BTtoP Campus Highlight: Heritage University: Transforming Student Stories
By Tricia Valdez-Zontek, ESL/Bilingual Department Chair, Heritage University, Ed Rousculp, Co-facilitator for Intercultural Learning Center, Heritage University, and Ann Olson, Associate Professor of English, Heritage University
Heritage University (HU) is a nonprofit, independent, non-denominational accredited institution of higher education offering undergraduate and graduate education that serves anyone with the talent and drive to pursue a degree, regardless of economics, culture, or geographic location. Our motto is “Knowledge Brings Us Together,” and our mission is to provide quality, accessible higher education to multicultural populations that have been educationally isolated.
In taking on the task of Bringing Theory to Practice, we focused on the transformation learning outcomes identified as PIER (Perspective-Taking; Identity; Emotional Competence; and Resilience) by the College Outcomes Project to frame our initial inquiry to see how students saw their experience at HU. Our BTtoP Committee, made up of faculty, administrators, and student service staff members, developed basic definitions for the PIER items to aid students. We had a prompt with a likert (1-4) scale for response and an additional writing prompt related to each element of PIER. Several faculty used classroom opportunities to conduct the survey, allowing students to write and reflect as individuals and then as a group. The themes and the quotes that evolved from the systematic research method of Grounded Theory provided ways of connecting with and influencing the revision of the overall Heritage University Goals. The next step would be to develop a process to further assist faculty in assessing the university goals in terms of bringing theory to practice and to make student voices a strong component of this process.
Student stories revealed multiple needs but also strengths and effective strategies being used by individual students and the institution. Faculty reading these reflections immediately expressed an even stronger appreciation for the need to keep student voices in the forefront of our decision making and daily practice. Some of the themes that emerged from the student stories focused on the way that the university works to understand the students’ perspectives and to develop a strong community of diverse learners. Coping strategies and personal connections, with a real person (whether faculty or staff), were key to the students feeling supported throughout their educational program. Here is a sampling of some of the student comments lifted from the survey:
- “I have support of peers.”
- “I feel validated as a student and a human being.”
- “I survived; therefore, I can now help others do the same.”
- “Before coming to Heritage, I always kept my emotions inside, not letting anybody know how I was feeling, especially my significant other. I could never show her how I felt and never showed a tear. Now that I have been coming here, it has let me be comfortable with myself. I know we are not robots, and it is okay to show we have problems.”
We soon came to realize the essential relationship between the university’s goals, our insights into assessment, and the faculty/student services connection. Our recommendation for future work would be to develop an assessment system to ensure that our university goals reach their full potential. We also must ensure that student voices are an integral part of those assessments. We created a closer working relationship between faculty and student services, along with the inclusion of student voices, in developing advocacy processes. Our new dean of students was recently hired because of her strong background in counseling—a consideration that arose in part from our committee efforts. This year Heritage embarked on a campus-wide training through The Pacific Institute (TPI) that helps University faculty and staff develop a more constructive work climate. This training will be extended to students beginning fall 2012. It is the BTtoP committee’s hope that the Heritage University Teaching and Learning Center will be able to pick up the task of capturing student stories and voices to ensure they are continually infused in the HU decision-making process. Among the strategies the Center for Intercultural Learning and Teaching (CILT) recommends to faculty in order to encourage the building of rapport, opportunities for intercultural communication, and opportunities for students to personally connect with key concepts in the curriculum is the sharing of students’ stories. The collection of student stories through periodic focus groups regarding students’ experiences and motivations as they work for success at Heritage could serve the same three purposes at an institutional level. These stories could become an integral part of faculty development work and the team planning efforts being undertaken by faculty working with student services staff.
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