TRIO ROCKS!

TRIO programs emerged out of the civil rights movement and Lyndon Baines Johnson’s War on Poverty. In 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act established an experimental program called Upward Bound. By 1968, the federal government had launched two additional programs, Talent Search and Student Support Services [TRIO SSS]. These three programs were grouped together and the title TRIO was born. The name remains, though TRIO now consists of eight programs, adding Educational Opportunity Center (1972), Training Programs for Federal TRIO programs (1976), Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement (1986), Upward Bound Math and Science (1990), and TRIO Dissemination Partnership (1998).

Currently, there are over 2800 TRIO programs throughout the country that support 790,000 students with college dreams, from the 6th grade through Bachelor’s degree completion. Specifically, TRIO programs work with students overcoming obstacles to education, including limited income, first generation to college, and disability.

Some famous TRIO alumni include:
• Patrick Ewing - Coach, Olympian and Former Professional Basketball Player
• Bernard Harris - First African-American Astronaut to perform a spacewalk
• Gwendolynne Moore - US Congresswoman
• John Quinones - Correspondent for ABC news
• Joe Rogers – Former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
• Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – Music Producers
• Franklin Chang-Diaz - First Hispanic Astronaut
• Troy Polamalu - Professional Football Player

Access without support is not opportunity. At Community College of Denver, TRIO SSS supports students through the obstacles while challenging them to high goals. Toward this end, TRIO SSS provides a wide range of services, including comprehensive advising (academic, financial aid and financial literacy, transfer, career and personal); a Summer Bridge program; campus visits throughout the region; social and cultural activities; and academic tutoring. Within these services, the program utilizes data to track student progress and provide intentional guidance. Throughout, TRIO SSS creates a welcoming and personalized home on campus where each student feels valued and safe to grow as a student and career professional.

With our long history of advancing educational opportunity for underrepresented students, TRIO programs fulfill leadership roles at the institutional, state and national level. Throughout the country, TRIO spirals out innovation and best practices for student access and completion.

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Contributor Imane Benjelloun is an alumna of TRIO SSS at both Community College of Denver and University of Colorado Denver. Currently she is professional staff with TRIO SSS at CCD and will soon be a famous alumna of TRIO.

Organic Leadership

Like the Sage on Stage approach to teaching, the Colonel on Horse approach to leadership views everyone else as passive recipients and benefactors of the omniscient and omnipotent one. Even if the Colonel has a good idea of where he or she is going - which is an assumption - everyone else will simply tread the exact same path and end up in the exact same place. Groupthink. Lemmings. Et cetera.

When I work with others, I put forth significant effort to be mindful of judgment. Judgment in and of itself is not necessarily problematic; in fact, it is necessary. Problems arise when we assume that our judgment is descriptive of an objective world, one that appears exactly the same to everyone else. I tend to agree with the postmodernist idea that an objective world may well exist, but we can only know through conditions of its emergence. For example, the wavelength of light that appears as a blue sky can be descriptively measured, but how we understand and make meaning of that appearance emerges through our language, emotions, culture, sensory receptors, and so on. Do we know, then, that the blue sky appears the same to all of us? Who is right?

Such a problematization of objective judgment is a problematization of the Colonel on Horse. Due to the objective and subjective divergences that exist on a team of individuals, it is an inefficient allusion laced with missed opportunity and egoism to have everyone else get in line and follow the leader.

Thus, I prefer the concept of organic leadership: cultivating ecosystems that produce a flourishing and vibrant community, concomitantly guiding diverse emergent energy toward a shared vision of success.

In this direction, I ascribe to three guiding tenets.

1. Create a culture of positivity. Your work environment is a cauldron of inspiration, where each individual realizes the significance and meaning of their contributions to the team's vision of success. Productivity is a corollary of fun and excitement. Be fresh air. Be sunshine. Create a vision to respond to the age-old question: Why does any of this matter?

2. Balance structure with autonomy. Each individual benefits from different levels of guidance and independence, often at different times in different stages of evolution within different responsibilities. Listen attentively to your teammates to find the sweet spot and support right balance. Sometimes you may need to be the Colonel on Horse, but other times you need to simply get out of the way!

3. Pursue open communication built on authentic relationships. Be curious about other people's thoughts and ideas and happenings. In an ecological world, all is interconnected and relational. Communicate honestly yet kindly through both the clear days and the stormy nights.

A Chaos Theory for Career Counseling?

Do career pathways and development arise from a carefully constructed plan that entails research, assessment tools and goal setting, or do career opportunities occur by a series of serendipitous chances from seemingly unrelated events?  These two career development concepts are discussed in a recently published book entitled: A Chaos Theory of Careers: A New Perspective on Working in the 21^st Century (Robert Pryor, Jim Bright). As someone who facilitates the process of career decision making for many of those whom I serve, I have often struggled to reconcile these two ideas.

Personally, I’ve always felt extremely attracted to chaos theory; small changes in a dynamic system at one level will reverberate and amplify in unanticipated ways throughout interconnected levels of the system. The popular cultural idea of  this is captured in the concept of the “butterfly effect” coined by Edward Lorenz, whose wings set in motion a series of events that cascade into major and seemingly unrelated outcomes (like affecting the weather a continent away) .

I also fall under the belief (illusion?) that because scientific research, through sound principles, can illuminate causality between two or more things, it must have equal explanatory power for future causality. Take for instance the weather. Even if we can pull apart, examine and understand everything that led to a particular tornado’s occurrence we cannot predict that under the exact same set of circumstances another tornado would even form.  It’s not a matter of some measurement that might have been missed or some possible unknown “X factor”, it’s simply that a small change in the beginning or initial stages of a system impact later stages in different ways under the same exact conditions. There is no way to completely predict the exact outcome. A set or series of probable outcomes; yes, but an exact outcomes – never.

