Collaborating with Renaissance Scholars to serve overlooked - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Collaborating with Renaissance Scholars to serve overlooked undergraduate student populations SSERC Symposium May 31, 2019 Renaissance Scholars Program (RSP) and Student Success Equity Research Center (SSERC) Dr. Ruby Hernandez; Angel Mora; Elizabeth Moya, MSW; Sara Radoff, MA

Renaissance Scholars Program S tudents in the Renaissance scholars program include undergraduate students who belong to the communities of: Pushout from their homes due to ● their LGBTQ identity Former foster youth ● ● Formerly incarcerated Former wards of the court ● ● Children of parent/guardians who Experienced homelessness prior to ● have been incarcerated UCSC Forcible separation: ● ● Neglect in their homes deportation/refugee ● Guardians with severe mental illness or substance abuse 2

Show Resiliency Against Educational Barriers Disrupted Education Home Instability ● ● School Enrollment Issues ● Difficult to Reach ● ● Mental Health Concerns (Amili 2016; Arroyo 2015; Brabeck, K. M., Lykes, M. B., & Hunter, C., 2014; Clayton 2017; Conners, et.al, 2003; Enhow 2018; Gupton, 2017; Salazar, 2012; Hirano, 2014; Huang, Fernandez, Rhoden & Rigaud, 2018; Lenette, 2016; Miller,, Hess, Bybee, & Goodkind, 2018; Phan,2018;Reupert, A., & Maybery, D., 2007; Rojas-Flores, L., Clements, M. L., Hwang Koo, J., & London, J. (2017); Salazar, Haggerty,& Roe, 3 2016. Skobba, Meyers, &i Tiller, 2018; Tabak, et.al., 2016.; Tierney,2017)

Purpose of Study Deepen the program’s understanding of: ● Who they serve Effects of the program on particular student outcomes ● ● Kinds of services different groups of students value and need 4

Participatory Action Research Team Sara Radoff, STARS Director ● Angel Mora, RSP Intern/SSERC RA ● Ruby Hernandez, Postdoctoral Scholar ● Elizabeth Moya, RSP Program Advisor ● & Research Coordinator at SSERC SSERC Undergraduate Research Assistants: ● Leanne Grace Novo Aaron Roldan Alex Piper Alexis Calleros Christy Kobayu 5

Design Multimethod: Interviews Only Conducted by a SSERC RA/RSP Compensation: $25 Amazon gift card ● ● student Recorded & Transcribed ● ● Recruited by RSP staff & snowball ● Preliminary stages of being No demographics/Pseudonym analyzed using grounded theory ● Topics: Collected 9 thus far (Goal: 10) ● ○ Experiences in RSP ○ ○ Improvements for RSP 6

What opportunities does RSP provide for Renaissance Scholars?

“Sanctuary” 8

Involvement/ Engagement with RS Community 9

Student needs within RSP?

Outreach/Recruitment 11

Housing 12

Targeted Programming 13

Stafg 14

Summary Findings/Implications RSP provides purpose and a place to engage on campus, potentially improving ● retention RSP provides acceptance and stability to invisible populations (place & similar ● communities) ● Student outreach/recruitment is complicated by their status Housing and staff are in high demand for students ● ● Students unique difficulties require specialized staff & programming 15

Campus Recommendations Broadly, steady funding each year as likely more students enter into RSP ● ○ More staff at RSP, especially representative of communities Further efforts towards stability ● ○ Continuity of housing (replicating instability), funding (especially summer housing) Broader understanding of RSP among campus staff ● Staff have program information & aware of community indicators ○ ● Partnering with others on campus to create a coordinated effort to reach communities 16

Acknowledgements Renaissance Scholars Program (RSP) ● ● Student Transfer and Re-Entry Services (STARS) Student Success Equity Research Center (SSERC) ● ● Dr. Sam Foster, Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias, Dr. Margarita Azmitia SSERC Research Assistants: Angel Mora, Aaron Roldan, Alex Piper, Alexis ● Calleros, Christy Kobayu, Leanne Grace Novo, Matt Betts, & Jeremy Del Carpio 17

Question How can you or other programs on campus become involved to help serve RSP community students? What recommendations do you have? 18