences and create high-touch programs, events, services, and interventions to start the new year off to an outstanding start on your campus!

Dr. Brett L. Bruner, Dean of Student Engagement at Arkansas Tech University
(brett.l.bruner@gmail.com)