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Wednesday Event Agenda & Session Options

9:15am-9:30am

Symposium Welcome

Join us for the launch of the 2022 5th annual First-generation Symposium.

9:30am-10:45am

Keynote

Proximity Does Not Equal Advocacy

Whitnee Boyd, Ed.D.

Far too often we mistake our proximity for advocacy. Our proximity to people, spaces, and populations is not an automatic transmission to our advocacy for the same group. It is imperative for institutions and academic leaders to shift from the mindset of proximity equals advocacy. True advocacy requires a commitment to addressing structural and systemic issues that often create barriers for first-generation college students and other underserved populations including students of color, students from working class families, and more. Over the years, institutions have created pathways to access but have not made the same commitment to ensuring first-generation college students get the maximum benefit from being at the institution. Join Dr. Whitnee Boyd as she shares how to move beyond proximity through access to advocacy.

10:45am-11:00am

Break

11:00am-11:30am*

Reimagining STEM in the First-Generation (Access, Opportunities, and Community)

Michael Brown, Ed.D. and Shareyna James, MBA

The pandemic continues to teach us life lessons about health, education, and psychology while it also draws light on the disparities between generations, communities, and access to opportunities. What used to be deemed as an option is now necessary. Access to STEM and related resources. First generation students, while facing many other challenges daily, now have had to overcome additional obstacles that no one could have foreseen, including: Access to technology (computers, Wi-Fi), preparation (navigating academia, educational preparation for college coursework), social isolation (especially URM students – racial discrimination, insecurities about belonging), community support (on demand counselors, safe space to discuss challenges), financial resources (lack of materials/tools to succeed outside of the classroom).

As a community, now that we have this information, it is mandatory that we collectively put programs/resources in place to continue to support our students. Re-imagining what support measures are in place, regardless of where our students are attending class is critical, if we want to see any movement at shrinking the educational/social gap within our communities. These types of programs include: off-hours programs that offer one on one support to students and their families, dedicated team of professionals focusing on listening to the needs of families and engaging them in ongoing conversations, while offering support, mechanisms for students to “reach out” regardless of their learning location, emergency funds, dedicated to these populations which provide some financial relief community collaboration is no longer an option, but necessary if we want to see our students no longer be left behind. STEM programs that are supported and funded, year-round, providing additional support to students in these areas.

*Also offered on Thursday.

11:00am-12:00pm

Student Empowerment Session

Whitnee Boyd, Ed.D.

The rise of student advocacy has called for the need for institutions to actively listen to students and incorporate policies and programs that remove barriers for student success. One particular group that continues to bring awareness are first-generation college students. It is important that we allow students to express themselves from their perspective and lived experiences. They should be empowered to use their voice and lived experiences to enact change on our campuses. This session will engage first-generation students in a dialogue centering their voices.The dialogue will incorporate voices from students across various institutions. The space will create the opportunity for students to connect with one another across institutions and find ways to use their voice on their respective campuses to serve as advocates of their needs.

11:00am-12:00pm*

Navigating the College Landscape: The Lived Experiences of First-Generation College Students with Disabilities

John Woodruff, M.S.

Rowan University has over 2,900 students with disabilities registered with Accessibility Services. Of that total, over 200 students also self-identified as first-generation. The transition to college for students with disabilities can be challenging and overwhelming. Many students are still developing their self-advocacy skills. Add on to those challenges also being first-generation and the leap to college can be prove quite daunting. This presentation is an opportunity for these students to share their lived experiences with students and higher education practitioners to better understand the unique challenges throughout their college career. One way to ease the transition to college is to build a support system and sense of belonging. Specific supports that connect first generation students with disabilities with key resources to put them on a platform for success.

This panel presentation of first-generation, college students with disabilities will share their lived experiences and demonstrate the importance of connecting with disability and first generation affinity groups. Attendees will gain an understanding of the intersection of disability and first generation and the layered challenges this presents to students as they transition to college. Attendees will gain an understanding of the similar challenges first generation college students who have disabilities encounter in their transition to college. Attendees will learn about the opportunities these organizations provide for first generation college students with disabilities in empowering them in finding their voice and develop leadership and mentoring roles within the campus community. Attendees will learn about strategies and best practices to support first generation college students with disabilities.

