I was forwarded this article by a colleague here at College For Every Student (CFES). (By the way, today is my last day as an intern at CFES).
As someone committed to college access who is also a housing professional, I was immediately interested. The article about the University of Cincinnati’s Gen-1 House, special-interest housing for first-generation college students, is well worth reading and it raises some interesting questions for me.
How much support is too much support? While I love the idea of Gen-1 as described in the article, the students also describe feeling stifled. I think that higher education professionals want to empower students to do things for themselves, but also want to set them up for success. Finding this balance is a challenge. There some things I love about the housing community described in the article: tutoring in the residence hall, mentoring, advisement, and no going home for the first 5 weeks of classes. However, the students quoted say they feel additional pressure from those working with them in their residence. Now, without being involved in this program or at the University of Cincinnati it is impossible for me to say what is working or what is not for Gen-1 or make any kind of assessment of their particular program. What I can say is that I love the idea.
First-generation students have different needs than freshmen who come to college with the social capital of having college-educated parents. I also think that asking students to apply to and commit to the program and its stipulations is a good process. At the large public research university where I work, I supervise a small residence hall (200 residents) of first-year students who all belong to the Honors College. If we are willing to have Honors Housing then why not first-gen too? Some of the rules that the University of Cincinnati has for Gen-1 are not that different from the honors building where I work. The students I work with do not have a curfew, but quiet hours are longer than in other residence halls. Like Gen-1, the building is dry (it’s all first-year anyway, so none of the residents are of age) and tutoring is available within the hall.
Part of college access is assisting students once they are enrolled in college so they can be successful there. Perhaps residence life can play a larger role in the success of first-generation students. At any rate, I applaud the University of Cincinnati for trying.
Higher Education, etc. 