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Publications/Webinars

Practices Exchange Newsletter

The Yes We Must Coalition newsletter focuses on ways to share resources and practices that faculty and staff have found to be uniquely geared to and effective in supporting the success of our low-income and/or first generation students. Every month we’ll be sharing resources and ideas that members have submitted, including relevant links and contact information for those who would like to learn more. We’ve also added a new feature, the YWMC Member Showcase, in which each month a YWMC institution is described in more detail in order to increase member familiarity with each other.

[YWM] offered the prospect of a community of discourse for staff and faculty outside our narrow institutional bounda­ries . . . with institut­ions that share common chal­lenges and commitments.
Vinton Thompson, Director Emeritus,
Yes We Must Coalition
President Emeritus, Metropolitan College of New York

2024
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February — Issue 60:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 60
March — Issue 61:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 61
2023
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February — Issue 53:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 53
March — Issue 54:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 54
April — Issue 55:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 55
May — Issue 56:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 56
September — Issue 57:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 57
October — Issue 58:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 58
November — Issue 59:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 59
2022
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January — Issue 44:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 44
February — Issue 45:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 45
March — Issue 46:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 46
April — Issue 47:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 47
May — Issue 48:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 48
June — Issue 49:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 49
September — Issue 50:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 50
October — Issue 51:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 51
November — Issue 52:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 52
2021
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November — Issue 43:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 43
October — Issue 42:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 42
September — Issue 41:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 41
August — Issue 40:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 40
April — Issue 39:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 39
March — Issue 38:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 38
February — Issue 37:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 37
January — Issue 36:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 36
2020
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Nov-Dec — Issue 35:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 35
October — Issue 34:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 34
September — Issue 33:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 33
Summer — Issue 32:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 32
May — Issue 31:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 31
April — Issue 30:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 30
March — Issue 29:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 29
February — Issue 28:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 28
January — Issue 27:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 27
2019
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Nov.–Dec. — Issue 26:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 26
October — Issue 25:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 25
September — Issue 24:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 24
Summer — Issue 23:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 23
May — Issue 22:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 22
April — Issue 21:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 21
March — Issue 20:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 20
February — Issue 19:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 19
January — Issue 18:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 18
2018
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November — Issue 17:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 17
October — Issue 16:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 16
August — Issue 15:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 15
Summer — Issue 14:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 14
May — Issue 13:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 13
April — Issue 12:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 12
March — Issue 11:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 11
Febuary — Issue 10:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 10
January — Issue 9:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 9
2017
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March — Issue 1:Welcome to our First Issue
April — Issue 2:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 2
May — Issue 3:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 3
June/July — Issue 4:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 4
August — Issue 5:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 5
September — Issue 6:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 6
October — Issue 7:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 7
November — Issue 8:Practices Exchange Newsletter Issue 8

YWMC Reports

Yes We Must Releases a New, In-Depth Report on the Lives of Low-Wealth Students

Conversations with 30 Pell-eligible students from 18 of our member institutions provide important insights about the reality of poverty in a college student’s life and the ways colleges and universities can respond. The New Student Majority: In Their Own Words captures the words of students and offers a valuable resource for educators and policy makers. Listening to our students is vital for reconstructing higher education to achieve more equitable outcomes.

Read more and download the report

Online Learning: What Works for Low-Income Students?

The COVID-19 crisis has forced colleges and universities to transition courses to an online format. Research suggests that low-income students in fully online courses do less well than students with more financial resources. These schools have responded to the shift to online learning with sensitivity to the needs of their students and the complexity of their lives. The Coalition is pleased to share the insights of our member institutions as well as insights from the literature.

Download pdf

High Impact Practices and Low-Income Student Success: What Works?

This document brings together representative examples of recent evidence-based literature regarding practices and policies that support the success of low income students.

Read online or download pdf

Listening to Our Low-Income Students: Seniors Reflect on Their College Experience

One hundred forty-three Pell-eligible seniors discussed the factors that went into their college success and the obstacles along the way. Learn about this YWMC project in our report “Listening to Our Low-Income Students: Seniors Reflect on Their College Experience.”

Read online or download pdf

Webinars

The Yes We Must Coalition hosted the following webinars in 2023, which you can view online.

