Thursday, April 29, 2010

Opportunities, Barriers, and Outliers

In many respects, our decision to organize this Outliers Project was based on evidence that “underrepresented” students are, well, underrepresented as participants in major extracurricular intellectual activities at SIUE.

We figured that an interactive, common reading project like ours might advance our goal of expanding scholarly participation and learning opportunities among Haley Scholars--a group that involves one of the largest racially and ethnically diverse mixes of folks on campus.

So after reading Outliers, what’s something that you think university officials should be thinking about more often in order to remove barriers to success that impede large numbers of students of color or underrepresented students at SIUE?

Or, what's a topic that Gladwell raised concerning "special opportunities" that deserves more of our attention at SIUE, for instance, if our interest is in seeing a larger, more diverse group of students succeed?

44 comments:

Laura McCulley said...

Since underrepresented students are deemed "at risk" there should be special programs to help these students succeed. In terms of SIUE there is the SOAR office that is already in place to help students but it seems as this is more focused on freshman students. There should be more programs and tutoring to help those students who need help. Also many underrepresented students have to work many hours to help support their college education if there are more scholarships giving to deserving students this can put less of a strain on students so they do not have to work as much and can focus more on their work

Morris Pearson, Jr. said...

I think a good idea that would help some students especially those who already know what they want to study in college, is have a "Career/Major Day". I propose having a seminar grouping students by there major and bringing in people who are already working in that career and students who are in the grad school/nursing school/pharmacy school to come in and talk to the incoming students. For example having a group of Pre-Pharmacy students talking with a pharmacist and Pharmacy School student. By doing this the students will have a good Idea of what it takes to get into that career and what challenges they may face down the road so that they are not as surprised when that challenge comes up. It might also help those who are undecided to decide what major they want to get into.

Chico Weber said...

SIUE is pretty diverse in itself. Most of the minorities here came from other cities like St. Louis or Chicago. If you want to remove barriers then you have to support more people from these larger cities that happen to live farther away from Edwardsville. If programs life the Outliers Project are known beyond just the reach of the school then you will find more minorities that want to succeed just as badly as everyone else.

QUince Zackrie said...

In university housing, diversity is a focal point. Housing puts a lot of work into making sure the communities are diverse as well as helping students realize their own diversity and help to expand on that. It seems like when it comes to fraternities and sororities on campus there is a lot of separation. I think if the university encouraged more joint programming between different groups it would diversify events on campus even more. Hopefully, this would encourage more students of different backgrounds to attend and participate.

Shawn C. said...

AT SIUE the university has taken a major step towards removing a barrier to success by implementing the Haley Scholar program. This program gives underrepresented students a chance to be recognized as something other than just a statistic that was lucky enough to succeed. With this and other programs such as SOAR, and sororities and fraternities dedicated to minorities, SIUE has done a very good job removing boundaries that hold underrepresented students back from their chance of success. Don't get me wrong I'm sure there are some places where the school could improve on this subject, but looking at the overall view and not focusing on the very minor subjects, SIUE has proven to me to be one of the best at tearing down boundaries for underrepresented students.

Mitchell Martineau said...

I think developing more programs like SOAR to help aid the underrepresented and financially stressed students. I'm glad to see that SIUE offers tutoring services and the writing center at no cost; this helps those use every opportunity to succeed in their academics. Maybe adding some representation in student government or other student organization to help build the presence of this minority; which is also what we strive to do as Haley Scholars.

Hayoung Yu said...

I agree with Morris Pearson, Jr. with a "Career/Major" day. I also think this should be a very large seminar because many students just ignore the little events that happen around campus. I think this will enable students to make friends in their specific major and career paths because it is sometimes more difficult to make friends in classes. They may not even be in the same major, it is really how lucky one may be to sit next to someone with a common major.
I feel that having a study buddy can encourage studying, make it mor enjoyable, and on can make life long friends. Therefore one may be more envolved in other things because they have friends who may get envolved with them. This allows them to feel less intimidated or nervous to join other clubs and etc.

Anonymous said...

