Susan Warfield, MSW, LICSW Program Director, Student Parent HELP Center
Student Parents: Transitioning to College with Children. Transitioning to Parenthood in College.
Speaker: Background • Twelve years with the SPHC, seven as Program Director • 25 years experience working with children and families as a social worker, K-12 and Higher Ed • Founding officer of the first student parent service personnel organization in higher education: HEAASC • Co-founder and inaugural chair of NASPA Adult Learners and Students with Children KC • Served on Office of Adolescent Health/Pregnancy Assistance Fund Expert Work Panel: What Works for Pregnant and Parenting Teens
SPHC Overview SPHC Quick Facts • University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • Housed within the Office for Student Affairs • 300 to 400 undergraduate student parents • Wide range of services • Non-traditional students since 1967 • Low income undergraduate student parents exclusively since 1984
Program Model and Philosophy • Weekly Parents as Students Support Group (PASS) • Social Work Model: most staff are MSW or MSW Grad Interns • Strengths based model • No strings attached, students can pick and chose services they wish or none at all • Centers around a dedicated, family friendly student parent specific space • Large, state sponsored child care grant co-managed by SPHC and financial aid
What Do Students Need Most • Staff whose expertise goes beyond the boundaries of campus • Child care assistance and other financial support • A community: they need each other • A child friendly space to hang out • Family and academic focused resource and referral • Voice and visibility • Advocacy
SPHC Demographics
Composition of SPHC Student Population • New to college, new to parenting, first time parents • Older than average transfer student parents • Typically aged transfer student parents
The 6 Cs of Serving Student Parents • CASH • CHILD CARE • COMMUNITY • COUCHES…a space to belong • COMPUTERS • CHAMPIONS
Couches
Computers
Space to Build Community Space is Key:
Community of Peers: PASS Group
Child Friendly Family Space
Family Friendly Campus Events
Connection to Campus Life
Voice and Visibility: SPVD
Champions: Accessible Staff and Peer Mentors
Advocacy: Family Friendly Absence Policy • POLICY STATEMENT: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • Students will not be penalized for absence during the semester due to unavoidable or legitimate circumstances. Such circumstances include illness of the student or his or her dependent , participation in intercollegiate athletic events (see the Administrative Policy: Intercollegiate Athletic Events during Study Day and Finals Weeks: Twin Cities , which prohibits intercollegiate athletic competition during study day and finals week except under certain circumstances), subpoenas, jury duty, military service, bereavement, and religious observances. Such circumstances also include activities sponsored by the University if identified by the senior academic officer for the campus or his or her designee as the basis for excused absences. The instructor has the right to request verification for absences. Such circumstances do not include voting in local, state, or national elections.
Knowing Your Students: Assessing Risk
Nontraditional Characteristics: Summary of Horn’s Findings Parent First Generation College Attendee Attending classes part GED/Long time gap between college and high school Academic performance
Risk Factors for Student Parents Young/under the age of 25 First time parent First Generation to Attend College Currently pregnant Relationship issues/violence Academic Performance
New to College, New to Parenting • Pregnancy may have caused schism in family, loss of all emotional and financial support • They may have been abandoned by lover because of pregnancy • Most likely unplanned and possibly unwanted • Have not yet learned to navigate college and being on their own
Needs • Reassurance – Often scared and doubting their abilities • Role models • Resources • Referrals
The Life of a Student Parent
Research • Nontraditional Undergraduates: Trends in Enrollment from 1986 to 1992 and Persistence and Attainment Among 1989-90 Beginning Postsecondary Students, Laura J. Horn and C. Dennis Carroll, National Center for Educational Statistics, 1996 • Improving Child Care Access to Promote Postsecondary Success Among Low- Income Parents, Kevin Miller, Barbara Gault (March 2011) http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/improving-child-care-access-to- promote-postsecondary-success-among-low-income- parents#sthash.NEWQO9Vj.dpuf
Beyond the Borders of Campus • Often student parents and adult learners have already established lives in our surrounding communities • Student parents often need community as well as campus based childcare options • Not every student parent will live in family housing, not every campus has housing • Familiarize yourself with a broad spectrum of housing and other referral services • A basic understanding of welfare benefits is beneficial
How Do You Identify Student Parents?
To Serve Student Parents You Have to Find Them. • Any program serving student parents must first develop a plan to identify and recruit students who need the services • Finding the most at-risk student parents should be a priority: – Lowest income – Youngest – First time parent, first time in college – Newly pregnant – Longest gaps in college progression: older than average
Barriers to Finding Student Parents On Campus They do not always self-identify – Often feel stigmatized, disenfranchised or like they are asking for exceptions if they bring up their parenting status. • We all have to start asking the question. They can be an invisible population on most campuses – Look just like everyone else when they are not pregnant or with their kids – You have to find and actively recruit them Illegal question to ask at admission, very hard to reach them at point of entry. Financial aid information most reliable source
Academics are a Top Priority but Not Their Number One Priority • Student Parents have obligations to little people who depend on them for everything • They often also have a job • Could have a spouse who is most likely not a student • May have hours of welfare paperwork or tasks they must complete each month
How to Begin: Low Hanging Fruit • Host or co-sponsor a series of highly visible on and off campus events – Student Parent Visibility Event – Non-traditional Student Week (VPCNTSA) – End of Year Celebration and Graduation Party – Family Friendly Resource Fair – Form a committee on Non-traditional Student Affairs, Adult Learners and Student Parents, etc.
Two Generations of Impact
Recommend
More recommend
