Common Barriers
It looks as though we've identified some common barriers that exists for non-traditional students. Some of those mentioned are: transportation, child care and family issues. What are some best practices that you've employed to help mitigate these barriers for your graduates?
transportation is always a challenge
we established a car pool program; in which students that have an issue with transportation are paired up with students that live near by to assist
Felicia,
I think that is a great idea. For the students to truly be successful they have to take ownership of their job search and their ultimate success. Campuses are most successful when there is a partnership between the students and career services. Giving students a stake in their future by holding them accountable to help find opportunities for themselves has several benefits. One of which is teaching them how to research, network and interact with potential employers and people in their industry. This will serve them well later in their career, when they want to pursue a promotion or other opportunities.
What do you think of volunteer opportunities or internships for your students while they are in school?
Sheri Leach
We are running into basically the same barrier issues, we provide vocational training in the following industries: hospitality and nursing assistant. Our nursing assistants are not able to be placed because of not having transportation and also until they take the state board exam they really limited to where to apply and seek employment. Our hospitality students because most of the hotels are in areas far away and because the public transportation is horrible they are also limited to where to apply.
I try to encourage them to apply for the hotels closet to them. For our next class I'm considering having the students to search their own job shadow location this gives them an opportunity to seek hotels in their surrounding areas and also they know how reliable the public transportation system in their area. What do you think?
Judi,
Thank you Judi for being so selfless. Your comment illustrates the point that we don't know what challenges our students have and what struggles they are facing in their personal lives. By interacting consistently with our students and really listening to what they have to say (or noticing what they mean to say) and observing their behavior will we be better prepared to assist them. Do you have a person or program on your campus that assists with social services information for students in need (hunger, housing, clothing, medical care)? Do you think this is or would be helpful?
Sheri Leach
I noticed that students were irritable in the hallways frequently. After speaking to them individually I discovered that they have the unrealistic idea that they don't need to eat. Their idea is that they don't have time, or the money for food. Needless to say I explain to them that a car cannot run without fuel and their bodies and brains also needed fuel (food). I now buy ten cases of peanut butter crackers a week and leave a basket outside my door. Students eat them anytime they are hungry. Approximately 60-80 students per day eat the crackers. I also collect food from different area food panties and distrubute it from my car when I discover students have no food at home.
Since we are an online school we have created a room where live session are given to the students and they can find them recorded, in case they cannot join to the live session. Being an online institution the platform is available 24 X 7. We also offer live orientation session focused on technology issues that make our students feel more confident and comfortable.
Our campus began offering part-time classes in the evening. It made the program a few months longer, but it allowed for students with children and/or full-time jobs to still come attend the program. As far as transportation, we have bus and train information and I've began a carpool system within each cohort.
