The Center for First-generation Student Success announced the advancement of University of Texas Permian Basin to the First Scholars phase of the First Scholars Network.
UTPB was chosen based upon its demonstrated commitment to advancing the outcomes of first-generation students through improving both first-generation student success initiatives and institution-wide approaches. The center is an initiative of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and The Suder Foundation.
The center conducts research on first-generation college students and supports college campuses through grant funding to help them engage in best practices around serving those students, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Becky Spurlock said.
“For us at UTPB, we define first-generation college students as neither parent having completed a bachelor’s degree. … There’s not one universal definition of what is first generation. That’s our definition. It’s a pretty common one. … The principal idea is if you’re the first in family to go and complete a college degree, then you’re having a different experience than other people in your family have had. They may not have the information and knowledge to support you the same way as somebody who has direct experience. So how do we care for and manage students who are learning about college while they’re in college?” Spurlock said.
Spurlock added that she was the first in her family to go to college. Her parents didn’t know about student loans or registering for classes. Spurlock had no idea she could drop a class until her junior year.
“We use a lot of specific terminology in a college just like a lot of places do. But a student might not know what a bursar is. Bursar is a unusual name. You don’t encounter the word bursar in everyday living. But what it really means is somebody who helps you with your student account,” Spurlock said.
Part of what’s being done at UTPB is to assess what they are doing and make sure it works for all students.
“When we consider what our first-generation college students need and we make adjustments, all students benefit because we’re making things simpler, clearer, more straightforward. We’re making sure all students have all the information they need. We don’t make assumptions about anybody. That’s what this project is about,” Spurlock said.
“We’ve been working on improving our programs and services with first-generation college students in mind for some time. That work has moved us forward. Then the Center for First-generation Students Success invited us to apply to be part of the First Scholars Network, which is a recognition of the work we’ve already done and a commitment to do additional work,” Spurlock said.
One of the next steps is that UTPB President Sandra Woodley meets with presidents of other institutions to look at best practices.
“We’ve become part of a data partnership to help us really understand and analyze our data. We have monthly meetings with expert guides that ask us questions and help us make progress on our goals. And then they’ll fund our ability to go to a student success conference with a number of key players on our campus this summer and really dig into our work,” Spurlock said.
She added that this just helps UTPB continue the work it is already doing.
More than 50 percent of UTPB students are first-generation students.
“When you think about what it means to support students who are choosing college for the first time it means really thinking about some unintentional barriers that colleges have, because they’ve always been there,” Spurlock said.
One of those barriers can be terminology, so they are thinking about messaging to students, the words being used and how straightforward it is.
“If you didn’t know anything about the place, could you still follow our directions? Do we give screenshots? Do we create videos … or do we just expect people to figure it out?” Spurlock said.
UTPB now has a student portal so students can log on to their student account and it will take them all the way through the different software they need and it displays the information to them in a more graphically interesting way.
“It customizes the information for them, so if you’re an international student, you’re going to get a page that has things related to you being an international student. If you’re not an international student, you don’t get that information. You don’t need it. If you’re a student veteran — we’re working on our student veteran page right now. Student veterans have a lot of extra forms so they’ll all be available on their portal page. When they log into their portal it says, ‘Good morning, Becky. Here’s your classes and your GPA and your balance and your information.’ Instead of go log in and sort through this website and look for your stuff,” Spurlock said.
Through this system, they can deliver specific information to first-year students, sophomores and seniors who are graduating.
“We have now the tools to make everything a little more customized. I wouldn’t say we’re at the level of Amazon. But we’re moving in that direction that we’re producing information for you that you need in the time you need it. A good example of a service change that we were making right now is the creation of a one stop shop. Our portal online is a virtual one-stop, but in the Mesa renovation, there’ll be an actual one-stop. So instead of telling students go to this office, go to that office, go to this office, they just come to the one-stop and we come to them to answer their questions in one place instead of sending students to other offices,” Spurlock added.
Making those types of changes improves all students’ experience on campus, she said.
“It helps everybody. There are a number of programs like that that we have done and will continue to do to make college life more navigable for students and for supporting their families. … This is important, because demographically, there will be more first-generation college students in the next period of time than there will be otherwise. In this region, we have a tremendous number of students (who will) be the first in their family to go to school. That matters because we also know that economically, going to college has a tremendous positive impact on your overall earning potential over the course of your life and so it’s important to us to get it right and to do it well,” Spurlock said.