How does this relate to one’s own career or choice of future career paths? The traditional model of career advising seeks to help one become self-aware through a series of tools and instruments that help delineate one’s preferences, interests and values – a “best fit” model. Understand a person’s interests, values, and preferences, and then seek to match them with an occupation that best relates. We can call this the modernist approach or positivist approach.  The postmodern approach to career advising entails having the advisee construct meaning from past experiences (work, life, family, spirituality) and thereby bring to light a pattern (life theme, map, life meaning, etc) that can then be aligned with a particular career path. In a very tiny nutshell, these two concepts have been the major theories that have propelled the career development ideology for many decades.

The authors of the book propose a new theory that integrates both of these concepts in a way that values both of their contributions. “Open systems thinking” captures the general idea of a chaos theory of careers by arguing that systems have constituent parts contained in a dynamic system where boundaries are ill-defined and impacts from chance encounters, events and circumstances will impact these parts in unknown ways. Looking at your own career development. What unknowns arose that you could not have possibly anticipated and how have your decisions and your pathways diverged from even your best laid plans and goals?  Ultimately, we can incorporate chaos and the unknown into our career planning and we should seek to embrace this - not "factor out" or insulate ourselves from the vagaries of life's chances.

This book was an amazing read simply for the fact that it gave me vindication of sorts for my internal struggles in my role as a career advisor. Can we really ever make a perfect decision about our future careers? Can we account and plan for all possible scenarios and situations that might come about in the future? Yet the tools, instruments and self reflection that a career advisor utilizes with another is able to set one on a new path with new goals and a new vision of what their future life and work could be. However, a new path that is closed to the possibilities and impacts of future circumstances, chance meetings and seemingly new directions could miss the greatest career development possibility of all – a career path or occupational opportunity that one could have never possibly imagined in their wildest dreams.

Helmets

I have on my shiny orange kayak helmet right now. I love wearing helmets! Even as I sit here in front of a computer, putting my thoughts to the page.

Why? Because there are a lot of sharp pointy rocks out in the world! If I am wearing my helmet, it means I am charging ahead, regardless. You do not need to wear a helmet if you live a safe, conservative life and avoid all difficult terrain. But recently, I have been wearing my helmet, and loving it!

You see, I have been preparing for a run at a new position at work over the last few months, a so-called leadership position. At first, I was uncertain if I was even interested in the new terrain, and in any case, a bit hesitant to put myself out there. But I made a choice, spurred on by a mentor: come what may, go for it! Consequently, I have been intensely studying all the book material - the policies, regulations, knowledge, theory, skills and strategies. That comes naturally to me. More of a challenge, I have also put myself out there on the social side - connecting with new people, forging partnerships, presenting at meetings, sharing my energy and vision with the wider world. This terrain is much scarier to me, sharp and pointy.

Here is the strange thing. The the risky terrain, the areas of reservation: my efforts charging ahead in these areas have been exhilarating! Good thing for my helmet. It gave me courage to chance it, protected me from the rocks.

It is too easy to let our fears and perceptions define the boundaries of our possibility. My natural mode has always been to think and observe, to process in my own head, to only share myself within a tight circle. There are strengths to this mode, strengths I still rely on today. But it is now becoming apparent that these natural ways of being can be hijacked by self-doubt, codified and institutionalized over the years into limiting thoughts, and turned into self-inflicted boxes defining our potential.

The core philosophy of my life is: becoming - grounded in our roots and growing toward the light. Here you find my most foundational assumption; if we all have this opportunity and realize enough to take it, then we as an interconnected whole evolve ever closer to goodness and truth, a just and joyous world. 

I still do not know if I will be selected for this particular position that I am applying for, and in a way, it does not really matter. Far greater a reward the process has already granted. I have taken a new leap in my journey of becoming, and ascended beyond certain self-conceived limitations. Now, from this new vantage point, I see even higher mountains to climb.

Advising with Mental Health In Mind

Several weeks ago, I attended a training on "Prevention and Response" with regard to student behavior.  While the training was informative and provided the necessary protocol for handling students who could pose a threat to safety on campus, I left feeling as if there could have been more information on addressing self-reported or suspected mental health issues in students.  Only days later, I came across an article in The Mentor  titled “The Prevalence of Mental Health Issues Among College Students: How Do Advisors Equip Themselves?” in which Lori Corley asserts that advisors have a responsibility in assisting students in accessing mental health treatment and shared some simple tips for doing so.  The training and then subsequently the article could not have intersected at a better time for me as I was grappling with trying to strike a balance in reporting the behavior and also helping the student access services.

According to Lori Corley, “75 percent of lifetime cases of diagnosable mental disorders begin by the age of 24”. 

This data should inform advising by taking into consideration the many responsibilities students are managing and how they are being impacted as a large number of our students are at risk based on age alone.

“Oftentimes varying degrees of stress and anxiety can trigger new mental health concerns or further exasperate existing ones,” states Corley. 

For many of our students, they are facing tremendous pressure and may be juggling more than traditional college students as they oftentimes work, have family responsibilities, or perhaps are the first in their family to attend college and are navigating a system that can seem daunting.    

Taking a moment to inquire about how things are going before moving forward with degreeworks can be an ideal time for advisors to gain insight into the student’s life.  In the event that a student discloses he or she is has mental health concerns during a conversation, advisors need to be prepared to make appropriate referrals, provide accurate and up to date resources, and be equipped to be a positive support for the student.

