Manresa 2014 Blast Off To Your Future!

 Millennial Generation ◦ Age: (1980s-early 2000s) ◦ Relatively unattached to politics and religion ◦ Linked by social media ◦ Burdened by debt ◦ Distrustful of people ◦ In no rush to marry ◦ Most racially diverse generation ◦ Optimistic about the future!

 Special  Sheltered  Confident  Team-Oriented  Conventional  Pressured  Achieving

Arthur Chickering attends the 2014 Dalton Institute at Florida State University  Developing Competence  Managing Emotions  Moving Through Autonomy Toward Interdependence  Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships  Establishing Identity  Developing Purpose  Developing Integrity

EXPECTATIONS!

the act of retaining; to keep possession of something. RETENTION-

 In the U.S., approximately 1/3 of each year’s full-time entering first years are not at the same institution one year later. ◦ Attrition (drop out rates) decrease almost 50 percent after the first year.  During the first weeks of school, students face a number of challenges, including developing a new social network, keeping up with school work in an environment of much greater autonomy than high school, and negotiating the “temptations” of a college environment.  The first-year’s most critical transition period is during the first two to six weeks. ◦ Of the 1/3 of students who leave an institution, half of those students drop out during the first six weeks.  First years who can name a campus-affiliated person (or friend) they can turn to with a problem are two times more likely to return for the sophomore year than those who cannot.  Additionally, a caring attitude of faculty and staff is the most potent retention force on campus.

WHAT IS A TRANSITION? Goodman et al. (2006) defines transition as “any event, or non-event, that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles.” SCHLOSSBERG’S TRANSITION THEORY  Situation  Self  Support  Strategies TINTO’S RETENTION THEORY  Key factors to student attrition: ◦ Feeling of isolation ◦ Difficulty adjusting to a new environment ◦ Inability to integrate new information and knowledge with previous information and knowledge  “Social integration with the university is a critical component of a new student’s development and their decision to persist to graduation.”

CROSS THE LINE

 Purpose: Any effort to help first year students make the transition from their previous environment to the collegiate environment and enhance their success.  Transition space ◦ Meet new friends ◦ Overcome separation anxiety ◦ Prevent homesickness and feelings of loneliness  Assist with stress management  Orient student support networks (parents, families, etc.)  Learn resources available on/off campus  Allows the institution to get to know its first years ◦ Provides meeting opportunities with faculty, staff, current, and new students  Helps first years succeed academically

 “Engagement is positively related to objective and subjective measures of gains in general abilities and critical thinking.” -Pace, Kuh, et al. (1985)  “For growth and learning to occur, students must be engaged in their environment.”  “The amount of student learning and personal development is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement.” -Astin’s Theory of Involvement (1985)  “Student involvement in co-curricular activities such as student organizations, leadership positions, and activity in campus residence halls has a positive correlation with retention and academics.” -Kuh and Pike (2005)

MANRESA!!

ACTIVITY