Running Head: INTERVENTION PAPER

Intervention Paper
Jeffrey Sanchez
Christopher Lee
Juanita Wyatt
Northern Illinois University

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Retention Minority First Generation College Students

The Issue
The overview issue we are looking at is how to retain minorities who are first generation
college students.
The Institutional Setting.
Florida Gulf Coast University, mid-size public institution, historically white college university.
Student affairs context multicultural services.
Florida Gulf Coast University is a mid-size post-secondary education university located
in south west Florida. The student enrollment as of 2013 was at 13,471 with the majority being
undergrad students. The university currently offers 51 undergraduate degrees, 28 graduate degree
programs, 1 specialist program, and 2 doctoral degree programs. The institution was formally
recommended on January 1991 for the development of Floridas tenth state university to be built.
Florida Gulf Coast University as of 2013 has reached an enrollment of 13,471 students.
Out of that student body 1,316 students are registered as graduate students, the other 12,155
students are enrolled as undergraduates. The student body is made up of 5,843 men and 7,628
women. So about 57% of the student body is made up of women and about 43% are men. Now
when we look at demographic; white (non-Hispanic) is predominantly the dominant ethnic race,
followed by Hispanics, blacks, other.
In a six-year graduation rate for 2008 cohort an FGCU student had a graduate rate of 45%
and a retention rates of 76%. When it comes to the academic setting the current faculty ratio is,
for every 1 faculty they could have a comfortable class size of 22-23 students.
Review of literature. Research on Hispanic and blacks (identify as African American)

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Review of Literature

A student is considered first generation if their parent(s) has never earned a bachelors
degree (Thayer 2000). According the Office of Postsecondary Education, the term "low-income
individual" is defined as, an individual whose family's taxable income for the preceding year
did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount. The Illinois Student Assistance
Commission defines a minority student as one who is either: African American/Black - a person
having origins in any of the black racial groups in Africa; Hispanic American - a person of
Spanish or Portuguese culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, or the
Caribbean Islands, regardless of race; Asian American - a person with origins in any of the
original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan, and
the Pacific Islands (including, among others, Hawaii, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia); or
Native American - a person who is a member of a federally or state recognized Indian tribe, or
whose parents or grandparents have such membership, including the native people of Alaska.
There are many students who attend college who identify as a first generation, low income, and
minority all at once. Because these students face many issues coming into college, as well as
during college, many drop out and never attain a degree.
Retention has become one of the big themes dealing with universities. Many universities
find themselves dealing with the issue of retention. The retention of first generation minority
students is another issue that is present within institutions. Two dimensions that have a negative
effect on retention are low family income and the fact that students are first generation (Thayer,
2000). According to a study conducted by Thomas Mortenson (1998), students whose families
were low income were less likely than students from higher incomes to attain a bachelors degree
by the time they were 24 years old (as cited in Thayer, 2000). Students who are first year

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generation are less likely to be equipped and academically prepared for college. These students
are referred to as as-risk students or students who under prepared. These students lack the basic
skill and soft skills needed to be successful. Soft skills are: attending class, maintaining
concentration, using effective study strategies and using social skills necessary to ask questions
(Laskey & Hetzel, 2011). Basic skills are reading, writing, math, and social science class needed
to comprehend class material. These students also lack the personality qualities needed to
enhance scholarly pursuits (Rachal, Daigle, & Windy, 2007).
First gen. students are also likely to have limited access to information about college.
They also lack knowledge of time management, college finance, and budget management
(Thayer, 2000). These students also have low critical thinking levels for college. Researchers
have also found that these students had low SAT scores in high school, as well as low grade point
averages (Thayer, 2000).
Students who also identify as first generation minority students find the transition into
college quite difficult. These student have a hard time adjusting to their new lifestyle. Leaving an
environment that they have known all of their existence to a place where their family, peers, and
themselves has never experienced is hard to adjust to (Thayer 2000). The issue of adjusting, and
the feeling of being in a new unwelcoming environment causes dramatic issues for these
students. First generation students find themselves persisting in two and four year colleges at
lower rates than students who are not first generation (Thayer 2000). When a student is
considered a minority from a low income background they face many obstacles from getting into
college and attaining a degree (Rendon, 1995).

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Theoretical Framework: Learning Partnership Model Baxter Magolda.

