Becoming a Student-Ready College


Book Description

Boost student success by reversing your perspective on college readiness The national conversation asking "Are students college-ready?" concentrates on numerous factors that are beyond higher education's control. Becoming a Student-Ready College flips the college readiness conversation to provide a new perspective on creating institutional value and facilitating student success. Instead of focusing on student preparedness for college (or lack thereof), this book asks the more pragmatic question of what are colleges and universities doing to prepare for the students who are entering their institutions? What must change in an institution's policies, practices, and culture in order to be student-ready? Clear and concise, this book is packed with insightful discussion and practical strategies for achieving your ambitious student success goals. These ideas for redesigning practices and policies provide more than food for thought—they offer a real-world framework for real institutional change. You'll learn: How educators can acknowledge their own biases and assumptions about underserved students in order to allow for change New ways to advance student learning and success How to develop and value student assets and social capital Strategies and approaches for creating a new student-focused culture of leadership at every level To truly become student-ready, educators must make difficult decisions, face the pressures of accountability, and address their preconceived notions about student success head-on. Becoming a Student-Ready College provides a reality check based on today's higher education environment.




Survey of American College Students


Book Description

college students in the United States evaluate their college library. The data in the report is based on a representative sample of more than 400 full time college students in the United States. Data is broken out by 16 criteria including gender, grade point average, major field of study, income level of students, type and size of college, and mean SAT acceptance score of colleges, among other variables. The report includes data on student satisfaction with electronic reserves, the range of databases and periodicals supplied, library supplied database use training, similar training on library workstations and software, reference services, photocopiers and printing services and other college library services. Just a few of the report¿s many conclusions are that: ¿Satisfaction with library electronic reserve was much greater among students from the higher income groups: more to 80% of students from homes with annual incomes of more than $150,000 per year said that they were either satisfied or greatly satisfied. ¿Students in the fine and performing arts seem the least satisfied with the provision of items on electronic reserve. Less than 40% of them expressed either satisfaction or great satisfaction. ¿In general, students seemed happy with the range of databases provided by their college library. Only 1.54% said that they would greatly dissatisfied and only 2.83% said that they were dissatisfied. Students who attend private college were someone more satisfied than students who attended public college. More than 73% of students attending private college said that they were either satisfied or greatly satisfied, while this was the case for a little more than 60% of public college students.




Survey of American College Students


Book Description

The Survey of American College Students: Use of College AthleticFacilities presents data from a survey of 400+ randomly selected American college students about their use of and satisfaction with college athletic such as gyms, athletic fields, swimming pools, locker rooms, weights & exercise equipment and sauna and steam facilities.




Assessing Faculty Work


Book Description

Today's faculty members, like other professionals, find themselves caught between the pursuit of individual gain and the common good. Society is increasingly demanding that faculty demonstrate social responsibility toward both the institution and the larger community. This book is a practical resource for fostering and assessing faculty achievements in all aspects of their work: teaching, research, practice, and citizenship. Larry A. Braskamp and John C. Ory show that the assessment process can and must be tied to faculty development, and they explain how collegial activity and continuous improvement are important to strong performance. They identify three major elements of faculty assessment - setting expectations, collecting and organizing evidence, and using evidence - and suggest several key goals for the assessment process. The authors also show how multiple perspectives enhance the credibility of assessment, and they describe sources of evidence, including faculty members themselves, faculty colleagues, students, and experts. Specific techniques used to collect evidence are provided, as well as summaries of research on the effectiveness of each procedure. - inner pocket




The Hidden Curriculum


Book Description

A revealing look at the experiences of first generation students on elite campuses and the hidden curriculum they must master in order to succeed College has long been viewed as an opportunity for advancement and mobility for talented students regardless of background. Yet for first generation students, elite universities can often seem like bastions of privilege, with unspoken academic norms and social rules. The Hidden Curriculum draws on more than one hundred in-depth interviews with students at Harvard and Georgetown to offer vital lessons about the challenges of being the first in the family to go to college, while also providing invaluable insights into the hurdles that all undergraduates face. As Rachel Gable follows two cohorts of first generation students and their continuing generation peers, she discovers surprising similarities as well as striking differences in their college experiences. She reveals how the hidden curriculum at legacy universities often catches first generation students off guard, and poignantly describes the disorienting encounters on campus that confound them and threaten to derail their success. Gable shows how first-gens are as varied as any other demographic group, and urges universities to make the most of the diverse perspectives and insights these talented students have to offer. The Hidden Curriculum gives essential guidance on the critical questions that university leaders need to consider as they strive to support first generation students on campus, and demonstrates how universities can balance historical legacies and elite status with practices and policies that are equitable and inclusive for all students.




Completing College


Book Description

Even as the number of students attending college has more than doubled in the past forty years, it is still the case that nearly half of all college students in the United States will not complete their degree within six years. It is clear that much remains to be done toward improving student success. For more than twenty years, Vincent Tinto’s pathbreaking book Leaving College has been recognized as the definitive resource on student retention in higher education. Now, with Completing College, Tinto offers administrators a coherent framework with which to develop and implement programs to promote completion. Deftly distilling an enormous amount of research, Tinto identifies the essential conditions enabling students to succeed and continue on within institutions. Especially during the early years, he shows that students thrive in settings that pair high expectations for success with structured academic, social, and financial support, provide frequent feedback and assessments of their performance, and promote their active involvement with other students and faculty. And while these conditions may be worked on and met at different institutional levels, Tinto points to the classroom as the center of student education and life, and therefore the primary target for institutional action. Improving retention rates continues to be among the most widely studied fields in higher education, and Completing College carefully synthesizes the latest research and, most importantly, translates it into practical steps that administrators can take to enhance student success.




The Happy Student


Book Description

A smart, supportive guide to staying engaged and motivated, written by a student for students. Daniel Wong doesn’t have a PhD in education or psychology—but his transformation from unhappy overachiever to happy straight-A student has given him unique insight into what motivates students intrinsically. Sharing with readers his personal story and the five-step program he has developed, this book can help struggling or unmotivated students everywhere understand how they, too, can find deep satisfaction in the pursuit of academic success, driven by their own desires rather than pressure from others.







Self-Care for College Students


Book Description

Make the most out of your college experience with these manageable self-care tips that are easy to incorporate into your busy college lifestyle. As a student in college—you’re dealing with a lot. At times this can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining between classes, homework, activities, and building a new social life for yourself. But the secret to making sure these are the best years of your life is making time for self-care. If you’ve been working for hours on your latest paper, take a walk around campus to get moving. If you’re feeling tired after a long week of classes and activities, give yourself permission to say no to those Friday night plans and take a relaxing evening for yourself. Self-Care for College Students offers suggestions that help you tackle every aspect of taking care of yourself from the simplest tasks to rewarding activities that might require more planning. Whether it is making sure you eat a healthy meal to utilizing your school’s support services, there is advice for any situation. In this book, find realistic and practical self-care activities that you can try right away to maximize your college experience. Each activity is designed to help you refuel, such as making sure you get enough sleep to developing an exercise routine. Start making time for you and make your college years the best of your life—all while building lifelong habits for success and happiness for years to come.