Mentoring for change in a unique university – alternative high school collaboration

January 1, 2013
A. BrimmerJ. GarciaJ. KapelaM. McennisMS. Sidberry

Abstract

This paper outlines a unique mentoring collaboration between a joint-use community-university library, a university branch of the American Association of University Women (aauW), and PACE Center for Girls Broward, Florida, “a non-residential delinquency prevention program, targeting females 12 to 18 who are identified as dependent, truant, runaway, delinquent, or in need of academic skills” (PACE, 2013). The collaboration has provided much-needed support for PACE girls and women college students who are primarily first generation and minorities at higher risk of not earning their college degrees. Anecdotal evidence and pre- and post-surveys indicate all students gaining an increased understanding of their personalities, values and strengths. Students, faculty and staff report students have and show a stronger sense of self- confidence and commitment to their education. 

Paper

Introduction:

Imagine the challenges faced by young women ages 12-17 who are at-risk for juvenile delinquency, failing or dropping out of school, running away from home, or experiencing difficult family circumstances.  Imagine college women who have faced similar challenges and are in turn struggling toward their degrees. How can these students acquire a bigger vision of their success and realize their value to their communities? And how can mentoring collaborations, in particular, encourage academic and personal success for these students in need of a creative charge with positive outcomes?
An answer was provided by the development of a unique project called The PACE Collaboration—a project that is centered around the resources of a joint-use university library and the work of university faculty, staff, and student mentors. Each partner is committed to developing a win-win opportunity for equity and academic achievement via access to information, mentoring, and exposure to higher education. The principal partnership involves the PACE Center for Girls Broward, the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) branch of the American Association of University Women (NSU-aauW), and a joint university/community Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center (Alvin Sherman Library).
Our program helps the alternative high school girls and college women student members of the NSU-aauW: 1) utilize online tools for organizing our academic and non-academic activities; 2) use information literacy structures and concepts to facilitate learning about the world of information; 3) attend interactive college classroom visits, instruction, and activities to introduce and reify their college aspirations; and 4) complete interest and values exercises to provide a personal focus on goals and objectives.

Purpose:

The purpose of the mentoring collaboration is to provide opportunities for building self-esteem and empowerment for at-risk female high school and college students. In Florida the number of at-risk female students who transition from high school to college is not documented. We know that over the past decade, the number of girls in the United States arrested for delinquency has risen (Department of Juvenile Justice, 2013). Girls tend to leave home, often for long periods of time, to avoid highly dysfunctional situations. Running away is “one of the most prevalent risk factors for girls’ ultimate involvement with the juvenile justice system” (Department of Juvenile Justice, 2013). In 2004, 30% of all juveniles arrested were girls (Chesney–Lind, Morash, & Stevens, 2008). Furthermore, girls seem to be committing more serious crimes (Department of Juvenile Justice, 2013). Girls in the juvenile justice system “also have higher rates of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in their histories” (Bloom et al., 2002 & Zahn et al., 2009). Most girls at the PACE Center fit this profile.

We know that women from underserved populations have disproportionately high dropout rates in high school and college (Swanson). Both PACE and the university are minority-majority institutions. All of the NSU-aauW women students involved in the program to date are first-generation college students and the majority of the girls from PACE who do go on to college will be first-generation, as well. The majority of PACE students are at or below poverty level, and the university students tend to have to work and depend upon loans to finance their educations. It has been documented that minority students who are at highest risk for not graduating are those who have care-taking and/or financial responsibilities at home and who work outside of school to fund their education (Amaury et al., 1996). Lower socio-economic and racial/ethnic minority status makes these students ideal candidates for programs designed to empower students.

The first of three members of collaboration is the PACE Center for Girls, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 corporation that provides “a non-residential delinquency prevention program in locations statewide, targeting the unique needs of females 12 to 18 who are identified as dependent, truant, runaway, delinquent, or in need of academic skills” (PACE, 2013).  The center’s purpose is, “to intervene and prevent school withdrawal, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and welfare dependency in a safe and nurturing environment” (PACE, 2013).  PACE programs provide the following services:  academic education, individualized attention, a gender-specific life management curriculum (SPIRITED GIRLS®), therapeutic support services, parental involvement, student volunteer service projects and transition follow-up services.  The project is designed to assist PACE girls with while also empowering college women student mentors who represent underserved populations at the university.

The second collaborator, NSU-aauW, is open to all members of the university and surrounding community. Committed to empowering women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research, aauW was founded in 1881 by a group of women Ph.D.’s who were fighting discrimination in the field of higher education (aauW, 2013). A key goal of the faculty and staff of NSU-aauW is to mentor college women students, most of whom represent underserved populations and are less likely to graduate college. The opportunity for these students to work with the girls from PACE Center for Girls Broward empowers them to take greater ownership of their own choices and desired futures.

The Alvin Sherman library, the Collaboration’s third member, is a unique joint-use facility serving the residents of Broward County as well as NSU students, faculty, and staff members. Thanks to an agreement between the Broward County Board of County Commissioners and NSU, the Alvin Sherman Library offers traditional public library services as well as the full academic resources of one of the nation's major independent universities. The PACE Collaboration seamlessly fits into the mission of the NSU Libraries which espouses collaboration and a commitment to lifelong learning.

