The racial and social disconnect that exists between minority students and non-minority students on Trinity’s campus is due to an ineffective First-Year Program. Though the First-Year Seminar was designed to acquaint a small group of students with one another while exploring an academic topic with a faculty advisor, the development of academic skills often takes precedent over the development of camaraderie. Many of Trinity’s seminar topics are fun, but do not push students to get to know one another’s stance on sensitive topics like race and class, nor do they engage students with the campus community. With the current condition of the First-Year Program, students are not taking advantage of the opportunity to learn how to discuss the kinds of topics that affect us more than we know in a small group environment, nor are they learning what it takes to become a true, active member of the campus community. Additionally, the activities at First-Year Orientation lack transparency and fail to encourage dialogue that makes students think about the campus community in a broader sense.
As a solution, Trinity should implement more learning communities into its First-Year Program. Students would be placed into small groups and taking the same “cluster” of classes based on a shared academic interest. Research shows that other factors like a student’s area of study can shape students’ perceptions of campus climate just as much as a student’s race and social class. For students who are relatively decided about which area of study they’d like to pursue, this is an opportunity for professors to engage students in a way that accommodates the perceptions that are unique to students in that field and build upon them positively. Additionally, all students should be required to take a course—much like the “General Studies: The Campus Community” course at University of Washington—that has students study prevalent issues on campus and in the surrounding community and think about what role they must play in creating change. Additionally, as the component of the First-Year Program that has the most impact, Orientation should include more activities that address the current state of interactions between race and social class on campus, as well as encourage students to start thinking of ways to improve those relations and contribute to the development of their new community. In this way, this topic will no longer be one that is overlooked or deemed inappropriate to discuss.
Bibliography:
Timothy W. Gordon, Jamie C. Young, and Carlye J. Kalianov, “Connecting the Freshman Year Experience through Learning Communities: Practical Implications for Academic and Student Affairs Units,” College Student Affairs Journal 20, no. 2 (2001), http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790ef8fc999322d46b
This journal article presents results from a study conducted at a university in the Midwest that suggest that students who participate in learning communities are more apt to become involved in rich ways around campus, and to excel academically.
Peter Schmidt, “Much Research on Campus Diversity Suffers From Being Only Skin Deep, New Studies Suggest,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2010, sec. Students, http://chronicle.com/article/Much-Research-on-Campus/65051/.
The research conducted in this article suggests that perceptions of campus climate are influenced by more than a students’ race and social class. After distributing a survey to upperclassmen, the author discovered that each area of study had similar perceptions. Thus, adding to my ideas of how race and class can be addressed most effectively in the learning communities I propose.
Christopher Shea, “Orientation at Penn,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 1993, sec. Archives, http://chronicle.com/article/Orientation-at-Penn/92558/.
This article talks about how students and staff at the University of Pennsylvania presented prevalent campus issues related to race, social class, and dating violence to the incoming first-year class as an Orientation activity. Though its effectiveness was debated, this article inspired my idea for Trinity to incorporate more activities at Orientation that exposed students to campus culture in a more transparent way.
University of Washington, “UW Freshman Interest Groups – GEN ST 199: The University Community.” First Year Programs, 2009. http://fyp.washington.edu/figs/genst199.php.
This source provides information about “Freshman Interest Groups” at University of Washington, which are much like the learning communities I propose. This source also contains a link to the syllabus for their required “General Studies: The University Community” course, which encourages students to examine issues on campus and the surrounding community.
Nykia, your revised proposal identifies a specific problem and matching solution, with very appropriate resources about other colleges and universities (excellent use of College Student Affairs Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education). As you write your draft, I encourage you to do the following:
1) Sharpen your focus about what’s wrong with the current FY program, in your view. At one point you write that the “development of academic skills often takes precedent over the development of camaraderie,” but later you state that the seminars “do not push students to get to know one another’s stance on sensitive topics like race and class, nor do they engage students with the campus community.” Rather than suggesting that academics be reduced from the FY program, it might be more persuasive to argue that the academic topics be refocused on issues more relevant to diversity and community. Currently, individual faculty members choose their own FY seminar topics, rather than working together to design clusters of courses. Is that part of the problem?
2) Show us more about the current FY program and its weaknesses. Perhaps you could even make a table or chart to organize the different types of FY seminars? See http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/FYP/Pages/FYSeminars.aspx
3) Tell us more about what your ideal FY Program would look like at Trinity.
I think you are well on your way by looking more in depth with the current FY program/seminars. The link Jack gave you above can be resourceful if you look to see which seminars deal with racial and social class. After researching this, maybe you could suggest different ways in which other seminars could incorporate discussions of race and social class. Be sure that you include your idea of what you think an effective FY program/seminar would/should look like.