Teresa G.
I am not sure if this type of program already exists, but a peer mentorship experience would be beneficial for underrepresented groups at SIUE's campus. My most influential conversations have been from students who are going through my program and have found information that I was unaware of. Coming from disadvantaged neighborhoods, students of those areas may view education as boring because their schools have not been able to provide them with the proper resources.

One possibility would be to require students to complete a certain number of volunteer hours per semester and through volunteering, students may become more interested in a certain educational field and expand their intellectual activities.

The university should also incorporate greater accessibility to understanding what meaningful work could be accomplished with the students' degrees. For instance, organizing shadowing experiences or encouraging internships so that the students can broaden their view for the field beyond the textbook. In general, if students view SIUE as a place where they can gain skills outside of the classroom in addition to the classic lecture, intellectual activities will be more appealing.

Cristina Salabao said...

I agree with Laura that more financial opportunities should be put out there for students that don't do as well as others gradewise. I believe that if time was put into interviewing potential students, we could seek out the ones willing to put time and energy into their work. As we get into the "real world", we find that having good grades does not necessarily make you better at your job. Putting in place incentives and also having people who genuinely care about the well-being of students are vital as well. I think more student-to-student pairing would help too, with the pairs being comprised of two very different students to promote diversity. I think that another large problem is many students do not know of or think that it's "too hard and takes too long" to find all the resources (scholarships etc) that are really out there. Sometimes they can be really confusing too or they require faculty recommendation. Most faculty are more than willing to write a recommendation, but all too often, students lack that connection with students and the opportunities are often passed up.

Sydney Nulsen said...

There is also GAME and FAME on campus as well as various ethnic groups such as the Hispanic Student Union. I think that focusing only on boosting underrepresented students is actually disadvantaging represented students. I think all students should have the opportunity to utilize these services and it is up to them to search out opportunities both on and off campus. To modify a saying by Ben Franklin, "society helps those who help themselves."

Precious Wu said...

I think that with the Johnetta Haley scholars growing more prominent in the SIUE community, there should be an event that is hosted. An event that can showcase black studies and other underrepresented groups. For example, there can be a poetry reading/monologues and possibly hire a prominent motivational speaker that can speak firsthand that success is attainable. This event can highlight issues in Gladwell's book such as meaningful work, and removing racial barriers.

I have been to events like "India Night" that has had a great turnout. I believe the Johnetta Haley scholars can organize something similar and utilize the diversity they represent.

Phillip P. Leatherman said...

I am an older student, but mostly just old school. When I walk the SIUE campus I see many different cliques or groups of like minded students. These groups seem to hang out along racial lines. What I feel I am actually seeing are insecure and unsure young adults. People just don’t take the time to go out of their comfort zone to get to know other people following the same pursuits.

I belong to a club on campus, I older and black and my club members are young and white. One of the members and I have a class together, we have had little if any contact all semester. I’m not saying it’s on him; we both have had the opportunity to reach out to one another. We had a club event and it was a great experience. Everyone had a good time we laugh and got to know each other a bit. Back in class we were actually able to interact because we discovered we not as different as maybe our out ward appearance would suggest.

What I’m trying to say is that if a diverse group of students will not interact with one another on their own, then I feel interaction should be strongly encouraged by the University.

Anonymous said...

Christian Bias I feel like the university has done a pretty good job at starting this process already. The G.A.M.E. program, and the Haley has given us great recognition on campus. However I still think there is always room for improvement. We should have a student improvement semester where Haley scholars get recognition in the Alestle for improving in the classroom. Another idea would be to have Haley and SOAR students travel to businesses downtown so we can get a hand on experinece of the real work world and then have a seminar to the younger students on how to learn a dream job.

Trenesa Atkins said...

In my opinion, university officials should think more in depth of the students themselves. More often than not, programs are implemented based on what they believe will benefit students. The most important thing they should consider is asking these students what type of programs they feel should be brought to the campus that would benefit them. As an African American student I am very grateful for the programs already in place, but I feel that I am still lost in that representation.

Nevertheless, I do feel that there should be more mentoring for these students that offers support due to the fact that many students do, in fact, feel overwhelmed with all of the work that must be done in order to succeed. As Laura McCulley said the SOAR office does seem to be more focused on freshman, but what about the upperclassmen? There should definitely be people that have graduated and moved on as well as grad students to come in and ensure us that all of our work will pay off.

