Running head: COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Final Paper: Fostering Changes in College Attendance at a Multicultural Institution

Leisha R. Cavallaro

1 Paradise Cove Statesboro, GA 30458

An essay analyzing the need to foster changes in college attendance in a multicultural educational environment submitted to: Dr. J. Smith of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for COUN 7132 01F

SPRING 2012 Friday, May 4th, 2012 Statesboro, Georgia

COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

There are many changes that have occurred over the past two decades in respect to college attendance. As the numbers have risen overall, so has the number of minorities that enroll in college. This new multicultural environment calls for some changes that need to be fostered by education professionals. It is important to note that the extent of these changes does depend on the type of school, location, size, qualifications, etc. However, despite the specifics of the college there is a noticeable change overall that needs to be acknowledged and promoted to continue the evolution. In this paper I am going to focus on a large public co-ed university, specifically the University of Central Florida. The University of Central Florida has over 58,000 students who represent every state in the United States as well as students from over 140 countries (University of Central Florida, 2011). Being located UCF has a large amount of graduate students, almost 10,000 leaving their freshmen entering class around 4,000 students. Though this seems like a small percentage of their students its important to note the changes in demographics of students and how over time if these freshmen continue to be more and more diverse the population will become increasingly diverse. The percentage of white students in the school was 71.6% in 2001 and is currently 60.75% (University of Central Florida, 2011). This numbers show how this slow change turns into big different over time this evolution must come with accommodation by education professionals in order to maintain retention rates and encourage the changes. It is important to realize that as our world changed around us we must also change with it. For instance with the advancement in technology the education system must constantly be updating their modes of lectures and ways of providing information. Also, as information changes and we gather new bits of knowledge educators must constantly accommodate these

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fluctuations; diversity and cultural changes shouldnt be treated any different. The changes in student population are important to note and understand because that can also change the education system (Davis, 2007). Students have individual needs and these needs change student to students as well as from culture to culture. Knowing these differences and needs can help foster and encourage the changes that are happening in relation to current and future college attendance trends. The changes in college attendance needs to be recognized by the University itself and efforts should be made by all departments not just educators. One major student service area that must focus on these changes is the Admissions office. Through the application process it is important to make efforts to encourage students of various cultures to apply to their institution. At UCF the admission requirements have increased over time as there are more and more applicants. These requirements have not necessarily discriminated against certain cultures; however, as they continue to change the requisites the office needs to consider cultural differences and needs of their applicants. For instance, knowing that first generation students are more likely to come from Hispanic or African American cultures (Olive, 2010) could alter the deadline or marketing process of searching for applicants. It is important that admissions offices make efforts to market for students to apply rather than just accept students who make the effort on their own; this would put students who are less informed about the college culture at a disadvantage of even applying to college correctly or in a timely manner. Outside of higher education, K-12 educators need to be aware of this statistic and encourage minorities to continue to apply and go to college. Some of these students have little support from their families and even if they do have support the have no model to look to in assistance for the process of applying for and attending college.

COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Outside of merely applying to college, there comes the issue of cultural competence. Many students may not experience a multicultural setting before college and minority students may have a hard time acclimating and feeling welcomed in a University setting. The development of each student is important and key throughout college especially in regards to retention. In fact, the development of all students can be related directly to Chickernings seven vectors. Culturally diverse students especially struggle with vector 4 establishing mature interpersonal relationships and vector 5 developing identity (Pascarella & Terenzini 2005). Many minority students end up dropping out due to inability to cope with their environment as well as having different values and learning styles based on their culture. Many minorities report feeling socially isolated and left out of general campus life (Miller & Sujitparapitaya, 2010). Knowing these trends put an obligation on administrators to make efforts to counterbalance these feelings and assist and making students feel welcome and comfortable. As educators there should be conscious efforts to have students interact with each other, even if it is only a school project, intentional groups instead of allowing students to choose groups could assist in getting students to know each other and interact. As humans we tend to be attracted to things and people who are like us, but if given the opportunity to get to know something different we could just find out that we can enjoy that too. (Fischer, 2008). Exposing students to a diverse atmosphere can encourage interracial relationships which can help diminish the feeling of isolation. There are a lot of prejudices as well as discriminatory feelings towards minorities, which also assists in their isolation (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Education about various cultures is key in eliminating these stereotypes. With a better understanding of the culture of miniorities students can learn to appreciate each other and be more encouraged to interact and create