 

Program Goals:

There are five specific goals of the PACE Collaboration:

  • Expose PACE students to college life: curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular;
  • Provide university women students with an opportunity to teach and learn alongside PACE students;
  • Offer all participants professional support networks and opportunities for building self-esteem;
  • Empower students to develop skill sets that create a pathway toward success in college and future career opportunities; and
  • Further the aauW mission to support equity for women and girls through education, research, philanthropy, and advocacy.

 

Program Design:

In its 6th year, the program is strategically designed over the course of a 16-week college semester to provide structured experiences that help the students become more self-aware, identify future career goals, and use technology effectively, all while being supported and encouraged by their NSU mentors (students, faculty, and staff) to believe in themselves and work to achieve their potential.  Each semester a group of 10-12 students is selected by the PACE Center for Girls Broward staff to participate in the PACE Collaboration.  These girls visit NSU five times over the course of the semester.  Each visit lasts from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  The semester ends with a half-day wrap-up session held at the PACE Center for Girls Broward, which includes multi-media presentations and a graduation ceremony for the students.

Through the program, students assess their strengths and challenges. As Broward County community members, they are entitled to library cards. The library offers large networked classrooms in addition to traditional computer kiosks in more open areas. In the classroom setting, NSU-aauW students, faculty, and staff present instruction and work one on one with the girls. They use technology, including library databases, to access study skill and college entrance exam preparation software and also to research careers. Students are coached using Power Point software to document their learning throughout the year. At the end of the program, students present the multi-media presentations in a general assembly of all classmates and school staff at PACE. They also have a brief graduation ceremony after their presentations.

 

Program Elements:

Teambuilding.  Students begin their experience in the PACE Collaboration with the opportunity to become more comfortable with the other girls in their group. Although they attend the same school, they often do not know each other well. The teambuilding activities help break down barriers that exist while creating a more trusting and supportive environment among the girls.  The teambuilding also sets the stage for the students to have fun and feel confident expressing themselves, which engages them to a higher degree in the activities to follow.

Self-Discovery and Career Identification.  During the beginning of the semester, students take part in a Core Values activity, in which they identify the personal values that are most important to them and learn how these values impact their behaviors and decision-making. The girls learn that everyone has different values and discuss how this is a good thing; they all have unique talents and abilities. They discuss how sometimes their differences can cause conflict but by appreciating each other’s values they can get along with people who are different from them. As a part of this activity the students also identify personal interests and then think about career fields that encompass both their interests and values. They each select the one career field that they think is the best fit for them. For the remainder of the semester, the girls research the career field of their choice in addition to other activities.

Positive Self-Image.  A continual theme through the PACE Collaboration is to instill a positive self-image in each of the girls. This is done in a variety of ways, from simple icebreakers at the beginning of each meeting day that focus on positive attributes of each of the girls and the ongoing opportunity to share the things that are important to them with the rest of the group, to more formal activities, such as the use of the True Colors personality assessment and a Power Point presentation that the girls prepare throughout the semester and present on the last meeting day at the PACE Center for Girls Broward.   

Confidence to Succeed. Along with promoting a positive self-image, the PACE Collaboration helps the girls who participate feel confident in their ability to succeed. The activities already listed go a long way to do this. Additionally, NSU speakers and faculty members are brought in to speak and interact with the girls on a variety of topics, from how to apply to college and what the application criteria are to what it takes to succeed in college. These guest speakers share their personal experiences and struggles to attend and succeed in college – as well as beyond – and serve as positive role models for what the PACE Center girls can achieve. 

Information Literacy. PACE students obtain library cards at the Alvin Sherman Library and, with the aid of the NSU students and librarians, they learn how to use web-based sites to research their goals and maximize their exposure to college admissions resources such as SAT study guides, scholarship searching tools, and career key assessment tools.  The overall goal is to promote independent research and study. As a part of their online research, the students explore the career topic of their choice as identified on the first meeting day.  They are given specific questions to answer about their career field and are assisted in finding and using valid sources to answer these questions. One of the newest elements in the collaboration is the use of the content management system by Springshare called LibGuides CMS. Our PACE Collaboration Libguide (i.e., Website) hosted by NSU provides a common portal for organizing our academic and non-academic activity. The hope is that this web-based solution for every level of activity (Information literacy, meeting and activity schedules, dissemination of the girls’ final PowerPoint Presentations, et.) will encourage PACE girl enrollment and completion.

College Experience.  During their visits to NSU, the students visit and participate in college classes, tour the campus (including the residence halls), and take part in specific activities that are designed to introduce the students to college life with an emphasis on extracurricular activities and student organizations such as nsu-aauW. This allows the girls to experience what the college environment is like and also allows them to learn alongside current NSU students who can serve to mentor and encourage them.

