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VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 7

# INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

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PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

 

Adult Student Development in an Off-Campus Setting

During the last decade, adult students have swelled ¢ One-hour Seminars held before classes on practi-
community college enrollments. For many of them, off- cal topics dealing with career, life, and college;
campus programs have been an important entry point ¢ Phone Directory with individual photos and
into higher education. information on personal interests, work, and

At most community colleges, student services are family situation;
still geared for younger, non-working students attend- ¢ Quarterly Newsletter on off-campus news, helpful
ing classes on the campus. It’s difficult and often hints, community resources, and employment and
discouraging for off-campus adult students to get the internships;
help they need. Traditional models of student develop- e Support Groups focused on common issues like
ment are useful, but fail to address the needs of adults single parenting, displaced workers, study help;
in an off-campus environment. ¢ Individual Planning with Lakewood counselors

The Second Wind Program at Lakewood Community who had personally returned to college as adults;
College was designed to focus strictly on the needs of ¢ Adult Student Resource Center with video and
its off-campus adult students and find new ways to audiotapes on careers, learning, and life—avail-
support their learning and development. Used asa able for checkout.
model, it can help other community colleges plan and College personnel played an advocacy and referral role,
design student services for such adults. putting students in touch with other educational
Background resources or human service providers.

Most research literature treats adults as a homoge- Results
neous group. Very little is known about the specific The Second Wind Program cut across traditional
needs of adults taking off-campus courses from com- lines of the college and successfully extended student
munity colleges. services beyond the campus. It gave students not only

Lakewood used the “Adult Learner Needs Assess- practical information and resources, but also a reason to
ment Survey” by American College Testing to explore contact one another. They shared common experiences
the needs of its off-campus students. Most of their and learned about themselves, their values, interests,
career and life concerns were the same as adults in and life skills.
general; however, they chose off-campus education as a The Second Wind Program created a sense of belong-
way to address them. Campus-based student services ing that made college less risky and more manageable
did not fit their life situation and offered them minimal for Lakewood’s off-campus adult students. Sixty-three
opportunity for involvement. Student development, for percent were still in school a year later—a much higher
this group, needed to match the basic ecology of their percentage than the on-campus retention rate.
off-campus learning environment. The Second Wind Program offers a student develop-
Program Design ment strategy that makes off-campus education a more

The Second Wind Program made little use of cam- effective and encouraging place for learning.
pus-based services. Instead, adult students were
networked into cohort groups to help each other Karen Pike, Director, St. Paul Center
overcome the academic and personal obstacles of
returning to school. Kurt Oelschlager, Counselor

Students agreed to enroll in at least one off-campus
course for three consecutive quarters. They became For further information, contact the authors at St. Paul
part of a group of 50-60 other adult students participat- Center, Lakewood Community College, 3401 Century
ing in: Avenue, White Bear Lake, MN 55110.

 

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin
EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712