scholarly journals Older Student Experiences: A Critical Examination of Aging on Campus

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 524-525
Author(s):  
Cassandra Barragan ◽  
Sarah Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Student Organizations ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence

Abstract There is overwhelming evidence that the number of older learners on college campuses has been steadily increasing since the 1970s. The needs of older learners differ from traditional students, and many services and resources available at higher education institutions are geared towards students aged 18-25 (Silverstein, Choi, & Bulot, 2001). Age Friendly University (AFU) principles highlight the need to consider older learners at a university and provide structure to evaluate programs and practices and to enhance inclusion and diversity based upon age. This study examined how an AFU designated university is working to better understand their older students. Methods A web-based pilot survey of older learners (N=248) asked all students ages 40 and older a series of questions regarding motivation to attend school, barriers and supports, campus environment, and connection with AFU principles. Analysis: A regression analysis found that older learners who felt more welcomed by faculty (p=.001), administration (p=.002),and student organizations (p=.026) were more likely to feel connected to campus, and younger-older students (p=.031) and those who did not feel their job was a barrier to attending school (p=.037) were more likely to feel satisfied with their level of engagement on campus. Additionally, older learners felt the AFU principles were demonstrated by their university. Discussion The experiences of older learners are important as we continue to see higher numbers of students over the age of 40. Our results demonstrate the need to engage older learners as part of diversity and inclusion efforts to facilitate connection to the campus community.

scholarly journals The Intersection of Older Students and Disability: How Age-Friendly Universities Can Boost Visibility and Accessibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 525-525
Author(s):  
Cassandra Barragan ◽  
Sarah Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Older Students ◽  
Test Analysis ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Barriers To Education ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
The Hours ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
The University

Abstract The needs of older learners differ from traditional students, and many services and resources available at higher education institutions are geared towards students aged 18-25 (Silverstein, Choi, & Bulot, 2001). Age Friendly University (AFU) principles highlight the need to consider older learners at a university. Older learners face various barriers to education including balancing schoolwork with responsibilities and accessibility of campus resources (Silverstein et al., 2001). This study examined how an AFU designated university is working to better understand their older students. Methods A web-based pilot survey of older learners (N=248) asked all students ages 40 and older a series of questions regarding motivation to attend school, barriers and supports, campus environment, and connection with AFU principles. Analysis: A t-test analysis explored differences in motivation, barriers and challenges, and connection to campus between students who identified as having a disability and those who did not. Findings: We found there were significant differences between the groups in how health impacted their education (p=.001), being able to physically access campus (p=.014), the availability of online classes (p=.047), and the hours of operation of student support services (p=.045). There were also differences between groups in how connected they felt to campus based on feeling welcomed by faculty (p = .033) and feeling satisfied with their level of engagement at the university (p = .002). Discussion Our results demonstrate the need to fully engage older learners with a disability as part of diversity and inclusion efforts to facilitate connection to the campus community.

scholarly journals Ageism on Campus: Opportunities to Include Age in Diversity and Inclusion Efforts

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 7-7
Author(s):  
Cassandra Barragan ◽  
Stephanie Wladkowski
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Barriers And Opportunities ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Abstract Diversity and inclusion are essential perspectives on university campuses. In recent years, there has been a nationwide decline in admissions resulting in changes to traditionally FTIAC driven college campuses. An environmental scan was completed at a mid-sized midwestern university to explore age-inclusive barriers and opportunities for change. In-depth interviews were held with 28 EMU stakeholders representing a wide variety of ages in leadership positions across campus. Students aged 40 and above (N=248) were also surveyed about their experiences on campus. Qualitative analysis revealed ageist attitudes about older adults and older students from at all levels of the university. Results demonstrate that initial responses to ‘age-friendly’ focused on stereotypes of older adults, but attitudes adjusted when reframed as older learners and further refined when older learners were defined as 40 and above. Additionally, there was a distinct disconnect between ageist perceptions towards older adults and older students which highlights the importance of intergenerational opportunities as an approach to combat ageist attitudes on campus. While these barriers require long-term and complicated solutions, participants described the many benefits that older learners bring to enrich the campus. Results of this research revealed opportunities to reframe aging in the context of diversity and inclusion efforts on campus. Adopting diversity efforts to include age can benefit universities in not only admissions, classroom experiences, and connections to surrounding communities.