The model which we used is the Baxter Magolda Learning Leadership Model. The Baxter
Magolda (2004) breaks the model down into three principles validating learners capacity to
know, situating learning in learners experience, and mutually constructing meaning.
Development Context.
The setting for our first generation minority students is a predominately white institution.
These students are transitioning into a new environment where they are the minority. They will
be surrounded by people who not only look completely different from them, but who also come
from a higher socio-economic background. These students also have parents who have never
attended college, so they have no prior knowledge of what to expect for their first year of
college. These students already will feel incompetent, misunderstood, and different from their
peers, so this theory will gradually guide them to feel competent and equal with their peers
regardless of their background.
Description of the Target Audience.
Our target audience is tailored towards Black and Hispanic first generation college students.
These students are the children of parents who did not attend college. These first generation
minority students may have a more difficult time transitioning to a college environment, and
their risk of failure is higher than other students. It was very uncommon for students to break that
barrier in higher education, and in this case many families belonging to black and Hispanic
ethnicity, it is an achievement to finish high school. There is a societal change that has made
going to college more likely for these students. In this generation, there is a far higher
percentage of the population attending college, and more of them are first generation. This is

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important because they come from families who cant give them support with college
knowledge.
First generation Black and Hispanic students environments play a role as well. These
students are culturally expected not to succeed because of the poor educational foundation set out
for them in these low income neighborhoods. This poor education lacks affordability to update
school resources in these areas such as books, computers, and even quality teachers. Beyond
such individual factors, schools that serve children of poverty and of color also may introduce
risk factors by failing to provide a supportive school climate, by institutionalizing low academic
expectations, or by delivering inadequate educational resources (Borman , Rachuba 2001).
The teachers at these public schools are not invested in the students as much as they
should be. These poorly educated schools are affecting students capacity to learn. Poorly
funded schools are guaranteeing students to pass by giving them degrees no matter how much
they contributed to the success of it. Few students would complete class work on their own and
teachers would give credit to an entire class when only several students were responsible for
contributing to the entire work. Learning is affected by not challenging these students. Students
are given the answers to work and that doesn't encourage students to want to learn. These schools
basically encourage cheating as students would cut and paste on essays, copy their classmates
work, and these instructors would reward them.
In essence these schools are different due to the income and wealth disparities in
communities. If a school is located in a district area that is high in poverty, it would most
certainly be supported primarily by property taxes. Students coming from these minority families
often don't have the money to be put into tutoring classes to help these students. Historically,
children from poverty have been disproportionately placed at risk of academic failure

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(Natriello, McDill, & Pallas, 1990). Institutional racism in the elementary and the high school
level has prevailed, and its core victims are these first generation Black and Hispanic minority
students. These educational factors coupled with the lack of a college educated backgroundgoing
knowledge presents these students with a difficult challenge to overcome as they transition into
college.
Intervention goals.
The goals for this intervention are guided by encouraging the learners to have their own
ideas and beliefs. Our goals are also taking the learner's current knowledge and allowing that to
guide their foundation towards their future plans. Our final goal is to make sure students are at
the point where they can clarify their own perspectives, so that they may achieve self-authorship.
Intervention program.
The First Generation Retention Program (FGRP) was made and developed to help
students who identified as a first generation stay in college/university. With the help from the
graduate advisor and peer advisor, students are guided each step of the way in their first and
second year. The FGRP is designed as a two year program to help guide students to achieve selfauthorship.
Graduate advisors oversee the entire program from the beginning to the end. They also
oversee the four peer advisors and monitor and assess their performance. The graduate advisor
are also required to assess the program each and every semester to making sure the program
meets the students and peer advisors needs.
Peer advisors are student leaders who oversee the first and second year students in the
program. The peer advisor is meant to follow up and schedule meetings with the students they
are paired with. During the meetings the advisors are meant to probe their students as to know

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how they are doing. Peer advisors are trained and oriented to the FGRP and required evaluate
each of their students. Peer advisors are also required to attend weekly staff meeting and follow
up with the graduate advisor.
First year student in the FGRP are required to attend an orientation. For our program
orientation, it would begin a few days before the universitys traditional move-in day. Students
will have the opportunity to move in before others can. Students will be presented with a peer
mentor to help guide them throughout the orientation period. Students and their parents will
attend an opening presentation welcoming the students to the university. The goals for such
programs may include academic preparation, personal adjustment, and increasing awareness of
students and parents during the transition process (Perigo & Upcraft, 1989; Cook, 1996).
During the first day of orientation, we will provide activities that students can choose to
attend based on their interest. We will have several activities to choose from such as taking a
look at volunteer organizations, campus resources, visiting popular spots on campus, and
extracurricular sport activities to get a feeling for social experiences on campus. These seminars
will provide an opportunity to view the college life, as opposed to what the university wants you
to assume.
The second day orientation, we will divide the students according to their interest of
major. Each group will be led by a student peer leader to have a group advising session from an
academic advisor. Student leaders will also help from experience of being in that specific major.
Group Advising sessions are shorter orientation/advising sessions designed to provide students
a remedy to the long lines usually experienced by students and staff during registration periods.
These sessions provide students and staff with an opportunity to engage in more meaningful