“Advisors may observe behaviors that could indicate underlying mental health issues or students may self-report their own concerns about their behavior.  In the latter case, it is important to listen to the students’ self-disclosure about concerns they have with their academics or other aspects of their life.  Asking open-ended questions about students’ overall satisfaction may encourage them to disclose feelings they are having or discuss issues they are facing.  And, of course, advisors need to be prepared to deal with behaviors and/or statements that indicate students may be planning to harm themselves” suggests Corley. 

“Academic Advisors should not feel it is their responsibility to counsel students with mental health issues or to recommend treatment.  Instead, advisors can observe students’ behavior and listen to self-disclosures, lend an ear, and refer students to the appropriate services available on campus,” stresses Corley.  

Encouraging a student to seek help and providing them with the assurance that they are not alone does not mean taking on the role of a mental health professional.  Rather, it is a necessary component of advising as we are able to have a significant effect on their future which is just as important as campus safety.

Digital Story-Telling

"As we are made of water, bone, and bio-chemistry, we are made of stories. The students that share their stories in our circles recognize a metamorphosis of sorts, a changing, that makes them feel different about their lives, their identities." - Joe Lambert, Director, Center for Digital Story-Telling

Digital story-telling has many uses in higher education. Students produce digital stories in the classroom as a learning activity and assessment tool. Faculty and staff create digital stories as teaching tools and outreach. Digital stories provide self-reflection, inspiration, connection, perspective, and new knowledge. Using accessible multimedia technologies and a straightforward template, we all can participate in the process of making meaning of our experience, and sharing those insights with the wider world!

So then, what is a digital story? The basic template includes a narration and images, merged together through video. The process of creating your own digital story is both easier and more difficult than you might expect. It is easier in that we all have amazing stories within us, and with a little guidance, current multimedia technology readily creates sharp productions. It is more difficult in that the craft of digital storytelling allows for endless nuance and perfecting, which quickly becomes apparent as you work through the creative process. Like chess, digital storytelling takes a little time to learn, but a long time to master.

Let's start with the basics. First and foremost, you need to decide on the story that you want to tell. Most fledgling storytellers focus on a personal story, as the material is immediately available. You may choose to tell a personal story based on an accomplishment, a struggle, an adventure, a choice, an identity, a philosophy, and - of course - a love. You may also tell a story about another person, such as a memorial to a grandparent, a biography of an inspirational figure, or the birth of a child. As story-telling creatures, we have seemingly unending capacity to make meaning - that is, to tell a story - about pretty much any aspect of our experience: a place, a tree, a star overhead.

What is the story you want to tell? What does it mean? And what does it really mean?

Draft your thoughts into a script, somewhere in the ballpark of 300-600 words. Keep in mind that you - or a suitable recruit - will narrate the script while showing images through a video production. Your first script does not need to be on par with Dostoevsky or Maya Angelou; do not be self-critical of your draft but rather focus on the process.

A few basic tips will get you a long way in honing your writing. First, own your emotions. You will feel vulnerable, but emotions make us human, and serve as a connecting point with an audience. It can be scary, but express your authentic self. Second, find the moment. A story distills down all the noise of life, and focuses on the heart of the matter. Is there a particular realization or event or object that crystallizes the meaning of your experience? Third, show instead of tell. Rather than say, "Bob was angry," say "With a quickened step, Bob stormed into the room, looking for a scapegoat."

A useful approach for refining the draft of your script is the story circle. Form a group and take turns reading aloud individual drafts. What worked and what didn't work? What was clear and what was a bit muddled? What images or phrases captivated? What emotions did you feel? If you choose to tell a digital story, you are going to feel exposed, so you may as well get used to putting yourself out there.

At the end of the day, your digital story will rise or fall based on the strength of your script.

With your script as scaffolding, start building a collage of images (photos, drawings, video) that reinforce your story. You may use your own personal images, or complete a Creative Commons search for non-copyrighted images. Also, you have the option to add music, but be careful not to overdo it or infringe on copyright.

Next, record a narration of your script. If you have a smartphone, you can easily record an audio file with numerous apps. Alternatively, you may use a tablet or laptop with a built-in mic, a stand alone mic connected to a computer, or a video created with a camera/camcorder (requiring you to extract the audio track). Expect to record your narration numerous times until you are happy with its pace and annunciation. You may use a free program such as Audacity to edit your narration.

The last step is to merge your audio (narration) and video (images) tracks into a single production. If you have a PC, you may use Movie Maker. If you have a Mac, you may use iMovie. You may also use a web-based program such as We Video. Are you a blooming director looking for more powerful editing capabilities? There are plenty of after-market software options, such as Apple Final Cut Pro, Cyberlink Power Director, or Adobe Premiere.

Now, go tell it on the mountain! Epiphanies are best when shared, especially when fresh on the soul.

The Heart of the Matter

I was born a white heterosexual middle class healthy male in 20th century America.

Certainly, my parents sacrificed much to grant me a strong, stable and supportive environment in which to grow. Certainly, I have worked hard at my own development and taken on difficult challenges along the way. Certainly, I have committed to an ethical life built on integrity.

The point is that my family and I have inherited the freedom and power to make these choices.

It would be disingenuous to say that I regret the opportunity my life has afforded. That is nothing other than a charity toward my brothers and sisters without such power. Does superficial guilt benefit those without, or does it simply salve the conscience of those with privilege?

Rather than charity, what is required is justice. Rather than feeling bad about freedom, power and opportunity, what we need is committed and systemic action to break down the barriers that keep many people from accessing these ecosystems. The list of challenges is  dishearteningly well tread: prejudice, greed, violence, fear.

