Since the founding of the first American community college in 1901, community colleges have served the important purpose of bridging the gap between the academic skills students bring to the table and the academic rigor required to be successful in college. Although research has indicated a positive correlation between academic support and learning, many students are unable to take advantage of such services due to outside obligations such as family care or work, being unaware that such services exist, or because they’re afraid of being deemed inferior for needing extra help. Due to these obstacles, it is imperative that educators tailor their curriculum to the needs of their students.
Students are often tasked with navigating their work/life balance without fully realizing the community resources that are available to assist them. Faculty and staff are on the front line to assist and identify students who have greater needs as they navigate their pathways to success. Unfortunately for some students, their needs extend far beyond the help of classroom assistance. Often, faculty and staff do not know about the community resources that can assist students along their journey. Participants in this workshop walk away with an understanding of the key resources available to assist their students.
Many community college students face a number of barriers that threaten their ability to meet academic goals, including work, competing obligations with family and friends, and bills that make paying for college difficult. Yet, with hope, they enroll at community colleges with a desire to change the trajectory of their lives, only to be met with policies that exacerbate the pressures they already face. Many times, the syllabus paints the class as one more problem they must overcome, lengthening the path to their success rather than providing a roadmap for its attainment. This webinar helps instructors recognize some of the barriers created by the tone and policies in the syllabus and provides strategies for using the syllabus as a tool to create a clearer path to students’ success.
