As a first-gen online student living in another state (Oklahoma), I was blown away at how much I did not know when preparing for a career that matters and I enjoy rather than a career that will help pay my student loans off. I have always been under the impression that I am on my own in that arena
-A testimony from an EWU online student
If you ever get an opportunity to visit Eastern Washington University, and walk through the Arevalo Student mall, you will see a stone monument at the center of it that reads, “inspiring the future.” No truer words to hold dear as EWU leans into their next chapter of becoming the region’s first hands-on, polytechnic university. EWU has the unique obligation of contextualizing how this shift undergirds its population of students, particularly, the 44 percent that are the first in their families to ever go to college. According to the Center for First Generation Student Success, not only do 1 in 3 undergraduate students identify as first-generation, but only 27% will attain their degrees within four years, according to the book “First-Generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis.”
To meet these challenges within our campus communities, there is a strong initiative at many colleges and universities to integrate career education into more academic programs. In addition to providing more career readiness programs for first generation students.
To help EWU move the needle towards this initiative, the EWU’s Career Center (a branch within Student Affairs) invited Dr. Tierny Bates (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at University of South Carolina Upstate) and Dr. Joshua Fredenburg (International Speaker and Founder of the First-Generation Student Career Conference) to conduct a day-long training on how to maximize the collegiate experience for first-gen students. The day consisted of a faculty and staff workshop, a keynote presentation and a student workshop.
Dr. Bates and Dr. Fredenburg provided participants with a deeper understanding of the specific career and leadership skills that need to be considered with first-generation students and strategic ways that they can effectively integrate career education into their leadership development and extracurricular programs for first-generation students. The goal is to prepare students for prosperous careers and leadership success, both in college and beyond.
The morning session was packed with over 40 staff, faculty and administrative bodies. Dr. Bates and Dr. Fredenburg spoke extensively on ways faculty and staff can work together to create a culture of belonging in order to better prepare our students for career success.
Dr. Bates wasted no time in explaining that, “When it comes to working with our students, we have to think about our debt-to-income ratio, because over 50% of college students are financing their own education. With how expensive college is, we want to make sure that they graduate with jobs that can pay.” He goes further in explaining that “faculty struggle with the ideation that higher education should be about employment, but this has to be the focus.” Dr. Fredenburg took a more interpersonal approach as it relates to supporting and empowering our students to grow as leaders.
“Leadership and proper development of soft skills matter just as much as a college degree,” he says. He goes further in saying that, “80% of employers stated that they look for some form of leadership experience in a resume. This means that in order to gain the competitive edge, you must have the proper leadership skills.”
The keynote address took a deeper dive into the top career and leadership competencies for first-generation students as noted in various NACE (National Association of College and Employers) journal articles and studies.
For the final workshop, students learned about the Life Design and S.H.A.P.E. Models, which is a concept, through a set of questions, aimed to not only increase their self-awareness, but help them gain clarity about how they can maximize their collegiate experience.
Dr. Tierny Bates and Dr. Josh Fredenburg presented on Monday, Oct. 21, at Eastern Washington University in the Pence Union Building.