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conversation about the college experience (Hollins, 2009) Students will then be brought to a
computer lab to select their classes based on suggestions and interest.
Later that evening, the first generation students will gather in a room so they can talk
about their first day experiences, and have a question and answer session with a junior/senior
group panel. Lastly in the evening, we will break students into small groups to perform a skit
based on their experiences. This will help students become acquainted with each other and build
relationships. In general, students who participate in new-student orientation programs are
satisfied with them(Bumgarner, Mathies, & Ranges, 1997; Booker, 2006) and believe that the
programs provide good academic information and develop personal relationships (Nadler &
Miller, 1997).
In the next step in the FGRP students will meet with the Graduate Advisor and Peer
Advisors. This is the opportunity for staff to build relationships with students. Students should
take advantage of the time to ask questions about academic strategies such as typical course
loads, asking about specific programs, recommended sequence of courses, or finding a list of
general education requirements. This is also a good time to ask about holding outside jobs and if
there is available for attaining a job. Students should also inquire about financial aid and how to
apply for scholarships. During these meetings, students will plan out how to establish, and
achieve goals.
Student are then required to schedule four bi-weekly meetings with their assigned peer
advisor. Peer Advisors will help students develop time management skills by encouraging
students to draw up a generic calendar from Sunday through Saturday. Students will be required
to bring course schedules during their first meeting, so they can block out time periods for

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classes and meetings. By doing this early in the semester Peer Advisors are able to designate
which programs/events students will be able to attend during the first part of the semester.
Also during the first bi-weekly meetings Peer Advisors will help with fostering healthy
academic success skills. Peer Advisors will do this by informing students how to take advantage
of going to professor office hours, and also the importance of fostering good relationships with
their professors. During the first bi weekly meetings peer advisors are required to figure out if
the student is struggling in their courses. Some advice Peer Advisors are required to reiterate is
letting students know to read their book as opposed to relying heavily on class lectures because
teachers typically skim through the material. Also making sure students are sitting in front of
class and attending each and every one of their classes.
During the half way point of the semester students are required to complete their MidSemester Report (see Appendix A). This mid-semester check will serve as a point for all students
to evaluate where they stand in each of their classes and where they are headed. It is also used to
gauge how students are feeling emotionally and mentally. We do this by administering an
evaluation form in which students answer a group of questions about how they are doing.
Students then meet with both the graduate advisor and peer advisor. Peer Advisors lead these
meetings and always start with the same question; Tell me where you think you are struggling?
For the sake of time we like to get right into the issues the student might be facing. After words
we ask open ended questions so we can build a rapport.
Students are then required to schedule a new set of Bi-Weekly Meeting. During these
next couple of meeting we are requiring students to put together a study schedule. We are also
requiring students to discuss certain issues they might be facing or might face in the future.

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Students will also be assigned to attend different workshops hosted by different departments and
organizations on-campus.
At the end of the semester students must attend a de-briefing meeting. In this meeting,
Peer Advisers will some of the good and bad the student had identified during the semester. The
hope is that the student can continue with what they are doing well and change or alter what they
did badly. The Peer Advisor will help with realigning some of the students goals, as some
student can now have a new perception in what they want out of their university experience.
During the de-briefing stage the Graduate Advisor is required to reach out and speak with
students that were placed on academic probation. Because of the training Graduate Advisors
have, they are required to meet with the student at risk and the peer advisor to help rebalance and
reshape the students experience.
During the spring semester students will have a lot more leniency but still required to
meet with their peer advisors. Students are still required to meet fours time before there mid
semester report and same goes for their debriefing report. During the de-briefing of the the spring
semester peer advisers are required to help the students build an action plan for the summer. This
action plan will involve academic goals the student should have accomplished before the first
day of class. Also the action plan will includes way in which to improve on certain skills the
student certainly lacks.
During the 2nd year experience students are guided differently than their first year
experience. Students will meet up with their previous peer advisor to discuss how their summer
was and go over there previous action plan. Peer advisors will help ground there student and get
them to start the semester on a good note. First by finding out if a student has a declared major,
and if not, finding out if they have narrowed down their choices. Evaluating the progress towards