Ashley Jeffers said...

I agree with something along the lines of what Chico Weber had to say. Bigger cities are where diversity mainly lies. By reaching out and offering opportunities to minorities who want to succeed, we are beginning to break down any racial barriers that exist.

The Haley Program is great; it gets us all to look around and see the diversity of scholars in our school. I take pride in being a minority who is so hungry for achievement. I think programs similar to this program are key to help remove any diversity barriers that exist.

Amy Crabtree said...

I believe that SIUE can remove barriers by getting rid of the label of "underrepresented" people and realizing that all of us are equal. We are in 2010 and segregation is in the past. I feel that it isnt only the university's responsibility, but the students as well. Even in the cafeteria, there is an obvious segregation of people. I think that if SIUE standardized living situations to where all diverstities were mixed with eacho other it would be a good start. Also not allowing fraternities and sororities to only be certain races would allow for more diverse groups. Small actions like these would create a more diverse community where all are equal.

Unknown said...

Theresa L.
When I was reading in this book about the trouble with geniuses, I reflected on when I was in high school. I was an honor student, but did not test well. Therefore, I did not excel on the ACT and did not get the scholarships which could have greatly benefited me at the time. Here I am, pursuing a second degree/career, and I still see the same struggles, not just with me, but with other students.

It is frustrating to see so many bright students not get the advantages others get for various reasons, low standardized test scores being only one! College is so expansive and if a bright student does not get the scholarships needed and is not financially capable of attending school, they, and the community, miss out on so much! I do not know what the answer is, but I would like to see more scholarship programs that look holistically at students, not just at grades!

What I love about this book is that it proves that anyone can be successful given the right opportunities! It is so encouraging! It has offered to Haley scholars a new way to look at things or at least a "refresher" at what was already known. I like what Teresa G. said about a peer mentor-ship program...I think this would be a great idea! I too learn so much from those who have gone before.

Chardae Gray said...

I think the university needs to provide more guidance to students as far as scheduling goes. I notice that a lot of quote unquote upperclassmen are still taking prerequisite classes due to lack of knowledge about what classes they needed to take,or lack of focus.I also think that their should be more assistance with tuition.Lately SIUE has been having a lot of budget issue which results in more budget cuts for the school and student and higher tuition rates.

Elizabeth Flores said...

In my opinion, I think that SIUE should provide more scholarships and test study programs for students who are less fortunate. These types of students might not be able to afford the outside resources that help to enhance there success. Although SIUE offers tutors and study sessions for free, maybe they could have discounted testing sessions. For example, taking a class to prepare someone for the PCAT costs A LOT of money. If SIUE were to run a parallel program, it could help less fortunate students suceed.

Robin Caffey said...

Obviously They should make those "underrepresented" students not so "underrepresented". Consider making the "Face" of the university more diverse. The jobs such as springboard leaders, RA, Desk Manager etc... more obtainable to a more diverse group of people. I think in order to appeal to a more diverse student body they need to have people that these future students can relate to in a position where they see them succeeding. This will also help the "underrepresented" students succeed beyond their college experience at SIUE because of the opportunity they recieved here and they lessons they can learn from those jobs

Tamika Glover said...

The topic Gladwell raised that I think deserves more of our attention here at SIUE was the 10,000-hour rule. I liked when he talked about putting forth 10,000-hours, whether it be in the classroom, interning, or even volunteering, towards the career a person is pursuing. He also said another option would be to spend a couple 100-hours in several different fields of study.

I think that this is a “special opportunity” because not many people currently do this. If students were to make this a goal throughout college, they would have one more thing to strive for. This is also a special opportunity because it will make students more intelligent and prepared.

This would help a larger, more diverse group of students succeed because it is a challenge. Many people like to take the easy way out, or use short cuts when it comes to school work and pursuing a career. If more students were encouraged to implement this goal into their college experience, then more students would give sufficient effort, get more involved leading to greater interest, and most likely succeed.