scholarly journals Research update on findings from the USM campus climate survey: Results related to LGBTQ students

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamden K Strunk
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Campus Climate ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Negative Comments ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Lgbtq Students ◽  
And Gender

LGBTQ students nationally experience bias, discrimination, bullying, harassment, and assault on college campuses. The effects of these negative experiences are known. They can lead to depression, suicidal ideation, lowered earning potential, and a range of other negative outcomes. Also known are the effects of diversity on a college campus. These outcomes are positive for all members of the campus community. This is why it is incumbent on universities to provide safe, inclusive, and diverse campus communities.The present results make clear that LGBTQ students at USM do not find themselves subject to a supportive and inclusive environment. They are almost twice as likely to become the victim of assault or harassment on campus as their counterparts. They report hearing negative comments from staff, administrators, and other students more often than their counterparts. They witness threatening behavior more often, particularly with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. That experience isn’t unique to LGBTQ students, though. Across all students sampled, 1 in 5 report witnessing threatening behavior on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity at least somewhat often on the USM campus. Although nearly 4 in 10 students surveyed agreed that a diverse and inclusive campus environment was a factor in deciding which college to attend, LGBTQ students surveyed were less likely to find the USM campus inclusive and committed to diversity.These results present a clear picture of a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to serve the university’s LGBTQ students and create an inclusive campus environment despite budget shortfalls and a difficult political/cultural environment in Mississippi for LGBTQ issues. The opportunity is that there is already much work going on at USM to create just such an environment, and that diversity and inclusion may lead to increases in recruitment and retention, particularly among LGBTQ students.

Mixed Foundations: Supporting and Empowering Multiracial Student Organizations

JCSCORE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-85
Author(s):  
Victoria K. Malaney ◽  
Kendra Danowski
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Student Organizations ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Working Through

This paper presents an overview of multiracial student organizing and organizations on college campuses. The authors address common challenges that multiracial student organizations face in higher education, how student affairs staff can challenge institutional practices that perpetuate monoracism, and how to support and empower mixed race students to effectively develop strong leadership skills. Several recommendations for working through political and administrative hurdles are also provided.

scholarly journals The Formulation of Epidemic Prevention Work of COVID-19 for Colleges and Universities: Priorities and Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2081
Author(s):  
Wan-Chi Jackie Hsu ◽  
Huai-Wei Lo ◽  
Chin-Cheng Yang
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Overseas Students ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
The World ◽  
Criteria Weights ◽  
Multiple Experts

As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic spreads all over the world, governments of various countries are actively adopting epidemic prevention measures to curb the spread of the disease. However, colleges and universities are one of the most likely places for cluster infections. The main reason is that college students have frequent social activities, and many students come from different countries, which may very likely cause college campuses to be entry points of disease transmission. Therefore, this study proposes a framework of epidemic prevention work, and further explores the importance and priority of epidemic prevention works. First of all, 32 persons in charge of epidemic prevention from various universities in Taiwan were invited to jointly formulate a campus epidemic prevention framework and determined 5 dimensions and 36 epidemic prevention works/measures/criteria. Next, Bayesian best worst method (BWM) was used to generate a set of optimal group criteria weights. This method can not only integrate the opinions of multiple experts, but also effectively reduce the complexity of expert interviews to obtain more reliable results. The results show that the five most important measures for campus epidemic prevention are the establishment of a campus epidemic prevention organization, comprehensive disinfection of the campus environment, maintenance of indoor ventilation, proper isolation of contacts with confirmed cases, and management of immigration regulations for overseas students. This study provides colleges and universities around the world to formulate anti-epidemic measures to effectively reduce the probability of COVID-19 transmission on campuses to protect students’ right to education.