Working at a community college, I am inspired every day by stories of resilience and resourcefulness and drive in the face of many such challenges. Most of the time, these life stories are different than my individual story. However, the important realization is that your story is my story, just as mine yours. This is the human story. "I may not [seem] the same; it does not matter; no freedom until we're equal; damn right I support it."

Justice is the freedom of each and everyone of us to become who we are. At a deep visceral level, I am indignant when this freedom is curtailed, and fulfilled when it flourishes forth. To me privilege equates to the responsibility to use my power and opportunity to work toward justice. This is not heroic; I am not swooping in to "save" anyone. I am simply playing a role in my story, your story, our story. The unwritten future is our hope; our dreams remain to be realized.

The Rise of Women in Education

I have often read, heard and seen that women are indeed faring much better academically than their male counterparts. As someone who works for equality and access for all who seek higher education, nothing could make me happier than the fact that this particular gender gap has narrowed so substantially – although not completely (i.e. STEM). Growing up in a home where the struggles of women’s rights and gender equality were often dinner table conversations, I feel a twinge of guilt in wondering what is happening to all of the men and what can be done to ensure they find their place in a rapidly changing and evolving society.

Gender equality on many fronts, in addition to education, has certainly not been achieved. Women still make less than men for equivalent work and the executive glass ceilings are all too often encountered by women in many corporate boardrooms. Violence against women is still endemic and women are disproportionately left to economically and physically support children.  However, women have made historic gains in the workforce and have propelled even further in higher education by many accounts and I have often considered the possible reasons for this historic advance.  

A new book released this year entitled, The Rise of Women, conclude that women are more likely to attend college, perform better academically and choose other fields than STEM disciplines. The research conducted by the authors suggested one of the main causes for this disparity between gender achievements is due to school engagement in the primary schooling years - boys are less engaged and girls are more engaged. Additionally, the book discusses social and behavioral skill deficits experienced by boys that lead to lower educational readiness at multiple stages as compared to their female counterparts.

The authors also suggested that men are “overly optimistic” regarding their future income earning potential leading them to “under invest in education.” The book also discusses that the gender inequality gap most prevalent for those who attend college are the “lack of gender integration among various fields of study” – STEM fields are overly represented by men.  It is important to note that the book suggests that choice of college majors by men and women happen more at the K-12 level and less so at the college level.

As a student development practitioner, I wonder how we can better serve both men and women in the higher education environment and how to do our part to help ameliorate some of the social forces leading to gender inequality at the higher education level. I feel that CCD’s Urban Male Initiative (UMI) program is a very innovative and effective resource that helps promote male student engagement both at the educational and community level.  I also know of student groups and organizations that focus on exposing and encouraging women to explore STEM careers as viable career options.   

I would invite others to share, in the comments section, their thoughts and / or best practices regarding how to counteract any of the above mentioned social forces leading to gender inequality at all levels of education.  

A Classic Text on Working with Others

Whether you are an advisor, teacher, or administrator, the importance of being attentive to relationships and emotions cannot be understated. As long as we higher education professionals are working with humans, and not robots, this will remain imperative to the work that we do.

It is plain to say that some people we more naturally relate with and understand, and others less so. This comes about through varying personalities, shared and divergent experiences, similar and different emotional profiles, and so on. For example, as an advisor, I often times work with a student older and more experienced than myself, or a student with eight times the street cred, or a student with a chip on their shoulder, or a student coming from a very different place. Yet it is contingent upon me to establish trusting relationships and a genuine emotional connection with each individual, regardless of the ease or difficulty of doing so.

Growing up, I remember my dad reading the newspaper every night. However, he only had one book in his library: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. From a young age, I was captivated by this book: I loved all the books in my own burgeoning library, and thus was very curious about the singular tome in my father's; even more so, the title of the book always struck me as odd. Out of serendipity, I recently cross paths with this book again, 20 years later. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to give it a go.

A classic text first penned in the 1930's, How to Win Friends and Influence People had sold 15 million copies by 1981, while being translated into nearly every written language in the world. So the jacket informed me, as I turned the book over in my hands. Still, I could not see the title as anything other than a euphemism for How to Manipulate People and Get Your Way. Just as before, it seemed a strange topic.

To my surprise, though, there are many interesting and good strategies outlined in the book (sprinkled between plenty of cultural anachronisms - interesting in themselves). Certainly, one could use these strategies to manipulate people and get your way. But just the same, one could use these strategies to show genuine interest in others and expand your circle of concern. The underlying objective depends on the current status of your ego. The Jedi Force is used for both good and evil.

The grand strategy outlined by Carnegie - translated into contemporary language - is to value people and honor their contributions. When we escape our own narrow concerns, and go out of our way to truly listen to what others say and feel, then we can establish a strong foundation for partnering toward shared outcomes.

This is an invaluable strategy for building relationships and emotional connections, especially in situations where this does not come about naturally. At our first meeting, I always start by asking questions, listening, and learning as much as I can about a person. I make it a point to affirm the strengths and accomplishments that I hear in their story. I tune in to the emotions tied their memories, and attempt to put myself in their shoes. I am mindful of checking my own judgments, and open myself to the vibrancy and perspective of the person sitting across from me.

Consequently, the foundation of human relationship is built on trust, and many internal defenses and biases are eased. In other words, I have earned their respect.

Dale, I have something to add. In my view, it is more than just influencing another person.  By being true to the process, and allowing for it to reciprocate, then you too are being influenced by another person. And through such a process, we too grow - in our role as higher education professionals, in our role as people. When we open to this process, then we truly are genuine.