Justice Studies — Examining Social Justice through the Lens of Multiple Perspectives

On November 15, 2023, presenters Dr. Sheila Foley, Chair of the Justice and Legal Studies Programs at YWMC member school Bay Path University, and Dr. Diane Hall, Professor of Psychology at Bay Path University, described innovative changes to Bay Path University’s Criminal Justice curriculum that enables students from diverse backgrounds to apply interdisciplinary perspectives, experiential learning, and complex problem-solving in their preparation for professions in Criminal Justice in order to further social justice.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/dGGr5s1PHRX3Q4VX69lwPKiAaCj8cNUrUJLtbcdoh8wRttKwZDfEOqYW2c_X8O9e.nw0KPDv7dEVdqduV

Passcode: 9A5j%Rx5

Download the presentation (pptx format):
https://www.yeswemustcoalition.org/site/assets/files/1122/bay_path_university_justice_studies_webinar_11-15-23.pptx


Helping Students Reach Graduation and Beyond in A STEM Discipline: Emergent Outcomes and Lessons Learned from A Collaborative NSF S-STEM Project Designed to Increase Low-Income Student Success Across Four Yes We Must Coalition Institutions

On May 17, 2023, project leaders from four YWMC institutions (Coker University, Ferrum College, Mercy College, and Saint Elizabeth University) shared preliminary results and lessons learned from an NSF S-STEM grant funded from 2018–2023 and titled “Collaborative Research: Institutional Collaboration to Recruit, Retain and Graduate Low-Income Students in Biology.” This project aimed to utilize cross-institutional collaboration with the YWMC in the development and implementation of program activities. The overall goals of the project included: 1) increase the number of low-income biology students enrolled at each institution; 2) elevate rates of persistence in STEM majors, retention, and graduation for low-income students in biology; 3) close the observed gaps in success between Scholars and academically comparable biology students who do not have demonstrated financial need; and 4) close the observed gaps in job and graduate school placement between Scholars and comparable biology students who do not have a demonstrated financial need.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/_KeakVZbxYJPGKGRU1ms-3Nt1KFb0vVBUDH4h1-iQryzBZlC2FEAfcyKTnqza5MN.A_38Jd1W3u2YrfQl

Passcode: #zdt70GP

Download the presentations (pdf format)


The Loss of Students from Low-Income Families in Higher Education and What Policy Makers Can Do About It

On March 28, 2023, Tom Mortenson, senior scholar at The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education described the current crisis in higher education: undergraduate enrollment in the United States peaked at 18.1 million students in 2010. By 2020 this had declined to 15.9 million students. At the same time, the only people prospering are those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. This decline is limited to students from low-income families. Tom provided current data and discussed the growing financial barriers to higher education and additional causes of this enrollment decline, including a sequence of critical public policy state defunding of higher education, institutional recovery of lost state revenues by increasing student charges, and deterioration in the purchasing power of the Pell Grant maximum award, leaving students to reply on education loans to finance their college attendance costs. The United States last undertook a significant effort to broaden opportunity for higher education 50 years ago. Tom proposes a starting place for a new effort that is now overdue.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/XCTZAPcEq1WFLNgQoeKBcl3ZIBNXFjUhTvBqcZ4BBES3cIUWJUMKXgvkqhdbIpnL.wTfzsj3Q3SyyJt6v

Passcode: +?y3Md@5

Download the presentations (pdf format):

Financial Barriers to Higher Education


Creating Opportunities for Transfer Student Capital to Improve the Transfer Student Experience

On March 8, 2023, Dr. Casey Lukszo and Dr. Shannon Hayes Buenaflor, leading researchers in transfer student capital and transfer student efficacy, reviewed the latest research on transfer student adjustment, including how transfer student capital can influence transfer students’ experience. They offered concrete strategies for how institutions can be thoughtful in creating opportunities before, during, and after transfer to enhance and smooth out the transfer student experience.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/08qFpbR0nuSYTQB4wqRGYWAqhlwoTIqLJd7yxj7NeeaIUFiWxYZz0G3nAVsJL10x.-5EIKLC2PvpFd1xF

Passcode: I%7.K!pY

Download the presentations (pdf format):

Transfer Student Capital


Supporting Single Parent Success in College

In this webinar on February 22, 2023, on Supporting Single Parent Success in College, Barb Treadway and Larissa Buster at Yes We Must member College of Saint Mary (NE) described their innovative Single Parent Success programming and Mothers Living & Learning (MLL) program, a residential option for single mothers who would like to pursue a full-time undergraduate college degree while living on campus with their children. College of Saint Mary is one of a handful of colleges in the US to offer a residential, single-parent program, and Mothers Living & Learning is the largest of its kind, serving over 100 student mothers each semester. The webinar described how the program was created and current programming including a parent-focused orientation, a one-credit course covering the institutional oppression of single mothers and the feminization of poverty to dismantle stereotypes and enhance self-esteem, as well as support resources such as pantries and childcare services.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
Supporting Single Parent Success in College

Passcode: BSXqM$8=

Download the presentation [pdf] (please do not use without permission):

