Search Results

Written By: Abhi Harikumar, Heidi Seabrooks-Smith, Alex Rodriguez The Sorenson Impact Center MAPS project convened students from across the nation to share experiences, perspectives, and needs from their institutions. In response to major interest from this event and in an effort to continue these conversations, the MAPS project has launched the inaugural Student Coalition on Higher Education. The Student Coalition on Higher Education (SCHE) was created in 2020 with three goals: to understand student experiences, amplify student voices, and leverage student expertise. Together, the SCHE work to envision a more equitable and sustainable future within higher education. The coalition provides young leaders with the opportunity to discuss emerging trends, engage with higher education decision makers and community leaders, and contribute to key conversations surrounding equity and inclusion. In its first year, the Student Coalition met with industry professionals, led discussions with fellow students, and conducted research aimed at cultivating a student-equity-centric future where students’ voices are valued and integrated into institutional decision-making processes. Conversations with students from across the nation highlighted existing inequities, reports of feeling misunderstood and being excluded from their institution’s decision making process. To fill this gap, the Student Coalition created the ‘Catalyzing Student Equity in Higher Education’ Guidebook. The Student Guidebook: Catalyzing Student Equity in Higher Education The Guidebook profiles five programs across the nation, describing the purpose and function of each, alongside a discussion of key takeaways. Drawing from a months-long process of speaking with a diverse group of students and administrators, the Guidebook identifies important factors influencing student-equity-centricity. In doing so, the Guidebook serves as a catalyst for driving institutional change. Now in its second year, a new cohort of SCHE members will build upon these findings. During a November 2021 MAPS convening, the Student Coalition had the opportunity to discuss barriers to student inclusion in decision-making spaces with national higher education leaders. Incorporating insights from these leaders, the Student Coalition will expand on the Guidebook through three areas of research. Moving Forward First, the SCHE is conducting a landscape analysis of social services resource access points at 125 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to document the promotion of resources such as food pantries, emergency housing, and emergency financial aid resources. The HEIs were selected through random sampling and inclusive of public/private, four-year/two-year, and diverse institutions throughout the United States. Providing data on potential institutional gaps in access, availability, and awareness, the analysis exemplifies resource needs expressed by students who participated in the MAPS and ‘I Am Not A Outlier’ projects. Second, the SCHE is gathering data on institutional leaders' perspectives to gain a greater understanding of the roles that students, administrators, and faculty play in capturing a diverse and comprehensive student voice. Through their research, they seek to gain insights on the factors influencing student engagement within institutions, informing solutions to advance student-centric-equity and empower student voices. Finally, to best capture the student voice, the SCHE is interviewing students across the nation to assess the effectiveness of emergency resources provided by universities and inform solutions to more effectively tailor resource programs to student needs. By gathering qualitative data and amplifying student voices across the nation, this research enriches the Guidebook findings.

Written by: Alexander Johnson and Aajah Harris At the close of another academic year, students and higher education administrators alike are looking ahead to the Fall 2021 semester. As these groups navigate key decisions, there is one constituency who can help bridge the needs of students and pressures of institutions: student government leaders. University student government associations (SGAs) serve as a crucial vehicle for student advocacy and change that is under-appreciated in many aspects. As former student government executive leaders at two very different institutions (the University of Michigan—a large, public research university in Michigan and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore—a small, rural, historically Black college in Maryland), we know that student government can be a vehicle for positive change. Like with many aspects of higher education, now is the time for transformation in student government to ensure it realizes its potential to best serve students and institutions. Student government associations are uniquely positioned to lead on campus: they have stable budgets (usually paid from required student fees) and consistent access to top university officials. However, in their current structure, SGAs are sometimes relegated to symbolic roles, particularly when there are tensions between what students ask of SGA and what administrators ask. For example, some student government leaders are asked to sign contracts that they will remain politically neutral and avoid advocacy activities. This practice puts these student leaders at a disadvantage in meeting student expectations, as Aajah experienced in a situation where she aimed to help