Highly Inefficient Efficiencies in the Workplace

In the New York Times article “Messages Galore, but No Time to Think,” Phyllis Korkki
highlights the insidious dark side of our deterministic march toward technological productivity. At any given moment, we can now use e-mail, cellphones, instant messaging, text messaging, social media, corporate intranets, cloud applications, and pagers to communicate at work. (What did I miss?) Moreover, the fluidity of these technologies means that we can mix our personal and work communication, 24/7.

Technology is in itself value neutral; its use determines its value. I am thinking of the electrical outlet at my grandparents’ old house, where we managed to use various splitters and power strips to plug in a dozen cords into a single outlet. At some point, of course, this becomes dangerous, either blowing a fuse, or worse, sending a shower of sparks into your home. This is past the point of diminishing returns.

When will we reach this point, as we plug more and more communication lines into our minds? When did we?

“Something may have been lost as we adopted these new communication tools: the ability to concentrate,” asserts Korkki.

According to neuroscientists such as Dr. Daniel Seagull, the practice of mindfulness – or sustained attention – thickens the pre-frontal cortex, which is the rational center of the brain. The pre-frontal cortex balances the more impulsive amygdala system. Balance is good, because sometimes deliberation is required, but other times (such as in dangerous situations), a quicker response is required.

For the sake of the argument, let’s assume that our excessive use of always on multiple communication technologies is the opposite of mindfulness practice. Instead, such practice is to quickly divide out attention in the name of efficiency. What does that do to neurological balance between our rational and our impulsive systems?

The question then becomes: Does the work we do require sustained rational analysis and decision making? Because if it does, we may be shooting ourselves in the foot in the name of efficiency.

Here, it seems, efficiency takes the form of a Zen koan: that which we seek we cannot find unless we stop seeking.

“To lessen the disruptive nature of e-mail and other messages, teams need to discuss how to alter their work process to allow blocks of time where they can disconnect entirely,” adds Korkki.

In other words, the most effective and productive approach requires that we set aside some time to slow down and focus on only one thing.

“Nature does not hurry, yet all is accomplished,” stated Lao Tzu, long ago.

Here is one intervention: actually take your lunch break, and put all of your electronic devices in sleep mode, if only for 30 minutes.

And another easy starting point: unless there is a legitimate reason to do so, do not send an e-mail to someone when you could take a minute to walk over and talk to them in person.

Lastly, keep in mind that neuroscience has debunked multi-tasking as a myth. Your brain is not hardwired to focus on more than one thing at a time – it is what it is. Multi-tasking is simply the rationing out of that one line to shorts bursts of limited attention. Is this really the most efficient way of doing things?

Are you busy, or are you productive? These are two different things.

Disequilibrium and the Teacher-Guide

In May, TRIO Student Support Services took a group of fifteen students on a Transfer and Cultural Tour. The student learning outcomes included: 1) Explore academic transfer opportunities beyond the Auraria Campus; 2) Experience cultural, geographical, and historical learning opportunities not otherwise accessible to TRIO students; and 3) Build communities of support among TRIO students and staff.

We know that the great majority of students that transfer out of CCD remain on the Auraria campus, with most ending up at Metro State. This in itself is not a problem; the tri-institutional arrangement of the Auraria Campus provides seamless transfer for our students, while maintaining local connections. Staying on the Auraria campus is the best value and fit for many of our students. The problem is that some of our students may be better off transferring elsewhere, but they simply do not know that.

The TRIO Transfer and Cultural Tour pushes students outside their comfort zone. We visit transfer institutions and communities that most of our students have never visited (or even heard of). Disequilibrium is pedagogy.

For example, at Western State Colorado University, a TRIO student was concerned that there were no campus police. "The Student Mountain Rescue Team once operated a safety phone line," the Admissions Rep told us, "But after two years they shut it down because not one emergency call was ever placed." (That is a bit different from the Auraria campus, where we hardly bat an eyelid at yet another person exposing themselves on the first floor of South.)

"Is there public transportation?" another student asked. "Well, there is no city bus, but it is not too hard to get around, since you can bike from one end of town to the other in ten minutes."

Certainly the small town campus was not for all of our students ("It is so quiet here...it is freaking me out"), but Western State ended up being the most popular campus we visited this year (in addition to UCCS and Colorado Mesa University).

The role of the teacher-guide is to bring our students into cognitive, cultural, social, even physical environments where they otherwise would not go, and to walk with them along the journey. With a bit of Socratic questioning and some structured time for reflection, the learning process moves along autonomously, as students synthesize new meaning and understanding from a direct and dynamic learning experience.

In TRIO, we firmly believe in the power of robust student support networks, and create opportunities for our participants to build and expand on their community of supporters. It is difficult to underestimate the significance that positive relationships with other students, faculty, and staff have on student success.

The TRIO Transfer and Cultural Tour puts students into new and different interpersonal environments. By intention, the Tour brings together a cross-section of our diverse student population, and puts everyone together in close quarters over four active and long days. As anticipated, the small scuffles and annoyances come about now and then, but when your choice is either to get back in the van, or walk 200 miles home, you make the necessary interpersonal adaptations quickly.

"It was interesting to meet and get to know people that I see at school for less than a minute.  When your traveling with 17 people for four days you get to learn how the person is like and who they are.  People can't hide who they are when traveling for so long with a group of people," noted one student.

Another student added, "I learned that when we build community we may have to work with diverse people who come from different backgrounds and beliefs. When we are working with the community, we need to be patient and we cannot expect that other people will perform like us because we come from different cultures, backgrounds, have different strengths and weaknesses, different personalities. It is important that we respect other people as well as ourselves."

