Running head: SCHOLARLY REFLECTION

Scholarly Reflection
Tiff Hayes
SDAD 5750
November 17, 2014
Seattle University

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I was very nervous about completing this course as an independent study over the
summer, in a new and different region, while also completing an internship and learning a new
institution and city. My apprehension was calmed by my excitement to visit different institutions
than the rest of my classmates and explore some unique programs and campuses that were new
to me. I am very happy that I completed this course independently because I was able to learn
about the different and many best practices of the institutions I was able to visit I will discuss
these here.
I visited Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn (member of CUNY system),
Wagner College in Staten Island (where I interned for the summer), Fordham University in
Lincoln Center (Jesuit institution), and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn (HBCU and member
of CUNY system). I chose these institutions specifically so that I could understand a diverse
group of schools with relatively different student populations, see how they each focused on
student success, retention, and persistence, and how they were (or were not) tracking their
progress. I was especially interested in what each was doing to retain first-generation students.
In the process, I found some great programs that I believe could be replicated as best practice at
other institutions.
One program that I was able to see first-hand this summer was the First Year Experience
play at Wagner College. During orientation, schools typically convey information about policies
and the student code of conduct to students in a mundane and very dry way, because they are
very serious topics that can affect students. However, because Wagner College has a remarkable
theater program (now ranked number 1 in the country by the Princeton Review), they have a
very different take on how to effectively communicate this information to their new students.
The deans collaborate with an alum of the theater program to write a play infusing policies from

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the student code of conduct. Upper class students then act out the vignettes to an audience of
first-year students, using actual incidents that have happened at Wagner in the past. After the
play, the deans and associate vice president join the actors on stage for a debrief, informal
discussion, and question and answer session.
One of the principles of good practice in student affairs is helping students build coherent
values and ethical standards (Blimling & Whitt, 1999), and Wagner does this in a way that also
shows another principle of using resources effectively to achieve the institutions mission and
goals. Wagner has a clear understanding of their student body and uses that to educate them
effectively and in a way that makes the most meaning to them. While this innovative way of
communicating campus policies works really well at Wagner because of students interest in
acting and theater, I believe it is repeatable and not inextricably linked to the unique student
demographics at Wagner, as Keehley, Medlin, MacBride & Longmire (1997) have suggested as
benchmarks for best practices in the public sector. If other institutions taught students about
campus policies and the student code of conduct in this way, students would be able to see the
policies come to life and have a deeper understanding of what they are, what they mean, and why
they exist, regardless of their interest in theater and acting.
Josh Krawzyck discussed a group of universal retention factors that I think Kingsborough
Community College is doing a fantastic job of addressing. This list includes academic
preparation and remediation, social and academic capital, and institutional fit (diversity and
engagement), all of which Kingsborough is addressing in some way. First, in my conversation
with Peter Cohen, Vice President of Student Affairs at Kingsborough, I learned that 60 percent
of incoming first-year students (approximately 1,500 students each semester) enter the college
needing remedial math and/or English coursework students coming from public high schools in

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NYC are underprepared for college level work. VP Cohen shared with me that in working with
many campus partners and with support from the college president, they have completely
overhauled the advising process, which has helped to ensure students are registering for
appropriate courses, including remedial courses. Their revised advising process (frontloading
their services) has dramatically affected student success, persistence, and retention. Another
practice that has aided in successful management of academic preparation is that students are
assigned to their Learning Communities based on their English placement results. This has
helped instructors to tailor their classes to the needs of their students in a way that has made them
extremely successful in bringing students up to college level academics. And although I was not
able to get much information about it, Kingsborough has created a Chairs Equity Task Force
that addresses the achievement gap seen in their student population.
As far as social capital and institutional fit go, Kingsborough offers many different ways
for students to find themselves at the college. There are more than 80 student clubs and
organizations, a mentor resource center, several programs and offices that work with specific
marginalized and at-risk populations, and more than 76 different languages are spoken by
Kingsborough students. There are countless ways for students to engage in social and cocurricular activities at the college, which helps students feel a sense of belonging, and thus,
persist in their education. The majority of Kingsboroughs students identify as first-generation
students of color, so the college places a great deal of importance on frontloading services and
giving students more information and support than they might need so that they can see how
many resources are available to them. VP Cohen said they encourage all staff and faculty to be
extremely high touch because of the amount of students they see from at-risk groups. This has

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most definitely aided in their retention efforts students can feel the ethic of care that
Kingsborough has created.
This experience was very impactful for me from meeting many different professionals
in the field of student affairs, to seeing beautiful campuses, to learning about incredible practices
and programs that are serving students in the most transformational ways, to synthesizing my
experiences and knowledge into a few papers this has been a fantastic experience, both
personally and professionally for me. I think the most exciting part of this was seeing many
different institutions grappling with the same issues, but approaching them in sometimes
completely opposite ways. Overall, the experience of visiting these campuses and meeting the
folks that I did will remind me to be creative when considering solutions to retention issues, and
that innovation can be the key to it all.

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References

Keehley, P., Medlin, S., MacBride, S., & Longmire, L. (1997). Benchmarking for best practices
in the public sector. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Blimling, G.S., & Whitt, E.J. (Eds.) (1999). Good practice in student affairs: Principles to
foster student learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.