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the majors they are interested in to ensure they are on the right track, and ensuring they can
graduate in a timely manner.
Student in the second year program are only required to meet three time before there mid
semester report. During these meetings peer advisors are required to build a bigger picture story
with the students. The students had already got through their first and they know what campus
has to offer. The question peer advisor needs to ask is how the current programs are going to help
this student succeed.
During the mid-semester report for the second year students they are required to talk
about themselves. During the first year mid semester reports we ask students questions to help
guide them (see Appendix A).In the second year we want the students to think for themselves
and being to ask peer advisors questions. We do this because we want students to think for
themselves and build their own plan.
During the next tri-weekly meeting peer advisers are going to ask question directly
pointed to self-authorship. This is the most vital part of the program as it is where students start
to looking to themselves as to what they want for themselves. Also in this stage students can
figure out if college is the thing for them. We hope that with all the programming and guidance
the peer advisors have provided that the student wants to finish their education.
Once the semester draws to an end the Peer Advisor will complete a debriefing report.
This will be the second years student last debriefing report. It is the Peer Advisors responsibility
at this time to take care of any major questions the student has. The Peer Advisor should
challenge the students decisions and make sure there student is focused. What the Peer Advisor is
looking for this time around is reasoning as to why the students wants enter this field of study or
why they want to attend a certain event.

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During the last semester in the FGRP the Peer Adviser and Graduate Advisor will meet
with the student the student four times. So at this point you will be doing monthly check ups
monitoring the students current progress academically. Also you will be following up with any
organization and/or groups the student is currently a part of.
In the last step of the FGRP we are hoping students finally have reach self-authorship.
During the last meeting with the student we require them write a paper about themselves and
what changes they have seen in themselves from completing the FGRP. We want students to
identify skills they had gained and to explain their action plan in completing their education.
Students that reach the end of the program receive a book rental waiver for two semesters. They
also receive a certificate for their accomplishment for making through their first two years of
college. Once a student has completed the FGRP they are eligible for applying to be a Peer
Adviser.
Rationale.
Many students who are first year generation and minority students struggle during their
college years. It is our job as future faculty members to help them become accustomed to their
new settings. It is also our duty to make sure that we are retaining these students. One issue
minoritys face is being able to fund their education. Many Latinos are already poor so they are
very cautious when it comes to accepting loans and taking on debt (Schmidt, 2003). Latinos
enrollment would also increase if they were receiving more grants than loans, and they would
also attain higher degrees if they could pay off the debt they accumulated during undergrad
(Schmidt, 2003). This is why it is important for us, administrators, to hold programs about
scholarships, funding, and financial aid. First gen. students are also likely to have limited access
to information about college. By knowing, and addressing these issues, we can help these student

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be retained and successful in college. If we assign these students peer mentors, and graduate
advisors to meet with, then we are equipping these student with tools that they need to
successfully navigate their institutions. Classroom and out-of-classroom experiences led them
to feel incompetent, misunderstood, and different from their peers, which led to high levels of
anxiety and dissonance and resulted in students reconsidering their internal foundations and
attempting to meet external expectations (Magolda, 2004). Because these students are faced
with the issue of not feeling and being academically competent to succeed at these institution, it
is our job to make sure that we can instill proper programs to help them overcome this barrier.
At St. Philip's College in San Antonio, Texas, Hispanic students are given resources to
help them succeed. Although these resources were originally put in place for their black students,
the Hispanic students are benefiting from them. The resources that are available are tutoring
programs, instructional laboratories focused on reading, writing, and mathematics. These
students are also given counselors from academic departments who make sure these students are
receiving adequate guidance (Schmidt, 2003). With our help and resources, we will work with
students as equal partners in knowledge construction to help clarify their own perspectives
(Magolda 2004) to have a precise and attainable goal that is desired. This is critical in the
student's college career, because students stating their goal gives them more power and interest in
clarifying their own thoughts. The success of the goal is the decision made by the student and
how they strive for it. Students have the ability to carry out the decision they have made. Self is
central to knowledge construction (Magolda 2004). This is crucial because the student involved
in this implementation should know the steps taken to succeed in reaching the results of the goal.
As staff, we will follow up, and monitor the students progress towards the goal.
Evaluation plan.