"The trip gave me the ability to meet students whom I may not have otherwise interacted with. In doing so any of the other travelers can help to support the college experience and in return I can do the same for them. I told everyone on the trip that I work in our Office of Student Life and if they ever need books or any type of human services related help to come by. We can all support one another through our different background and experiences as college students. The camaraderie  is something that is priceless and can never be replaced," reflected a third student.

The role of the teacher-guide is not to control or direct or even inform. The teacher-guide creates intentional and thoughtful learning environments that challenge students to synthesize new experiences and understandings. Whether the student learning outcomes are purely academic, or more broadly developmental, disequilibrium is a powerful and engaging method to increase student learning and success.

Drop the Deficit

Though our intentions our good, we higher education professionals at times operate within the deficit model. Perhaps unaware, we use language such as low-income students, disability, non-traditional, and so on. Without thinking about it, we design programs to address academic deficiencies and to mitigate socioeconomic factors and to serve at-risk students. And in the assessment of our own contributions, we sometimes assume that we are doing pretty good if we can get a fair amount of our students to succeed, since they come to us with so many obstacles and challenges.

No doubt, there are circumstances and realities that disproportionately impact each of our life histories and trajectories. It is unfair to assume that we are all dealt the same hand in life, that  somehow if we just work hard enough, we can pull ourselves up by the boot straps. Certainly our role as an institution of educational access and opportunity is to work closely with those seeking to change their stars despite the challenges life has afforded them. But that does not mean that we define our students' future by looking into their past.

It is time to drop the deficit.

Let's take TRIO Student Support Services as an example. A description of our program using deficit language: TRIO SSS serves low-income, first-generation, and disabled students in order to increase the graduation and transfer rates of disadvantaged populations. Compare that to a description of our program using strengths language: TRIO SSS partners with students overcoming obstacles to higher education - such as limited income, first generation to attend college, or need for accessibility services - in order to achieve their high goals of graduation and transfer.

The language and thought models that we use have a huge impact on the climate of our programming and the energy of our students and staff. These impact how our students view themselves and how they construct their place in the world.

And so, TRIO SSS is a student development program involving a community of resourceful, creative, motivated, and committed students; the fact that our students have made it to CCD - given the cards many have been dealt - is nothing short of inspiring! We expect our students to work hard, to utilize a student support network, and to continually develop their potential. "Good enough" is not good enough for our students.

Learning Outside the Classroom

Each semester, TRIO Student Support Services completes a community service project. It is a great opportunity for students to develop leadership skills, explore career options, add to professional networks, and build community. In my view, it is also a great opportunity to strengthen the student-staff relationship, which is integral to supporting student success.

Data-Based Advising

There are plenty of projects out there that use data to direct student advising, but I decided to develop my own for the TRIO SSS program here at CCD. For one, it is free to develop and use our own system. For two, it allowed me to create a system that fits our contingent situation.

It is quite simple (though its description is not conducive to a narrative). I select ten quantifiable variables that historically indicate problems with persistence and completion for our students: Term Grades, Term GPA, Cumulative GPA, Cumulative Completion Rate, Cumulative GPA Hours, Financial Aid Standing, Financial Aid Application Status, Hold Status, TRIO Meetings, and TRIO Activities. Then I operationalize the data for each variable, crunch the data, and end up with a Persistence Score for each student. The Persistence Score is like a golf score, the lower the better. The higher the score, the greater the risk of student stop out.

Then, in the following semester, I use the Persistent Report as a triage model for intentional advising. For students scoring low, I provide no additional services beyond standard TRIO activity. For students scoring medium, I enact one additional intervention. For students scoring high, I enact two additional interventions.

The Persistence Report is also helpful when meeting with students, as it provides plenty of important conversation points. As another project, I am currently creating a "flipped classroom" curriculum that uses a website to guide students through the data collection for themselves, and then connects them with student development advising and activities.

An important question is: Does data-based advising based on the Persistence Report make a difference in student persistence and completion? Anecdotally, I can say - at minimum - that it raises awareness of student trajectories and is a helpful tool for student advising. I have not yet completed a scientific evaluation, though I am currently working on another project to methodically evaluate TRIO, so perhaps I will include it there.

The Balancing Act

As a student advisor, I understand the importance of creating a welcoming, supportive environment for the students. As Vincent Tinto argues in his research on retention, relationship and a sense of community is key. "You want to go where everybody  knows your name," as the song goes. And if a student feels comfortable coming to us as they face obstacles and challenges, then we are positioned to utilize our skills and tools to strengthen and motivate.

On the other hand, I see it equally important to be an agitator. Sometimes a little "tough love" is needed, and it is our role to push and challenge the student. Carol Dweck makes a convincing argument for this view in her book  Mindset. To reach our full potential, we all need those people and  moments that nudge us beyond our comfort zone, that create disequilibrium and difficulty. It is through these experiences, too, that we grow stronger.

Sometimes a student needs a cookie, but other times the student needs to eat his vegetables.

To me, this leads to a balancing act between being friendly and empathetic, and being tough and challenging. Key to walking this line is trust. In my very first meeting with students, I make it clear: your success is my success, and you are capable of far more than you can imagine; I am here to support you and be with you every step of the way, but I am also here to push you and challenge you. And to live into this trust, I personally have to deeply take to heart what I say, and to do my best to reach this high standard each and every day that I come to work.

What's A Degree Worth?

Recently, a very interesting piece of student data was just released in a commissioned report and joint effort with CDHE and College Measures that revealed some interesting first year employment outcomes for recent college graduates in Colorado. Though important variables were excluded, like those who may have obtained work with the federal government, those who matriculated directly into graduate programs and those who move out of state, some surprising information was revealed.