*Also offered on Thursday.

11:00am-12:00pm

Thinking Outside the Classroom: Creative Approaches to Writing Support for First-Gen Students

Christina Michaud and Marisa Milanese

Writing has long been a source of anxiety for many first-gen students. The pandemic has exacerbated this anxiety, as students have had to negotiate—and renegotiate— shifting learning modes and expectations. It has also widened the privilege gap by putting extraordinary pressure on teachers at the K-12 level. This panel will offer an overview of a four-part workshop series designed by first-year composition (FYC) instructors who are mentoring first-gen students. Drawing on feedback from our first-gen mentees, and working in conjunction with Boston University’s new center for first-gen students, we hope to pilot this workshop series in Fall 2022. The series will supplement the university’s existing tutorial resources and provide more structured support for the kinds of writing that students are expected to do at the university in their coursework and beyond it, from “Using Writing to Advocate for Yourself” to “Grammar Gaps: Everything Your Writing Teacher Never Told You.”

Our presentation offers an overview of student voices articulating their writing needs; a survey of FYC instructors’ attitudes on the so-called hidden curriculum of writing classes; and our own perspectives as instructors who have worked closely with first-gen students both in and beyond the classroom.

12:00pm-12:30pm

Break

12:30pm-1:45pm

First-generation Student Panel

Naima Chowdhury, Erica Iraheta, Summaiya Ishrat, Sierra Lomuto, Ph.D. (moderator), Denzell Moore, April Townson, and Miguel Vera

Please join us for the Flying First Symposium Student Panel. This year’s theme, “Reimagining Our Success: The Reshaping of First-Gen Futures,” addresses the many ways we might reshape our society to create even more opportunities for the first-gen communities we serve. Current Rowan University students will share their insights gained from the pandemic and their stories of resilience and success, concluding with audience questions and answers.

1:45pm-2:00pm

Break

2:00pm-2:30pm*

Resilience And Variation Among First-gen Students During COVID-19

Harriet Hartman, Ph.D.

Based on research carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on first-gen students will be presented in terms of resilience under the financial, social, and emotional stresses of the pandemic. Attention will be paid to differences (or lack thereof) among first-gen students based on gender, race/ethnicity, and social class. First-gen survey respondents’ suggestions for administrative/faculty policies are presented. Implications for university policies that can better support first-gen students under situations of stress like this will be discussed with the audience.

*Also offered on Thursday.

2:00pm-2:30pm*

Collectively Breaking Down Imposter Syndrome Through a DEI Lens

Mariana Cardenas

This presentation unpacks the ways in which Du Bois’ double consciousness and a Psychological lens of Labeling Theory and Imposter Syndrome can be overcome when we understand the ways in which these phenomena are socially and culturally constructed. For those of us who are first-generation, it is not uncommon to experience and internalize imposter syndrome (Peteet et al., 2015). In addition to this real phenomenon, Du Bois’ theory of double-consciousness is also present and presents a solid foundation for understanding the underlying systemic issues and barriers that first-generation students face. In addition to this real phenomenon, Du Bois’ theory of double-consciousness is also present and presents a solid foundation for understanding the underlying systemic issues and barriers that first-generation students face. For example, people with close proximity to wealth and whiteness do not experience the oppressions of double consciousness because they are already part of the dominant culture that would seek to shape how they should understand themselves. Through careful consideration of the deep reaching ways in which systemic oppression creates the experience of imposter syndrome, we can begin to unpack, unlearn, and even subvert white, Euro-centric and upper-class values.

*Also offered on Thursday.

2:00pm-3:00pm*

Leveling UP: Addressing the Difficult Realities First-Generation College Students Face

Dyron Corley, Ed.D. and Dana Kemery, Ed.D.

COVID-19 continues to negatively impact our first-generation students' academic and holistic success. The factors that made the college experience difficult before COVID-19 have been exasperated. Despite the challenges many of our first-generation students faced during COVID, they were able to find a way to persevere and “level up.” While faculty and student support professionals should celebrate their resolve and commitment, we must not forget about the students who wanted to succeed but didn’t. First-gen students may face a different reality and often fall through the cracks. The types of support they need may not be available at the institution. To address these needs, institutions must “level up” and provide broad-based student-centered support and infrastructure.