Kimber Barrett said...

I love this idea of a “career/major” day that Morris discussed. This would allow students to focus on their futures as well as know why we take the classes we are taking. We would be able to relate our everyday stresses into a soon to be successful future in a specific field.

I agree with Philip that SIUE is full of students that stick to their own race, and tend not to venture outside their comfort zone. I’ve noticed that the fraternity/sorority life is a prime example of this lack of interaction. I feel as though the university, as well as students, should try to Mix their groups more. I don’t know much about this campus lifestyle, but it would seem mixing the groups to be more diverse would engage unique attitudes on life.

Tyann Senaldi said...

I agree with Laura, although the SOAR office is a good resource, it is harder for upperclassman to get help in their classes. For example, a senior level chemist will not be in the tutor lab, because most of the tutors are seniors, so the tutors may also not understand the material that well either. There should be more resources for upperclassman, perhaps more tutoring from grad students...

I think that the Haley Scholarship is a great step in the right direction, but maybe there should be more funding for students here at SIUE who are from "underrepresented" ethnic groups. It may be difficult for one scholarship to fund every single underrepresented student, so SIUE should try to implement more funds if at all possible.

Unknown said...

I think that university officials should focus on awareness and teaching methods that cater to different learning styles.
Raising awareness is important because not everyone knows about the barriers present in education. I do not want to sound like an infomercial, but Gladwell's book was able to provide real life examples of barriers in education and the work place. Having university officials read this book and assemble a committee to address some of Gladwell's proposed barriers could help.
Allow professors to significantly vary their teaching styles, be it through changing the amount of class time, format of class/homework, and the amount of class participation. You could use something similar to the KIPP program mentioned in the readings; allow for longer class times, but cover material at a less intense pace to facilitate learning.
If awareness can be raised among officials that there are barriers they may not be aware of, it will be the first step to removing them.
Andrew Quigg

Catalina Trevino said...

I also believe that more scholarships should be offered, especially to the less unfortunate. Neither one of my parents have a college education and both have four children each. Neither one of them set up college funds for any of their kids. It is very difficult for me to put myself through school. I must pull out loans and work full time. It is very difficult to go to school and work full time at the same time. If there were more scholarships offered, it would definitely help me out. It is very nice that you do not have to pay for much at SIUE, but generally it is all embedded into the tuition. So even though tutors and the writing center are considered free, I am sure a portion of tuition fees help out these centers.

Amanda Monla said...

I think a good way to remove barriers on campus is to have diversity in many activities on campus. For example, more diversity in housing, sororities and fraternities, and scholarship programs. We already have a very diverse campus but many students are separated into their own groups of friends or cliques. If SIUE found a way to involve everyone in something, I think it would help a lot.

Unknown said...

Although many may disagree with me, i feel like there needs to be much more focus on personal responsibility. Every problem does not need a special government or university program to be the solution. I feel that every student should be treated equally. Regardless of racial, educational or financial background, the university should treat all students the same. It should be up to each individual student to make sure he or she takes the steps necessary to become successful. The university should not be there holding hands or giving "special" groups more attention over other groups. IF a student can not motivate himself to succeed on his own, he has no business being in college and will not be successful out of college.
Coddling students does not help students become successful. When they get to the real world there will not be people constantly pushing them. Coddling only sets disadvantaged students up for failure the moment they don't have someone else trying to keep them motivated. Being disadvantaged doesn't mean you need someone to level the playing field for you, it simply means you may have to work harder than everyone else to achieve the same results. That may sound unfair, but the experience and confidence gained from doing it on your own when you are at a disadvantage will give you a competitive edge over others who may have never had to work as hard and don't know what to do when faced with a challenge.

Ian Caveny said...

I agree with Quince that the place to begin with focusing on diversity is campus housing. As far as classes and the main campus goes, SIUE is fairly nicely diversified (though it could easily be more diverse), with many students from different parts of the country, international programs, and even different cultural/racial backgrounds that are represented even in this area (amidst us Southern Illinoisans!).