Most revealing was data reflecting that median first-year earnings for those with AAS degrees were on average $7,000 above those who earned bachelor degrees.  This data snap shot is sure to bolster the community college marketing of CTE programs as an important, critical and viable path to securing good middle class jobs. While the data certainly reflects the value and importance of CTE programs, life-time earnings generally tend to start off more slowly for those with a four year education but generally out pace those with AAS degrees in the long run. 

I found the release of the College Measures data and an article published in the NY Time a few days ago to be very timely. The article entitled The Great Aid Gap highlights the regulation that allocates student aid for those in traditional degree programs but does not make eligible for aid those who are in short-term credit or non-credit industry aligned certificate programs.  

True, many non-credit and continuing educational programs at various schools may be considered skills directly related to workforce training for those already employed in their respective industries, and many people who take these classes have the financial means to pay directly for them. However, as someone who does a lot of out-reach at locations like our local workforce centers, I can see the value of allowing student access to federal student aid who are seeking short term industry aligned trainings. Many of these students do not have the means to fund short term certificate programs and must seek assistance via other more restrictive programs like the Department of Labor’s (i.e. W.I.A) dislocated worker fund. 

As new data continues to reflect the economic value of shorter term degrees and certificates, I wonder what national effort should be directed toward opening up the possibility of financial aid eligibility for programs that prove a viable path to obtain industry skills that lead to employment.  True, many certificate programs and all AAS degrees are financial aid eligible, but many are not: Examples include C.N.A. training, project management certificates, some short term precision machining certificates, etc. In fact, as the article reveals, many white papers produced for the Malinda Gates Foundation suggest many strategies for overhauling financial aid. 

While those suggested strategies would be great fodder for another post, I feel it’s worth considering  the outdated provision of financial aid that exclude eligibility for very relevant and in demand training programs.  These restrictions often exclude certain programs that provide viable options for adults of all ages seeking training that can help them quickly adapt and keep current in the ever present changing labor market.  The Pell Grant needs to remain fully intact as a vehicle of opportunity for low income families to achieve a four year education and to be clear, I’m not in favor of limiting aid for those on the traditional educational path by increasing aid to programs not now eligible. However, aren’t we limiting access and options for low income families who seek to begin their educational path with a shorter term post-secondary certificate? 

Food Matters

Food is a connecting point between sustainability (since food production is inextricably earth-based and ecological) and nutrition (since human physiology is inextricably bound to food inputs).

Ecological Sustainability

• Food Matters Summary: production, consumption, and food type impacts resource use, environmental health, and carbon footprint.
• Institutional Commitments: Auraria Sustainable Campus Program, LEED Certification of the Confluence building.
• Student Commitments: Composting Club, Community Garden.
• Individual Choices: how we consume is a reflection of our values (how we relate our individual life to everyone/everything else).
• CCD Choices: ecological sustainability often correlates with financial sustainability within our offices.
• Student Advising: one’s environment affects one’s health, energy levels, and life opportunity (World Health Organization: approximately one-quarter of the global disease burden, and more than one-third of the burden among children, is due to modifiable environmental factors).
• Student Advising: careers in sustainability, resource management, renewable energies, research (NREL). 
• How can we – in our various roles as higher education professionals – incorporate sustainability into our student learning outcomes?

Human Nutrition

• Food Matters Summary: less processed food, more fruits and vegetables, complex grains, and proportional lean protein leads to better health.
• Institutional Commitments: CCD Health and Wellness Committee, Be Well Auraria.
• Student Commitments: advocacy for more healthy food options on campus, family nutrition.
• Individual Choices: good nutrition improves your physical and psychological quality of life. 
• CCD Choices: good nutrition leads to more energy and less sick days.
• Student Advising: nutrition (and healthy lifestyle choices overall) impacts cognitive functioning. 
• Student Advising: careers in nutrition, healthcare, public health, exercise science, research (NIH). 
• How can we build the capacity of our students to utilize healthy living as an academic success strategy?

Social Justice

• Sustainability and nutrition tend to track along socioeconomic lines. For one, there tends to be an increased cost to sustainable or nutritious purchases. Additionally, differences in political advocacy and educational opportunity –which tend to track along socioeconomic lines – variously impact access to and awareness of sustainability and nutrition. Moreover, on the flip side of the same coin, the burdens of unsustainability and poor nutrition disproportionately fall along socioeconomic lines, whether we are talking about cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, or the location of landfills. And so, for me, it is contingent upon us, as advocates for equity and opportunity in our society, to not only include sustainability and nutrition in our own lives and our own offices, but to be able to take these issues into account as we advise our students about careers, about resources, and about their own self-advocacy on campus and in society.   
• What role does education play in creating a more healthy and ecologically sustainable future for our community?  In particular, how does the mission and vision of the community college relate, if at all, to socioeconomic disparities within nutrition and sustainability?

* As part of a college-wide conversation, CCD faculty and staff are encouraged to read Food Matters, by Mark Bittman.

The Justice of Educational Opportunity

On February 22, the sun shone, the earth spun, and students told amazing stories of educational opportunity as a part of National TRIO Day. As I sat in my chair and listened contently, all seemed right with the world.

There are many reasons why I feel privileged to work with TRIO students at Community College of Denver. Moments such as TRIO Day or graduation or a student rescuing a failing grade allow me a part of their success, a feeling that how I choose to spend my days makes a difference in the lives of the individuals and communities surrounding me.

Yet, as I sat there,  I sensed something more, something deeper, something beyond my role in things. 