During this presentation, participants will explore the unique realities first-generation students have faced during COVID in and outside of the classroom, assess the current metrics that are used to determine what “success” looks like, and discuss ways they can “level up” their pedagogy, programming and services to support their student population.

*Also offered on Thursday.

2:00pm-3:00pm*

How We Built This: Strategies to Build a Coalition of support for First-Generation Students

Penny McPherson-Myers, Ed.D. and Amy Ruymann, M.S.

In 2017, the co-presenters formed a university-wide first-generation task force to celebrate and support first-generation students. In just one year and with no budget, the task force led a transformative initiative engaging 50+ staff and faculty from all over the university. The main accelerator that increased the urgency of this campus wide cultural shift were the student voices. First-generation students who shared stories of resilience, survivor guilt and the pressure to be pioneers were the voices that motivated our campus to work together across functional responsibilities on this initiative.The first-gen initiative called Flying First has grown exponentially as more partners have joined in. Through our annual First-Gen Symposium sponsored by Rowan University, we have expanded our impact to institutions across New Jersey to increase awareness and to celebrate first-gen resilience.

During this session the presenters will share their experience and provide a step-by-step guide for creating or accelerating first-generation student support on campus without a budget, using John Kotter’s 8-Step Model of Change. Higher education professionals looking to build a coalition of support for first-generation students will leave this presentation with specific strategies for success.

*Also offered on Thursday.

3:00pm-3:30pm

Break

3:30pm-4:15pm*

Black, First-generation, and Low Income: Navigating Dual Pandemics in an Age of COVID-19 and Police Brutality

Ariel Davis, M.S.

Students who live at the intersection of Blackness, first-generation in college status, and socioeconomic disadvantage are attempting to navigate a deadly worldwide pandemic, in the medical sense, and state-sanctioned violence at the hands of police and white supremacists in the physical/mental well-being sense. While variants surge and trials forge on, these students are estranged from a physical campus they might not have felt attachment to, shouldering childcare, distance learning, work related and technological challenges on their own and sustaining continued fear, rage and sadness at the constant barrage of traumatic headlines of death and violence towards Black bodies.

This workshop serves as a research-based call-to-action, a guided self-assessment of the ways campuses have, are and will support their Black, first-gen, and low-income students. The presentation will also include tangible action items and next steps.

*Also offered on Thursday.

3:30pm-4:30pm*

Teaching to Their Cultural Strengths: Empowering First-Generation Students

Ellen Wasserman and Krista Quinn

For first-generation students, many of whom persist at low rates, changes due to the pandemic including remote learning, reduced social opportunities, and lack of in-person academic support has increased the need for culturally responsive teaching practices (Gay, 2018). This year, first-generation students who experienced their junior and senior years of high school remotely may be especially challenged in navigating college course expectations. Supportive instruction that recognizes and adjusts to the cultural strengths of diverse students can make an important difference in academic achievement, motivation, and persistence for first-generation students (Chavez & Longerbeam, 2016; McCallen & Johnson, 2020).

In this workshop, faculty, staff, and administrators will learn about cultural strengths pedagogy and teaching strategies that empower students. The presenters will share experiences from the past two years and ask participants to contribute their own observations of areas where first-generation students have struggled during the pandemic. Engage in a self-reflection activity regarding cultural strengths, and explore strategies for developing an understanding, empathetic, flexible class climate without lowering standards. Discuss specific practices such as scaffolding, multidimensional assessments, and shared responsibility for learning that utilize the cultural strengths of diverse students.

*Also offered on Thursday.

3:30pm-5:00pm

Reimagining Job Search Strategies for Success: Finding the Hidden Treasures for your Career

Hosted by the Office of Career Advancement

Rowan University's Office of Career Advancement will facilitate a one-of-a kind session, bringing students from across the country together. The unique event seeks to inspire attendees by educating them on obscure job titles in their future industries. Students will learn how to research job titles that are not commonly advertised careers. During the event, students, from Rowan and other institutions across the country can attend breakout rooms/sessions and learn more about the following industries: Health, Arts & Entertainment/Communications, Education, Government, STEM & Technology, General Business and Liberal Arts. In these sessions, attendees will meet with Rowan alumnus working in your field of interest and answer your questions.

Wednesday Event Agenda & Session Options