resolve an over-policing issue that significantly impacted student experience and academic success. In other situations, SGAs might be used by administrators to check the box on getting student input and deflect criticism, even though students were not truly empowered in decision making. These barriers to student government success often have to do with state politics, power dynamics, or individual egos, but have real consequences around the SGA’s ability to effectively serve. If properly resourced and respected, student government can be an invaluable tool improving student experience and narrowing the gap between students and administrators - particularly during crises like COVID-19. For example, at the University of Michigan the medical school student government was able to bridge key demands and divides created by the chaos of COVID-19 as recognized in a leading journal. Additionally, the main campus SGA at U Michigan helped to alleviate financial burdens for students surrounding COVID-19 testing needed for in-person attendance this past year by offering a $25 reimbursement for testing done off campus. In these situations, student leaders already in place were able to mobilize quickly and serve as a bridge between the pressures facing administrators and the needs of students. Students are often closest to the problem and thus closest to the solution. However, in other situations, student governments are not empowered to solve problems due to a lack of resources that can stem either from campus decisions or the broader financial inequality that plagues higher education as a system, as the institutions that often serve students with the most complex lives have the fewest resources. For example, UMES students were also required to show up to campus with a negative COVID-19 test for spring 2021 semester. Unlike other highly resourced institutions, UMES was unable to provide a budget to pay for these tests for students, leaving students to find and pay for testing on their own. This was a challenge for the large percentage of students at UMES who do not have health insurance. The SGA was asked for help, but faced a lack of resources to solve this challenge. While this situation was unique to the COVID-19 pandemic, the key takeaway is a mismatch between the depth of need for certain students and institutions and the support in the current higher education system. Student governments themselves can also reform to ensure they are more representative of the increasingly diverse needs of students. Over the past few years, many SGAs have recognized that current policies cater to students in the upper echelon of socio-economic status. For example, policies such as positions with limited or no pay, requirements for an extremely high GPA, and bans on representatives holding part- or full-time jobs make it near impossible for the new majority of students to serve, as many of these are student parents and learner-earners who need to work while pursuing education. Each year, the SGA at the University of Michigan conducts a student demographic survey of participants and the numbers continue to show the disproportionate representation of wealthy, white, heterosexual students in leadership positions. Individual associations can consider how to change policies to recruit and retain representatives that better reflect today’s students. As higher education leaders consider how their institutions will continue evolving once the pandemic is over, student governments have a key role to play. At their best, these associations bring together diverse student backgrounds and innovative officials for conversations and change across campus; at the very least, they provide a meeting ground for students interested in making their little corner of the world a better place. Further investing resources and creating meaningful reform can ensure student governments build bridges that allow students, administrators and institutions to flourish. Alex Johnson is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he obtained a B.A. in Communication and Media Studies with minors in Political Science and Community Action and Social Change (CASC). He started this minor, which is housed in the School of Social Work, in his junior year of college, and has been fascinated by different forms activism can take, not only as a college student, but through all stages of life. He is planning to return to school to pursue a joint MSW/MPP. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a student of significantly less financial means than a majority of my peers in college, Alex is passionate about opening avenues of opportunity for those who come after him. He believes that we have an immense amount of knowledge to learn from those who came before us, especially activists, and that we can use this knowledge to build a more equitable future. Aajah Harris recently completed her graduate degree in criminal justice at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. During her undergraduate studies, she served as Student Government President. During Aajah’s term, she and her colleagues advocated for many, if not all HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) across the nation. After graduation, she plans to obtain a PhD in higher education administration, building upon her experience in the Student Coalition on Higher Education. In this Student Coalition, Aajah hopes to shed light on the issues that HBCUs face and possible suggestions that could be implemented.