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friendships. (Fischer, 2008). The requirement of cultural education should be a general education requirement in our ever diverse world. If administrators made this a requirement more and more students would become educated about other cultures, encouraging a friendly and welcoming environment. Merely feeling accepted can help minority students get acclimated which can assist in their success and development. Intentional efforts are being made by many universities to assist in the acclimation to college, especially for freshmen students. Freshman first year experience is important in students involvement in campus and their feeling of comfort in their college experience. At UCF there are over 400 student organizations in their Office of Student Involvement. This wide variety of organizations and clubs allows for something that every student can relate to; providing the opportunity to get involved in something they are interested in. One program is specific for freshmen involvement. Learning and Interacting with New Knights (LINK). This program provides a wide variety of fun activities for students to attend, for each event they attend they receive points (University of Central Florida, 2011) that they can exchange for prizes at the end of the year. These activities encourage interaction between new freshmen who may also be feeling isolated. This is a great program it is important to note how they market to all groups of students. Just providing workshops and activities to get students together isnt good enough. Efforts need to be made to encourage the participation of all minority groups through providing activities that will attract them, which can help in their freshman year experience. Another useful tool and department in most public universities is the Multicultural Affairs division. The administrators in this role are very aware of the changes in college attendance making them more and more important in campus life. They are a great resource for various departments and divisions on campus that may need help or advice on their own efforts

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involving diversity. Many Multicultural programs run their own events to involve minority students. However, it is important that these students not only interact with each other and those of their same culture but with those of other cultures; it is also important that they become comfortable in their college life. This department works with other departments across campus to collaborate on projects and events to involve the diverse population. For instance, at UCF the Intramural program and Multicultural Center worked together to create a World Cup soccer tournament where international students were heavily involved creating their own soccer teams and playing as various countries in a soccer tournament. This leads me to the student service that I am most involved with, Recreation. Most large public universities have some form of Recreation department and this provides a great deal of opportunity for interaction and involvement with the student body outside of the classroom if it is done right. It is vital that the Recreation department on campus makes efforts to offer programs and events that attracts students of all cultures. If they merely stick to a weight room, hip hop classes, and American sports then they are turning away a great deal of students of different backgrounds. Efforts should be made to assess what the student body wants and needs to get each and every student to come to the gym and get involved. Some programs that have been established at the institutions I have been at are wheelchair basketball, racquetball, badminton, secluded workout areas and Wii bowling just to name a few. Allowing students to participate in activities that are enjoyed by other cultures not only educates them and allows them to appreciate other cultures, it also encourages the involvement of minority students. Recreation can be a vital component in assisting students in their college experience, giving them something outside of academics that they enjoy. If you would have asked me 4 years ago I would never have even thought about providing activities outside of the

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American norm with the reasoning of that is what the majority of the students want and participate in so why offer other things. Now I am aware of the effect and impact we can have on multicultural students as well as the majority by allowing the populations to interact with each other. In fact UCFs Recreation and Wellness Center was the first in its division of Student Affairs to have a Diversity Statement and initiative. Though it may not stand out at first, Recreation on campus can be key in fostering the constant changes in the student population, but efforts must be made to know and accommodate the changing student population. It is evident that the changes in college attendance have had and will continue to have a huge impact on an institution as a whole. These changes need to be recognized and helped along the way; as administrators and educators we cannot just sit back and hope that the changes take hold and continue, we must make intentional efforts to encourage this evolution. From forcing interaction to providing events and activities specific to each students interest and everything in between it is vital to the survival of the multicultural environment.

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References Davis, J. (2007). Making a difference: How teachers can positively affect racial identity and acceptance in america. Social Studies, 98(5), 209-214. Retrieved on May 2nd , 2011, from EBSCOHOST Fischer, M. J. (2008). Does campus diversity promote friendship diversity? A look at interracial friendships in college. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 89(3), 631-655. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00552.x Kadison, R.& DiGeronimo (2004). College of the overwhelmed: The campus mental health crisis and what to do about it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Miller, B., & Sujitparapitaya, S. (2010). Campus climate in the twenty-first century: Estimating perceptions of discrimination at a racially mixed institution, 19942006. New Directions For Institutional Research, 2010(145), 29-52. doi:10.1002/ir.321 Olive, T. (2010). Desire for higher education in first-generation hispanic college students. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(1), 377-389. Retrieved on May 2nd , 2011, from EBSCOHOST Pascarella, E.T., & Terenzini, P.T. (2005). How college affects students. San Franciso, CA: Jossey-Bass. University of Central Florida. (2011). Facts at a Glance. Retrieved May 3rd, 2012, from http://www.iroffice.ucf.edu/character/current.html University of Central Florida. (2011). Office of Student Involvement. Retrieved May 3rd, 2012, from http://www.getinvolveducf.com/