Campus housing is where many people make most of their first college friends -- If individual wings or FICs or residence halls are more diverse, the effect will be a broader show of healthy diversity on the rest of hte campus. (Healthy diversity being a campus with many different groups of all kinds, but with mutual respect and love amidst the groups; unhealthy diversity is when you have many groups but there is prejudice andc. amidst the groups)

Lawandria said...

In agreement with Teresa G., I think the university should implement a mentoring program to help underrepresented students succeed at SIUE. Through a peer mentoring program, juniors could be connected with an incoming freshman who has interest in the junior's major and mentor him/her through a minimum of the freshman's junior year. If this program comes to fruition, juniors would be able to reach freshman on a more personal level by sharing the experiences that they've gone through and knowledge that they've gained in the past two years as SIUE students. There should also be training in place to train the mentors as well as prepare the proteges to become mentors once they reach their junior year.

This program would encourage students to be more involved in the universities' events and take advantage of available options, such as tutoring, at SIUE. Part of the reason that students don't attempt these options is because they are unaware of them. Mentorship will eliminate that problem as well as improve retention at SIUE.

Adriana Romo said...

I think that when you walk around campus, you do happen to notice alot of people from different races and backgrounds. Unfortunately, when I actually sit in some of my classes, it seems that I am one out of 2 or 3 minorities in the entire class. I am not sure how diverse the school is, but I think that having more programs and clubs like the Haley Scholars would make minority participation more visible.
Perhaps, there are clubs in this school that one of their main focuses is to incorporate and invite more minorities to join and participate, but many do not know that they exist. Thses clubs and organizations should do a better job in promoting that they want minorities to participate.

Sheleia Phillips said...

I think our university officials should read Outliers! Not only was it a great book, but it offers a lot of different perspectives on success and life. I think that university officials should give programs like SOAR more publicity. Its been truly helpful to me as a student. SOAR is expanding but sometimes I think that students don't take advantage of all SOAR has to offer. After reading this book, I have learned that you dont have to be a genius ito succeed in school, its all about oppurtunity! SOAR gives me the oppurtunity to excel academically, and I will be a SOAR member until I graduate!

Sheleia Phillips

Megan Dennis said...

I think that there should be more events like India Night or other cultural events on campus throughout the year. As far as I know, these events are put on for only a few days over the course of both semesters. Maybe if they have events more frequently or had multiculutural events, it could lead to people getting more comfortable with different cultures. I think the more we as an SIUe community are exposed to different cultures, the more accepting and knowledgable we can become of those around us.

Emily Smith said...

I would agree with Laura. I think that in order for students to be able to succeed, they need to be treated like they can. There is no point in having someone work hard and get no reward based only on the fact of where they come from or look like. By creating special programs, this would ensure that everyone has a fair chance at succeeding.

Dometi A. Pongo said...

Gladwell highlighted the fact that achievement is not necessarily contingent upon one’s intelligence but on their circumstances and experiences in a way. We need some sort of programs that expand the experiences of underrepresented groups. Perspective shape the way people can learn. Once that perspective is broadened, the span of one’s ability and capacity to learn and grasp concepts is expanded as well. If a mentoring program is implemented, cultural experiences, traveling to different places, and being exposed to different ideas and environments would help greatly.

Daniel Shields said...

The University should definitely consider making the campus more diverse with its acceptance rates. I do believe that you should truly earn your way into college, but i also think that being exposed to different cultures, races, and genders alike will benefit everyone in the end. The Soar office and the Game and Fame programs are an awesome start, but to help expand these programs the university needs to take notice of the lack of true diversity. Scholarships being offered would also increase the college graduations rate with minorities, financial issues are a huge problem

Christine Vu said...

I think that connections on campus are essential to creating a more diverse community on the SIUe Campus. It is great that we have current programs to create such relationships, but before we move on to creating new programs, we should build off the ones we already have and make them bigger and better.

Jasmine Coleman said...

I think it is a great idea to have more groups aimed at connecting more minority groups. There are far more programs that aim toward connecting majority groups. I also think there should be more opportunities for minority students to connect with other groups on campus. Maybe Johnetta Haley Scholars should do group projects with other organizations on campus. Many times I feel that groups aimed to support african american students work to seclude them for everyone else. The campus is diverse and therefore groups like Johnetta Haley should do more than just conversing and working among people in their own group, but reach out to people of different culture and ethnic groups.

