Click for Full Schedule PDF

Wednesday Session Options

8:45am-9:00am EST

Welcome

Join us as we kick off the 7th Annual First-Generation Symposium!

9:00am-10:15am EST

Keynote Presentation

Kha' Sadler, Psy.D.

10:15am-10:30am EST

Break

10:30am-11:30am EST

Classroom Routines to Support Inclusion and Engagement for First-Gen Students

Rob Wieman, Ph.D. & Jill Perry, Ph.D.

Though First Generation Students are a diverse group, many of them encounter common challenges within the college setting. First Generation Students often worry that college education is not for them, that they do not belong, leading to feelings of loneliness, isolation and alienation. Social interactions can feel like a stressful test of suitability and belonging. This can threaten academic success, especially in classes that require discussion, participation, and risk-taking. This workshop seeks to support faculty in addressing these challenging feelings and supporting positive academic behaviors.

In this session, we will share classroom routines that structure academic interaction and participation in ways that take the social pressure off students, support them in engaging intellectually with content and with their peers and professors, and help them feel seen, known, and included. These routines explicitly address and scaffold habits of intellectual engagement that are often invisible, such as thinking deeply about a question before answering, trying out ideas before settling on an answer, listening to a variety of perspectives, making predictions, and testing hypotheses. Participants will experience routines as learners, analyze them as teachers, and plan them for use in their own classrooms.

10:30am-11:30am EST

Supporting the Mental Health Needs of First-generation Students*

Andrea Leach, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.

Discussion about the current research on First Generation Student and mental health concerns including anxiety, depression, stress related to housing, finances, lack of supports and pressure to succeed. This presentation will discuss recommendations to improve mental health for these students as well as the services available at Rowan.

*Also offered on Thursday at 1:45pm-2:45pm EST.

10:30am-11:30am EST

First-Gen Students: Finding Their Purpose

Meredith Brown & Lamont Eli Booth

The life of a first generation college student is one that is complex. Not only because of the fact they are the first in their family to embark on a college journey but because of the experiences they encounter. The various journeys they embark on throughout their time in college is what makes each student unique in their own right. And all of this is attributed to one thing, purpose. Without purpose, the journey of a college student is one without a destination. One that is just going through the motions. For our first generation college students, we want them to get the most out of their college experience so they can not only find their purpose but establish it. Purpose is the foundation of students as it is intertwined with their emotional, social and academic factors of their experience as a whole. Without purpose, the complex life of a college student is simply one without meaning.

10:30am-11:30am EST

Finding a Voice

Brittany Bronson, MODL

This workshop aims to foster a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by first-generation college students, particularly in relation to self-advocacy. Participants will engage in empathy simulations, gain practical strategies for empowering students, and leave with actionable plans to create a more supportive and inclusive learning environment. By the end of this workshop, attendees will be better equipped to recognize and address barriers to self-advocacy, ultimately contributing to the academic and personal success of first-generation college students at Rowan University and beyond.

11:30am-12:45pm EST

Lunch

12:45pm-2:00pm EST

Student Panel

2:00pm-2:15pm EST

Break

2:15pm-3:15pm EST

A Tale of Two Low-Income, First-Generation Engineering Students: Well-being, Belonging, and the Role of Chosen Family

Justin Major, Ph.D.

Belonging has been identified as an important, if not the most important, factor impacting the success of college students, especially (multi)marginalized students in engineering programs. Well-being and belonging are deeply entwined, helping to explain how the strength of students’ affinities lead them to feel a sense of true happiness that guide their holistic success. In this presentation, I present two differing narrative stories from Samantha and Rocky, two non-white, low-income, first-generation women in engineering. At the time of their narratives, both women were in the fourth year of their engineering degrees; however, Samantha was graduating and Rocky was not. In fact, Rocky was struggling to belong and maintain a sense of overall wellness. This study emerged from an exploration of how intersectional socioeconomic inequality impacts students' broader success in engineering. Based on a model that was used to choose these two participants (and four others), no student was meant to be successful, yet all the students but Rocky were. In this presentation, I show the ways in which well-being and belonging, or a lack thereof are present in their stories. I further show the impact of traumas, resources, and access to supportive traditional and chosen families on their trajectories.

2:15pm-3:15pm EST

Emotional Support for First-Generation College Applicants During the Transition to College

Amanda Coltri, MSL

All college applicants experience the liminality of the transition to college process. However, first-generation applicants move through that liminal period with more uncertainty, fewer resources, and greater chance of negative outcomes, including failure matriculate (melt). Literature shows that emotional support can mitigate these issues and help first-generation college applicants reach matriculation. As higher education administrators, what options do we have for building an infrastructure that provides emotional support systematically? This is particularly challenging in a transition to college process that is becoming increasingly digital. We'll cover prior research and case studies on this topic and review budget-friendly ways to pursue an emotional support infrastructure within the transition to college process.

2:15pm-3:15pm EST

Building Resiliency, Fostering Success, and Celebrating Intersectionality in First-Year Seminar Students*

Joe Lizza, Ed.D.

First year students enter college with barriers and these barriers are often amplified for first-generation students. This presentation will highlight the approach Rowan University took to adapt their traditional first year seminar course for first-generation students. The presenter will share an approach which combines institutional mission, campus literacy, skill development, resiliency, and identity exploration. Institutional evidence of the model's success (and struggles), as well as tips to implement the model will be shared.

*Also offered on Thursday at 9:15am-10:15am EST.

2:15pm-3:15pm EST

Collective Healing Through Adult Social Emotional Learning

Kara Ieva, Ph.D.

This session will explore Adult SEL. Adult SEL refers to the competencies that adults need to promote healthy identities, manage stress, and function in supportive environments. SEL skills and mind-sets contribute to overall well-being and emotional states of adults in educational settings. In this workshop participants will experience a healing-centered group with the goal of processing their experiences as students and/or educators and learning tools for practice.

3:15pm-3:30pm EST

Break

3:30pm-3:40pm EST

Closing Remarks

3:40pm-4:30pm EST

We're the First

Andrea Leach, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.

We’re the First aims to provide support for first-gen students by offering an opportunity to relate, encourage, and support other first-gen students through discussing their shared experiences. While typically this support group is hosted each week for Rowan University students, we're offering a special session of the group to all student attendees of the symposium after the day's events.

Wednesday Session Options