Larry Roper Letter-On SMILE's Impact

This letter tried to sum up what I thought SMILE members gained that helped them peruse their academic goals more successfully that other students from their cultures and communities--some good thoughts.

Dec. 2nd, 2001

Larry Roper
Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Greetings:

I’m glad I ran into you. Thank you for inviting me to the meeting for students services as much of my concerns are addressed by a vision of the “academic experience” as including much more than classroom contact with instructors. I’m sorry my schedule on Monday was already full but here are a few thoughts.

I’ve thought about the process of defining what a student needs, the attributes for a successful student, and the services we need to provide. A couple of thoughts come to mind related to our work to better define want SMILE does for students as we prepare them to create a vivid vision for an academic future.

As you may know, SMILE students seem to be persisting and attaining at a higher rate than their cohort. We are curious as to why; what attributes and assets do these students have that help them succeed. The potential list is large, from academic support to family support; but something seems to be helping our students over the barriers and challenges to their persistence and attainment. We would like to know if this is something that we can distill and use to better serve all students.

Here are a few thoughts about student experience in a system similar to one we are using to helps identify those essential attributes.

Foundational to college enrollment

Precollege community, better advising, family support, purpose to K-12 experience
Assets: basic needs, income, safety, transportation, employment
Attributes: prior skills, academic success, sense of self-efficacy, community and/or family support, sense of agency

Entrance

Transition to college, first generation and family issues, help to be in two worlds, translating one experience into another
Assets: above plus financial aid, housing, orientation, programs to overcome external barriers to access, advising, registration
Attributes: academically ready, both long and short-term goals, vision for progress of academic success, sense of belonging

College experience

A community of life long learners, with a place and purpose, welcoming each students as a valued member, bridge to the outer world
Assets: memberships supported, sense of belonging to community, leisure activities, academic problem-solving, tutoring and advising, plugged into a variety of information sources
Attributes: resilient, aware of services, secure, awareness of internal barriers to success, growing sense of power and purpose, responsible for creating the community for others


Developing “Metrics”

• Access
• Physical
• Emotional
• Explore barriers to access
• Programs to help overcome barriers

Membership

• Rules of memberships transparent
• Recruiting of members part of program
• A variety of communities serving students
• Memberships doesn’t imply “sameness”
• Overcome external barriers to access

Academic

• Sense of purpose and motivation for program
• Involvement of students in academic climate
• Mission to create “real world experiences”
• Attributes for success in college and beyond
• Overcome internal barriers to access

So just a few random thoughts. Please let us know how and where can be best involved.

Sincerely,
Ryan Collay-Programming and Evaluation Coordinator, The SMILE Program