Katie D. said...

I suppose there could be more opportunities to meet up after class hours as Haley Scholars. This kind of social time would provide encouragement to students.

But the campus provides plenty of opportunities to get to know other people, people should go after them.

I think the hardest part is getting the word out and getting people to show up.

N.L.W. said...

Nia Williams

So after reading Outliers, what’s something that you think university officials should be thinking about more often in order to remove barriers to success that impede large numbers of students of color or underrepresented students at SIUE?

Just like I said before in my last post from "Bargains and Outliers", one way to remove barriers to success for students at SIUE that are of color or underrepresented is to offer some type of intensive program for those students. A program that teaches on various topics and talks about ways to succeed. That way those students will be prepared and know what to do and how to succeed.

For Example,
As I said before I attended Illinois College my freshman year of college. As a high school graduate, I had no clue what college was going to be like. All I knew was what I was told.. that it was going to be a great time, I was going to have the time of my life, and that classes were going to be harder than before. As the summer was winding down Illinois College offered a program/scholarship to a select few of students(freshman). It was called the Yates Fellowship Program and those who recieved it were asked and required to attend a 3 week summer intensive right before school started. I was one of the few. The program consisted of basically getting a jump start on college before everyone else. For 3 weeks we attended a Math class for 2hours, English class for 2hours, and had guest speakers come talk to us about certain topics. We had homework, lots of it, and sometimes homework that we didn't find to possible to accomplish because we had so much and so little time from night time to the next class, the next day. We were offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we got paid (scholarship money) for attending the program, went on a few field trips, and got to meet new people and make connections with people before everyone else did. When I was offered the program I was upset because I didn't want to leave home 3 weeks earlier than what I originally planned but I'm glad I did. The program was intense and I and the rest of the students WERE MORE THAN PREPARED for college. The program was actually 5 times harder than what actual college year turned out to be. But because the program was INTENSE, pushed me above and beyond my limit, I was prepared for college, found it be easier than what I prepared for, and ended up with great grades both semesters. Programs like this allow students to get great starts and give them the opportunity to achieve.

Christiana Puckett said...

I think that SIUE has great programs to help with students whether it is to help with incoming freshmen or helping with students and there major.
We have programs such as SOAR and math resource center to help with students who need tutoring. I am one of those students that take advantage of the tutoring program to help me with stats and it has helped me down the road.
There are also programs for different majors so that students can relate to each other. I was apart of SNA which is an organization for nursing students. It is set up to help us with classes when needed they have study groups. They also try to create activities for us so we can relax for a min. because all the studying may get stressful for students. I have seen other clubs like the psych club e.t.c. SIUE already have programs established in helping students succeed.

Carrington Pool said...

Removing barriers can be a very hard process and will only be successful if both the school and students are willing to use the services. The SOAR office is a very helpful resource here at SIUe, but I feel like a lot of the students do not know how it works or just don't use it too often. I would have to agree with an earlier post about the SOAR office being more helpful to the freshman class. I think that to break barriers there need to be more programs out there to help the underrepresented students that are at different levels as far as age and schoolwork.

Anonymous said...

I think that SIUE already offers a lot of diversity already. To me it's more of what you make and reaching out to different people. The soar office is a great place to start because everyone needs tutoring so there are always different people in there. Trying to take away the barriers may almost be impossible but it's up to us to try and make friends and meet different people. They say the people who succeed in life are the ones who can mix with all kinds of races and ethnic groups.

kimCHI said...

I am not fully sure that there are many barriers for underrepresented groups in SIUe. All people can start groups about their interests and all campus facilities are available to everyone. There is no denying that SIUe needs improvement, but in making sure that they rob everyone blind as much as possible has nothing to do with underrepresented groups or people of ethnic culture.

Kim Lee said...

I think the university should make more of an effort to highlight all of the great smaller groups that are often never heard of. I've seen a lot of these small groups struggle to advertise for themselves. Giving more attention to these groups would help SIUE become a more well known, diverse university.