Forensics Lab.  Each semester, the PACE Center girls are able to participate in a special simulated forensics lab class in which they alone participate with their NSU mentors. The purpose of this activity is to introduce the girls to a STEM field. STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” fields in which women are underrepresented (Frizell and Nave 2009). Students gain exposure to possible careers in the field of science through participation in the forensics lab, where they analyze finger prints and hair samples and learn how to determine blood types.

Presentation Skills.  Over the course of the semester, the students spend  a portion of each visit working on a PowerPoint presentation. A template is provided to each girl with questions to be answered based on the previous visit’s activities. The resulting presentation highlights each girls’ values, interests, career field of choice, specific information about this career field, and what was learned about college life as a result of participation in the PACE Collaboration. On the last day of the PACE Collaboration, the group meets at the PACE Center for Girls Broward and practices presenting their PowerPoint presentations. The NSU mentors provide support and encouragement and share simple presentation tips. Then, the girls are given the opportunity to present their PowerPoint presentations to the entire school prior to their graduation ceremony. 

Recognition.  At the completion of the program, NSU students and faculty attend a graduation ceremony during which the PACE students are awarded with a certificate and a book. This ceremony is scheduled during a general meeting assembly at the PACE Center for Girls Broward, so they are able to be recognized by the entire school (staff and students) for their accomplishments. 

 

Assessment:

  • PACE students complete a pre- and post-survey which assesses their desire and preparedness to attend college;
  • NSU student mentors and PACE students are interviewed in order to evaluate the program; and
  • Teachers and advisors from the PACE center are interviewed to determine the changes in student behavior and classroom performance after participating in the program. They also provide information regarding the students’ accomplishments upon graduation.

 

Outcomes:

  • The success of the collaboration led to funding through the Florida State aauW Mini-Grant.
  • Students and faculty have published in aauW and PACE publications and presented at local and national conferences. The program was featured in the Florida state aauW publication “FloriVision”.
  • NSU students presented their experience at the Florida aauW state conference.
  • An aauW state board member presented the program and NSU-aauW branch activities as a model program at the national aauW conference in June 2013.
  • NSU student mentors report feeling an increased sense of commitment to their education, higher self-esteem, and increased satisfaction with their college experience.
  • PACE staff report an increase in students’ interest in college and a variety of careers, as well as the vital component of believing for the first time that attaining a college education is a viable option for them.
  • Volunteer mentoring is key for NSU students’ professional development and networking.
  • The PACE girls were able to document acceptance and graduation from the Collaboration, as well as gain presentation experience. This serves as an excellent educational experience and resume builder.

 

Challenges:

  • Challenges for NSU students include scheduling, making significant time commitments, and not receiving academic/internship credit. The lack of a more formalized program also leads to complications in fostering group identity.
  • PACE student attendance is sometimes low, often because students also have difficulties securing parent or guardian signatures for permission slips. They also have difficulty securing signatures for library card applications.
  • Collaborators continue to have to seek program funding and donate their time.
  • PACE Center vans are “out of commission” during the visits, and staff must accompany the girls, which takes away from their scheduled work activities (they are not paid extra for doing this).

 

Future Directions:

  • Incentivize the program, including formalizing an NSU curriculum and offering course credits, internship credits, and scholarships.
  • Develop a one-on-one mentoring component between nsu-aauW students and PACE girls.
  • Continue to develop the online component of the program to increase involvement for those who do and do not attend campus visits.
  • Enhance assessment component of collaboration to better document successes and work toward continued improvement.
  • Secure steady funding from the community and collaborators.
  • Increase budget to include funds for scholarships and field trips.

 

Conclusion:

The Pace Collaboration is the first of its kind linking a university-community library, a national not-for-profit organization, and a center for at-risk girls. University faculty and staff mentor at-risk aauW college women students who in turn mentor at-risk girls. The collaboration has achieved significant success but remains a pilot program, one in need of institutionalization and incentivizing. Over time, the program will no doubt encounter more challenges and endure with the continued commitment and talents of its collaborators.
 

REFERENCES

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Bloom, B. E., Owen, B., Deschenes,P. E., & Rosenbaum, J. (2002). Improving juvenile justice for females: A statewide assessment in California. Crime & Delinquency, 48, 526.

Chesney–Lind, M., Morash, M., & Stevens, T. (2008). Girls’ troubles, girls’ delinquency, and gender responsive programming: A review. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 41(1),162–89.

Frizzell, S. S. & Nave F. M. (2009). Increasing the retention of females of color in engineering  and technology degree programs through professional development activities. Journal on Systemics,Cybernetics and Informatics. 7 (1), 56-59.

Nova Southeastern University. (2013). Campus Guides. Retrieved from http://nova.campusguides.com/pace.

Department of Juvenile Justice. (2013). “Gender Specific Programming.” Retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/progTypesGenderSpecificProgramming.aspx.

Pace Center for Girls. (2013). Pace Center for Girls. Retrieved from: http://pacecenter.org.

Swanson, C. B. U.S. graduation rate continues decline. (2010). Ed Week. 29 (34). Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/10/34swanson.h29.html.