Written By: Julianne Liu and Carolyn Dennis | Student Coalition on Higher Education This year’s graduation ceremonies mark the end of an academic year that was filled with strife, resilience, and ultimately transformation, from learning models to the value of higher education. As leaders prepare for the next year and beyond, they need to continue transforming to match the students of today. To thrive in the future, institutions can center their value proposition around the wealth of the diverse identities held by students who are not a monolith, dataset, or business venture. Doing this well requires an intersectional approach that centers students in communications and decision making. Student bodies are more diverse today than ever, and they will become increasingly so. In “Today’s Student” the Lumina Foundation reports that most modern higher education students are “non traditional” in at least one sense: 37% of college students are now 25 or older, 46% are first generation, 64% of students work full-time, and 49% are financially independent from their parents. These statistics speak to our unique experiences and identities. For Carolyn—the oldest daughter of six kids in a blue-collar family—there simply was no money for college. She joined the workforce straight out of high school and soon, “saving” for college was sidetracked by saving for a car, a wedding, a house. Then, the need to balance being a full-time employee and a mom crowded out the edges college might squeeze into. She ultimately enrolled in community college 20 years after graduating high school and is now pursuing a bachelor’s at the state flagship university. As a first-generation college student and a rural citizen 1.5 hours from campus, she is dedicated to accomplishing her life-long goal of a college degree. Julianne is a child of Chinese diaspora and has spent much of her life chasing the “American dream” while reckoning with her own liminal and marginalized identity. Thanks to her family’s legacy of sacrifice and hard work and many scholarships, Julianne embodies many characteristics of the “traditional” college student: directly attending university after high school, living and working on campus, participating in extracurricular activities, and making friends and connections along the way. However, Julianne's journey since has been far from smooth. She has endured microaggressions and suffered from racial battle fatigue, all the while enrolled in one and a half times her university's full-time courseload and job searching in a devastating market. Together, we represent two different types of students within standard higher-ed labels: one non-traditional and the other very much so. Like us, Today’s Students are a diverse group with complex lives, dreams, and aspirations. We are not outliers, nor are we indivisible under a single student label. To thrive in the future, higher education must make space for the nuances of our different paths. Intersectionality is a key part of supporting Today’s Students. Kimberlé Crenshaw, a scholar, educator, and luminary who popularized the framework, explains intersectionality as “a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound” and that this compounding creates “obstacles that often are not understood within conventional ways of thinking.” She shares that understanding the complex relationships between race, gender, sexuality, and other identity markers contributes to a better understanding of what inequity and inequality look like and how they are created. Importantly, an intersectional approach also leads to understanding one another better as human beings and making each other feel seen and heard. Unfortunately, many institutions have dismissed or fumbled their attempts to meaningfully apply an intersectional approach. Frequently, campus events, resources, and outreach target just one type of student, leaving others feeling unseen and wondering if they belong. At times, Carolyn has felt squeezed out due to the emphasis on the social life, difficult to engage in with the myriad demands on her time. Julianne has also felt unseen and overly seen in other areas of her college experience, such as being pointedly voluntold to share information on her cultural customs in discussions or asked to speak on behalf of an entire continent. Rather than placing the burden on individual students to reach out, institutional decision makers should create a culture that recognizes and values intersectionality. Institutions can also support Today’s Students by being more transparent and communicative. The pandemic has strained existing communication between students and administrators and made forming new ties more difficult. Diverse students in particular evidence a desire for stronger communication practices: surveys included in the MAPS dashboard show that students identifying as Black, Asian, or Latinx are more likely to want to hear regularly from their college or university and that students identifying with more than one racial group are less satisfied with institutional communication. Finally, institutions can create belonging for Today’s Students by developing new inclusive structures for decision making. At times, it feels as though administrators consult students only after a decision is made or only seek input from those in student leadership positions, who often are not fully representative of the unique needs of a diverse and increasingly non-traditional student body. With the changing face of the student body, now is the time for administrators to innovate with students on new and improved ways to communicate, show transparency, and achieve co-creation. Without thoughtful attention, these disconnects will likely only worsen in the post-pandemic world and can pose serious challenges to the relevance of traditional higher education institutions. As institutions prepare for the next academic year, now is the time to continue transforming for Today’s Students. We see a clear pathway for this: Administrators must open the channel for dialogue with students, then actually listen closely to our stories and act upon them while involving us in the process. Institutions should also develop solutions that are equity oriented, rather than basing decisions on an outdated definition of “traditional.” Administrators can take heart in the fact that students are empathetic to the efforts required to honor intersectionality and strong communication. All they need to do to harness that energy is to listen deeply and act on those insights. As Today’s Students, we are ready and waiting. Julianne Liu is a recent graduate from the University of Utah with Honors degrees in French and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is passionate about community, justice-based learning, and meaningful representation of liminal and marginalized identities. Carolyn Dennis is a wife and mother, balancing her return to school while working full time. She is a student at the University of Utah, pursuing a degree in Political Science.