Justice: what it is depends on who you ask. I have considered Plato; I have googled Rawls; I have read of it rolling down like waters in an ever-flowing stream; and it is the best word I can come up with to describe what was before me on TRIO Day, producing alpenglow on my soul.

Justice, to me, is the freedom to become who we are.

There is much in this world working against justice: poverty, exploitation, greed, conformity, anthropocentrism. These shackle the potential of the kid down the street who has no mentors, the teenager being bullied because of his sexual orientation, the forest on the mountain slope being strip mined.

The arc of history is long, they say, yet it bends toward justice. As a society and as individuals, we progress - in fits and stops - toward ways of relating more in harmony with the rights of the other to become. The universe, it seems, evolves in creative and beautiful struggle.

There are the days, the moments, when justice takes shape before us, resolute. The day that the sun shines, the earth spins, and the student, regardless of the circumstances of her life, has equal opportunity to become who she is.

As professionals at a community college, we are the vanguard forging the path of justice for individuals seeking educational opportunity. And as I  listened contently, I could do little but smile - to have such a privilege, to witness the ever-flowing stream.

Story-Telling as Pedagogy

Humans are story-telling creatures. From the dawn of our species, it seems as if we have attempted to craft a narrative to make sense of our existence and our place within it. As our culture evolved, we move beyond cave paintings and spoken traditions to the written word, eventually incorporating images, then video, then sound. Narratives have enlivened theology, political organization, sense of self, entertainment, and so on. To be human, it seems, is to situate ourselves in a larger picture.

Accordingly, story-telling holds significant potential as pedagogy. A good story allows the audience to make meaning, to bring together disparate pieces into a more coherent whole. A good story captures and holds the imagination. A good story lives on beyond its telling. Is this not what we strive for in education?

Of course, the operative word is good. Certainly all of us have also been subject to bad story-telling: the movie that puts you to sleep, the book closed before the second chapter, the television show that panders to the lowest denominator. What are common elements of a good story? How do these translate to our educational practices?

Depending on your source, there are either six, eight, five, or thirteen elements of a good story, which you want to follow, but only to a certain extent, depending on the circumstance. I did a quick Google search, not a thorough accounting, so there may actually be three, nine, or eleven elements - who knows?

I offer four. There are no big surprises here. The trick is to  intentionally shape and shift your teaching pedagogy in order to draw your audience in to the process of making meaning. I do not offer any formula, rather some considerations that may springboard your creative energies when designing lectures, online components, group work, assessments, experiential learning, and so on.

First, a good story has good characters. These characters are often like us but with an intriguing splash of hyperbole - a little more crazy, a little more troubled, a little more dramatic. There is often a protagonist attempting to achieve something and an antagonist creating roadblocks.And as imperfect or flawed or burdened or crazy as they are, they are attempting to achieve some end; they have motives.

Regarding teaching, some disciplines have natural characters within the curriculum, such as history, literature, psychology and politics. Other subjects may require some anthropomorphism to create a physical law with an antagonist or a math constant with a personality. Ultimately, the heart of the matter is the relationship between characters, whether human or otherwise. Within this relationship, how does one "character" compare and contrast and interact with another?

Second, a good story has a good setting. A good setting comes in many different forms, from magical naturescapes (Lord of the Rings) to odd arrangements (White Christmas) to intense predicaments (All Quiet on the Western Front). The key is that the setting captures our fascination and creates an interesting context for the characters to pursue their motives. Here again, the power of hyperbole and novelty are significant.

Regarding teaching, we often use the word contextualize, which is another way of talking about setting. What is happening in the physical environment or political ideascape or hospital room that impacts our characters? What does this surrounding "place" look like? What are some of the smaller details that play an interesting role within the ecology of the setting?

Third, and significantly, a good story has a good plot. Shaped by the setting, our characters are attempting to do something (get the girl, figure out their place in the world, save the day). A good plot produces problems for the characters, conflicts and tension and twists and turns. We are on the edge of our seat. We want to know: how will this all work out in the end? 

Regarding teaching, what are the twists and the turns that require critical thinking and analysis? What complexities come into play that problematize a simple understanding of the topic? Our characters are attempting to do something, but are they able to? How does this affect or transform our characters? Note to self: don't spoil the ending! You may even want to  consider the classic choose-your-own-adventure motif, and let your students speculate on endings based on the story (information) that they have.

Fourth, a good story has good narrative style. Your narrative style, essentially the words and imagery that you choose to craft the tale from beginning to end, plays a major role in holding people's attention. Which color is more intriguing to you, red or crimson? What holds your attention better, an arcane monologue or a witty dialogue? Which catches your eye, a late model hatchback or a DeLorean?  

Regarding teaching, include humor and metaphor into the language you use. Use pictures and film to bring imagery into your teaching. Take liberty to be grandiose or hyperbolic with your words if it makes a point. Be playful with esoteric jargon. Significantly, good story telling is about showing, not telling. Use words and images to paint a picture, and allow your audience to pull the pieces together. 

We are educators, not entertainers. Nevertheless, story-telling serves as an engaging and impactful pedagogy in service to our end: student learning. Why  not? 

Below is an example of a story I created - in this case digitally - in order to start a conversation about financial literacy with my students. Note the characters, setting, plot, and narrative style. You may create a story in a literal sense, or simply incorporate the elements into other mediums.  

Chronicle Article: "How Many Administrators Are Too Many?"

Happy New Year, folks.

I thought the question about what the ideal number of faculty compared to administrators/support staff was fascinating.  The article explores the facets of the question through University of Nebraska, but there is no clear conclusion other than to say that the stereotypes are debunked on multiple sides.


http://chronicle.com/article/Counting-Up-the-Campus-Work/136477/?cid=at