Mothers Living & Learning: Student Parent Success


Including Governing Boards in the Work of Inclusion

The Yes We Must Coalition hosted a webinar on Including Governing Boards in the Work of Inclusion on November 30, 2022, focused on how colleges and universities can ensure that trustees understand and embrace the mission of inclusion, are attuned to the students being served and their particular needs, and to the larger societal impact that colleges are seeking to make. Higher Ed consultant Laurie Fenlason shared effective communication strategies for including trustees in equity work, and Richanne Mankey, President of Yes We Must Coalition member Defiance College (OH), shared her experience of engaging Defiance’s Board in making DEI and social justice institutional priorities.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/LQMbwcWiiYmlcPMZWKx3fnXpyKkdZ6_-UGQB2xtO3D-OlEeBoh6jD24jLBPBBNZO.o2PMvgZygLq-wpKo

Passcode: &Mxz2Xc3

Download the presentations (pdf format):

Defiance College | L Fenlason Consulting

Effective Transitional Senior Leadership

The Yes We Must Coalition hosted a webinar on Effective Transitional Senior Leadership on October 3, 2022 with presenters Dorothy Escribano, former Interim President/Provost of College of New Rochelle which was a Yes We Must member, and Pat Sanaghan, President of the Sanaghan Group, discussing the new model for the “interim” leadership of an institution: transitional senior leadership. In the context of the tough issues facing all institutions in higher ed today, transitional leaders must lead from day one in order to deal effectively with risky and complicated, adaptive challenges that are pervasive, especially in the contexts of independent colleges and universities dedicated to meeting the needs of the New Student Majority — students from low-income backgrounds. They identified the critical responsibilities and strategic action steps that have led to the successful tenure of transitional leaders based on their years of research, most based on case studies.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ZIeO1UdmtUIoHk5H1tJQ3q8u0qw6TWhK8KWcAfY2xuKB4WqbGPzT7jhJzPVwzUsq.Vyg1OyrO9xeLr3hN

Passcode: aaP%4TcH

Download the presentation [pdf]: The Transitional Leader

Inclusive Pedagogy and Trauma-Informed Education — More Research

The Yes We Must Coalition hosted Inclusive Pedagogy and Trauma-Informed Education — More Research on April 1, 2022. Colleagues from Yes We Must member schools Blackburn College (IL), Hilbert College (NY), New York Institute of Technology (NY), and Trocaire College (NY) shared research and practices in this important work.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/UPvCuEgz2DDi-5DKoyg2OcxUufDtMH_hqsZmTXbHt946SUm8iU5rFGkqAhDqxmQd.XpLknfOfqShOy4XG
Passcode: 8Vfgqi=C

View Beatrice Figueroa’s Padlet resources: https://padlet.com/bfigue06/Bookmarks

Transformative Partnerships for YWMC Members

On February 28, 2022, Yes We Must hosted a Collaborative Discussion on transformative partnerships our members have explored and developed as institutional solutions to viability and continued mission. John MacIntosh from SeaChange described the Transformational Partnerships Fund that seeks to “provide colleges and universities support to explore student-centric partnerships that could meaningfully transform how their operation.” Partners in the fund include SeaChange, Ascendium Education Group, ECMC Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. YWMC members Marcheta Evans, President of Bloomfield College, and Rich Dunsworth, President of University of the Ozarks, and Associate members Mark LaBranche, Chancellor and Judy Cheatham, Vice-Chancellor and Provost, University of Tennessee Southern (formerly YWMC member Martin Methodist College) shared the conditions that led them to seek partnerships and the process of building transformative partnerships.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/78LKTvH3ied039aB74sBpBOeOd2dUtzWanyNuh1O2mSwMhjBhiH48LVNA1PFLFoQ.U0FXL8-BJETcIdHC
Passcode: &=jSU9FQ

Download the presentation [pdf]: https://www.yeswemustcoalition.org/site/assets/files/1122/transformative-partnerships-fund-ywmc-presentation-feb-2022.pdf

Model Courses for Social Justice-Centered Criminal Justice Curriculum

On Wednesday, December 1, 2021, the Yes We Must Coalition hosted a Collaborative Discussion to develop concrete sharing of curriculum, faculty expertise, and diversity in course enrollment in members’ Criminal Justice programs.Colleagues from Benedict College (SC), College Unbound (RI), and Mount Saint Mary’s University (Los Angeles) described some courses they teach that are models of the kind of curricular work we want to engender and share across institutions.All of these courses are available as online offerings that can be shared through The Wheel, our YWM online consortium.The courses described are Black Lives Matter; Minorities, Crime, and Social Policy at Benedict; Research Justice at College Unbound; andCrime and Minorities; Ethical Dilemmas in Criminology; Advocacy and Human Rights at Mount Saint Mary’s.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/oQDWthuY7FBqN2PwbAYfp2PBoZEPzx-5fhsF9kx2-3YPymCOsl259ftAJttAb7Lv.PuAL7m4fv4g7G2Ol?startTime=1638390789000
Passcode: H^!n7!Us