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Well because the intervention we have created is a two year program we have made check points
within the program. Some of the check point that are embedded into the program are the biweekly, tri-weekly, mid semester, and end of the semester reports. Because its the Graduate
Advisor job to look over the program as a whole they are required to assess what is happening. If
a student reaches the end of the semester and has dropped out or failed a course the FGRP has
failed. It will be at this point that we will need to look at what programs and events we are
requiring students to attend. We will also need to assess at what academic leave the student is
actually at and figuring out what other skills they might need to acquire to be able to finish their
first and second year successfully.
This program is not perfect and will always be changing. It will be the department and
Graduate Advisors job to make sure they are keeping up with the times. Also they need to make
sure they are showing good practice in adult theory.

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References

Baxter Magolda, Marcia B.,King, Patricia M. (Eds.) (2004) Learning partnerships: theory and
models of practice to educate for self-authorship Sterling, Va. : Stylus Pub.
Borman G.D, Rachuba L.T. (2001) Academic success among poor and minority students. Johns
Hopkins University.
Bumgarner, L., Mathies, C., & Ranges, S. (1997). A larger research universitys approach to a
one-day summer orientation program. The Journal of College Orientation and Transition,
5(1), 29-30.
Cook, L.P. (1996). A description of orientation programs at two-year colleges in the United
States. Doctoral Dissertation, Brigham Young University.
Fullik, J.M., Kimberly A.S.-J, Charyl S.Y, and Shannon A.S. (2012) Mentor and protg goal
orientations as predictors of newcomer stress and learning pp. 5273.
Hollins, T.N. (2009) Examining the impact of a comprehensive approach to student
orientation." Retrieved from web. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ833916.pdf>
Hollins, Jr., T.N. (2004). Participation in an extended orientation course and its relationships with
student involvement, student satisfaction, academic performance, and student retention
(Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University, 2004). Found at
http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03212004230223/unrestricted/01dissertation.pdf
Illinois Student Assistance Commission http://www.isac.org/students/during-college/types-offinancial-aid/scholarships/minority-student-definition.html
Madgett, P. J., & Belanger, C. H. (2008). First University Experience and Student Retention
Factors. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 38 (3), 77-96.

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Mortenson, T. (1998). Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 75.

Nadler, D.P., & Miller, M.T. (1997). Student satisfaction with orientation: A program assessment
and cultural stratification. The Journal of Orientation and College Transition, 1997, 5 (1),
7-13.
Natriello,G., McDill, E.L.,& Pallas, A.M. (1990). Schooling disadvantaged children: Racing
against catastrophe. New York: Teachers College Press.
Perigo, D.J., & Upcraft, M.L. (1989). Orientation programs The Freshman Year Experience San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass pp. 82-94.
Rachal, C.K., Daige, S., & Windy, S. (2007). Journal of institutional psychology. Learning
Problems Reported by College Students: Are They Using Learning Strategies, 34 (4),
191-199. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ790467
Rendon, L. (1995). Facilitating retention and transfer for first generation students in community
colleges. (ERIC ED383369) www.eric.ed.gov\
Schmidt, P. (2003). Academes hispanic future: The nations largest minority group faces big
obstacles in higher education, and colleges struggle to find the right ways to help. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 50 (14), 1-15. Retrieved from
http://chronicle.com/article/Academes-Hispanic-Future/20497/
Thayer, B. P., (2000). Retention of students from first generation and low income backgrounds.
Opportunity Outlook: The Journal of the Council for Opportunity in Education, (ERIC
ED446633) 3-5. www.eric.ed.gov
U.S. department of education. Office of Postsecondary Education: Federal TRIO Programs
Current-Year Low-Income Levels
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/incomelevels.html

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Appendix A

First Year Students (Semester 1 or Semester 2)

1. Have you effectively searched for or attained a job?
o Yes
o No
2. How effective is the teaching within your courses at this university?
(5) Extremely effective
(4) Very effective
(3) Moderately effective
(2) Slightly effective
(1) Not at all effective

3. How helpful is your Academic Advisor?

(5) Extremely helpful
(4) Very helpful
(3) Moderately helpful
(2) Slightly helpful
(1) Not at all helpful

4. How useful are the staff who are on-campus?

(5) Extremely useful
(4) Very useful
(3) Moderately useful
(2) Slightly useful
(1) Not at all useful

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5. How effective are you with studying habits and meeting assignment deadlines?
(5) Extremely effective
(4) Very effective
(3) Moderately effective
(2) Slightly effective
(1) Not at all effective

6. How has your adjustment been since your first day of college?
(5) Extremely well
(4) Very well
(3) Fair
(2) Slightly uncomfortable
(1) Not at all comfortable

7. Have you successfully reached your academic goals that were set?
o Yes
o No

Second Year Students (Semester 3 or Semester 4)

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