“Colleges Prepare People for Life” by Freeman Hrabowski, is an informative essay about how college is a crucial step for the preparation of a successful future job opportunity as well as future life. Hrabowski is the current president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and has been in that role since 1992. “In 2012, President Obama named him chair of President’s Advisory Commission on Education excellence of African Americans” (Hrabowski, 2013, p. 259). This quote goes to show the amount of knowledge and respect Hrabowski has earned throughout his life by proving himself and his ideas to others. Although college is a crucial step for the preparation of a successful future job opportunity as well as one’s overall wellbeing of life; some might disagree that college is the key to success. From this essay, messages within the text will be made known by analyzing the real meaning behind Hbrabowski’s words. As well as reasoning, as to why a college education is essential to one’s overall quality of life.
Reading between the Lines More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1
What we get out of the college experience, we use in our day to day lives. Even the things we think aren’t important or useful end up becoming helpful. The material we learn in college is fundamental when it comes jobs and life in general. We are taught to make choices. We are taught how the real world works, and how to turn our education into our way of life. “…the really significant education in thinking that we’re supposed to get in a place like this isn’t really about the capacity to think, but rather about the choice of what to think about.” (Wallace 199).
My Philosophy of the Community College Community college is a great institution for students to start their educational journey. Especially when they do not have the funds or lack some of the prerequisite that a university would require. Community college was created to serve the community, traditional and non-traditional students with the best higher education and lifetime learning opportunities. The faculty and staff members at a community college is there to provide leadership in education while going above and beyond to recognize the needs of the students and the community by providing excellent educational programs and support services that are available to all who have the opportunity to take advantage of them. “Student services now include recruitment and retention, counseling, student activities, student health, financial aid, academic support, career centers, transfer centers, and supplemental services such as transportation, child care, and services tailored for specific populations of students” (Cohen, Brawer, & Krisker, 2014, pg. 209). My philosophy in fulfilling the role and mission of the community college, is to establish the mission, vision, goals and values to guide all students on their journey to strive to become successful both in school and in today’s economy.
With today’s changing world and the economy the way it is, it is not uncommon for people of all ages to enter the college setting. In fact, two-thirds of students entering the college setting are classified non-traditional (Brown, 2007). Bill (2003) found that there was an 11% increase of non-traditional student enrollment from 1991-1998 displaying 35% in 91 and 46% in 1998. These numbers have since increased according to Jacobson & Harris (2008) showing that half to 75% of undergraduates consist of the non-traditional student sitting the reasons for reentering the college setting to be economic. What exactly defines a non-traditional student and what services may they need in comparison to the traditional student.
At my graduate assistantship at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), the graduate students from Monmouth were introduced to a few of the key offices that work with Residential Education and Housing. Through this introduction, I was able to meet Kelly Hennessy, who is the current Associate Dean of Students in the Department of Health and Wellness at The College of New Jersey. As a future Student Affairs professional, one of my end goals would ultimately become a Dean of Students, so it was exciting to interview Hennessy and see how she got to where she is today. Originally when Hennessy first started her college years, she thought that she wanted to be a teacher. After working with the professionals in her Residence Life Office and Leadership Office at the University of Buffalo, where she received both her bachelors and master’s degrees, she realized that her passion was no longer teaching, but rather to become the professionals she was surrounded and inspired by every day. Hennessy has worked in Residence Life for majority of her career up to about two years ago when the Department of Health and Wellness first started on TCNJ’s campus.
The word college means different things to different people. For parents it might mean freedom from their pesky teenagers or sleepless nights full of worry. For students it might mean new experiences, independence, or learning about themselves and their passions. For society it might mean carrying on a legacy or doing one’s duty as a good citizen. It is neither society's place nor the parent’s choice to decide what a young adult does with his or her life.
The number of students using these campus resources is growing every semester. Although many students on campus are willing to use these services, their availability is limited. Students are often discouraged to use these resources due unavailability of appointments, and long wait times. In order to increase the efficiency of these facilities and to uphold to their mission of helping students reach their full academic potential, I purpose to research several strategies that will increase the accessibility of these resources to a larger student population. Specifically, I purpose to increase the number of locations at which these facilities provide their services, recruit more staffs and increase their
Students today have been raised to think that college is just the next step in life after high school. Decades ago,going to college was a huge achievement and not many people enrolled. Today, however it is almost expected that you go to college. The purpose of college has been changing over the years. Students and professors have lost sight of what to get out a college education. Gary Gutting explains in his article, “What is College for?” that students are losing passion for higher education. He also believes that professors are not realizing what their true job really is, and are not doing the necessary procedures to help their students succeed. “In On the Uses of a Liberal Education”, Mark Edmundson shares similar ideas, and gives a first person point of view of Gutting’s ideas about the quality of the college experience. Mark Edmundson would agree with Gary Gutting’s claims that the quality of colleges is declining and is negatively affecting the students and faculty members.
1. What was the original mission of community colleges? 2. How has the community colleges mission changed over time? 3. How did the organizational culture impact the community colleges? 4. What are societal factors impacted when community colleges decided to change their mission? Since there are four guided questions to help address the main research question. There will also be some subtopics to help us better understand the reasoning toward the altered mission of community colleges. First, I will discuss about the first community college founded in American history of higher education and its mission, the influences on community college mission during the Depression era, and the intention of community college mission after the World War II era. Second, I will report what I have found about the impact on community college to alter their institution from a 2 years institution to a 4 years institution. Third, I will discuss what the organizational culture was like today compared to the twentieth century. Lastly, I will examine some of the societal factors that impact the altered mission of community colleges.
The first two chapters of this book set the background for student development and how theory has evolved over the years. As time passed and college student demographics changed, new ideas and views were developed to understand the ever changing student body. Theorists realized that the college experience was different between demographic groups. Being able to develop student affairs practices and activities that can reach the different student groups is probably the biggest challenge a student affairs professional will tackle. It is said that student development is most achieved by involvement by the students. This means that these activities must be designed to accommodate students from all walks of life.
Simmons College, “Where leaders make themselves.” Recently Simmons College has adopted a new brand revolving around leadership. Their new curriculum, PLAN, emphasizes on the quality of leadership. Simmons College turned towards this new brand focusing on leadership due to the declining enrollments the College has faced during the
There is a serious conundrum facing secondary school seniors as their final year comes to close, not did I play the right sports, have the right friends, or wear the right shoes. Even though these questions compromise many important aspects of what graduate candidates hold important, the major
The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.
This gives way “The student personnel point of view encompasses the student as a whole. The concept of education is broadened to include attention to the students’ well-rounded development – physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually – as well as intellectually” (The Student Personnel Point of View, 1949). The student is now thought of as a responsible piece of their development. This revised version also proposed a comprehensive suite of student services that represented thirty-three functional areas. It was mentioned earlier that the focus was not on the students’ development but here the shift has taken place. There are now guiding principles about students’ development and professionals are understanding it is about the whole student identity not just the students’ academic