scholarly journals Student Engagement in Internationalization of the Curriculum: Vietnamese Domestic Students’ Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anh Ngoc Trinh ◽  
Lindsey Conner
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Informal Curriculum ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
Internationalization In Higher Education

Internationalization in higher education has shifted to focus on home initiatives that engage and benefit all students rather than cross-border mobility activities. The qualitative case study reported in this article employed Kahu’s model of student engagement (SE) to investigate SE in internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) from the perspectives of 23 domestic Vietnamese students taking an internationalized program in a Vietnamese university. From three focus groups and 23 individual interviews, this study found that SE in IoC varied according to diverse internal and external factors. The students’ awareness of the benefits of their engagement in the program, their acknowledgment of the program’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as their desire to have more SE revealed a possibility for students to act as partners in the program. The potential partnership between students and their lecturers as well as other institutional bodies, in both the formal and informal curriculum alongside more sustained engagement opportunities, could enhance consequential student experiences and outcomes. The findings suggest that students are prospective resources to cultivate diversity and inclusion in IoC because their engagement can offer multiple insights and possibilities to enhance IoC. We argue that SE is significant in informing the development of IoC and is possibly integral to effective IoC.

No Adult Left Behind

2014 ◽  
pp. 216-236
Author(s):  
Linda Salter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Group A ◽  
Learning Professionals

With an aging population and the increasing role of virtual technologies in education, educators and educational institutions need to be informed about contemporary and predicted demographics regarding older adults as learners as well as what is currently understood about learning later in life. Although recently increasing, there has been a lack of attention paid to this demographic group. A literature review reveals that “older” students are often those age 25 to 30, while the fastest growing segment of the population is much older. Truly “older” learners can and should be accommodated in the virtual environments that are becoming more and more common in higher and continuing education. The purpose of this chapter is to offer guidance for adult learning professionals tasked with accommodating older adults in virtual environments.

Challenges and Solutions to Assisting Older Adults in Completing the GED

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-34
Author(s):  
Karen E. Brinkley-Etzkorn
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Adult Basic Education ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High School Equivalency ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Ged Credential ◽  
Ged Programs

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and solutions encountered by Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs currently serving older adults seeking a GED credential in states where this is the only high school equivalency option available. The following questions guided this research: (1) what are the perceived characteristics and needs of older students seeking a high school equivalency diploma?; (2) how do GED programs promote the success of their older students?; and (3) what are the future service and planning needs of these GED programs with regard to this population? To address these questions, a series of 55 one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with experts across 32 GED-only states was carried out. Findings revealed a consistent, shared experience in terms of overall attitudes and challenges among these experts, as well as a variety of innovative practices and recommendations for assisting older learners.

Chemistry outreach as a community of practice: investigating the relationship between student-facilitators’ experiences and boundary processes in a student-run organization

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1095-1109
Author(s):  
Stephanie Santos-Díaz ◽  
Marcy H. Towns
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Student Organizations ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Informal Learning Environment ◽  
Prior Experiences ◽  
The Relationship

Previous work on chemistry outreach has mainly focused on designing and implementing demonstrations for outreach. Recent studies indicate student organizations are at the forefront of chemistry outreach and described their outreach practices and conceptual understanding of demonstrations. However, more research is needed regarding the experiences of facilitators leading outreach events to understand their motivation, what they are gaining from participating, how they are contributing to the community, etc. By providing this information, we can give more structure to outreach initiatives as an informal learning environment. This work is part of a larger study that explores the relationship between leadership in student organizations and chemistry outreach events. Here, we present how diversity plays a role in chemistry outreach, as informed by interviews involving nine graduate students who actively participated in outreach. Communities of practice (CoP) has been used as a framework to describe learning environments and student organizations participating in outreach can be thought of as a CoP. The findings suggest diversity and inclusion influence boundary processes of the student organization as a CoP. Specifically, students’ prior experiences related to gender, race/ethnicity, education and other outreach events play a role in their purpose for doing chemistry outreach, how they contribute to planning of events and how they interact with the audience of outreach events.

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