The Power of Community for STEM Student Success:
Four Yes We Must Coalition Member Schools Describe the Strategies and Impact of their NSF SSTEM Grant for Low-Income Students

As a group of four member schools (Coker University, Ferrum College, Mercy College, and Saint Elizabeth University) in collaboration with the Yes We Must Coalition approach the fifth year of a multi-million dollar NSF SSTEM grant — Institutional Collaboration to Recruit, Retain, and Graduate Low-Income Students in Biology (STEM Scholars in Biology [SSB]) (NSF 1742366) — we shared valuable lessons alongside best practices through two webinars. On September 23, 2021, the Principal Investigators for the grant described the success, as well as challenges, of developing and implementing independently the same set of interventions and shared activities, a collaborative endeavor that has made community-building — internally and across institutions — a central outcome and affected notable increases in student retention, academic performance, and students’ sense of belonging. On November 4, 2021, we discussed how this grant may have application to other campuses and grant proposals and described innovations of the grant program and aspects of its success.

Watch the Zoom recording of the September 23 event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/vCAz8dnVvkd4wP_Dr3XMW14AehTXbs7DkIzhh7ZJWopPx3cn4rNP9r3NSFSy2T1A.eVuXxll9azQBSxZ3
Passcode: mn*V3q+2

Watch the Zoom recording of the November 4 event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/avGT2gBmqse-F_4rJcYicfWylLbqjVuMgTDVotKfYaYpPKmt_Hb-b7V1UYpyTeVb.74r294_T44EMDV8V
Passcode: r6x+d&RF

Download the presentation [pdf]: https://www.yeswemustcoalition.org/site/assets/files/1122/ywmc_nsf_sstem_grant_dissemination_event_9-23-21.pdf

Tackling the Cost of Course Texts
Using OER and Library-Licensed Texts

On October 28, 2021, the second event focused on Tackling the Cost of Course Texts, with colleagues from three Yes We Must Coalition member schools — Benedict College (SC), Mars Hill University (NC), and Mount Saint Mary’s University (Los Angeles, CA) — sharing their initiatives to assist faculty in revamping courses to utilize open sources and library-licensed materials as school-wide strategies to address the financial impact of burgeoning costs of attendance for low-income students.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/11p52Vn2u4YBzYevmo5OkPkHYX74AzmjkIlp0rrJ08pz7HmCLhrLcX-X_GLWhQQI.yjb1lA9eFOPEXFem
Passcode: Jw+4Ct#7

Download Powerpoint slide presentations: (three PPT files below for downloading)

Mars Hill University  |  Benedict College  |  Mount Saint Mary’s University

Tackling the Cost of Course Texts

The first Collaborative Discussion of Fall Semester 2021 on September 17 focused on Tackling the Cost of Course Texts, discussing strategies to address the financial impact of burgeoning costs of attendance on low-income students. Billy Wooten, Dean of Engaged Learning and Executive Director of the Center for Community Engagement and Career Competitiveness at Averett University, began the discussion by describing Averett’s All-Access Program for making course texts affordable. Other members shared a variety of institutional strategies and policies, including rolling text costs into tuition and expanding the use of OER and scholarly databases.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/I66vcpEmmd4eH3RicgBdVZCwloWjUfT0qlvADGfvpE6SzOI_0RIwHgYDOLOCNy89.3BlIgbVESSItKkiR
Passcode: MD6*ypen

Download Powerpoint slide presentation: https://www.yeswemustcoalition.org/site/assets/files/1122/averett_university_all-access_textbook_program_9-17-21.pptx

Beyond Doubling Pell

In a Yes We Must Coalition Webinar on April 15, 2021, Yes We Must Coalition Associate Member Tom Mortenson, Higher Education Policy Analyst, Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY and Senior Scholar at The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, made the case for radical change. After using data for the past 30 years to argue for the need to double the Pell grant, Tom’s current analysis suggests that will not be enough.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/j-CV1yzBaokBTQ0PJBRNFlY6d8IvbD1WlEhYI1WOrVABa_ZROe9ZVDuamtJU5-rB.YwrtTbqs96xiK-Wk
Passcode: !=K5jmD9

Download Powerpoint presentation: Doubling the Pell Grant Is Not Enough

SPRING 2021 WEBINAR SERIES

Removing Barriers to Enable Degree Completion for Low-Wealth Students

The Yes We Must Coalition Spring 2021 Webinar Series focuses on Removing Barriers to Enable Degree Completion for Low-Wealth Students. The series addresses the increasing need for our sector to improve degree completion and widen our initiatives to include adult students through curricular streamlining innovations and strategies, policy reforms, and models for encouraging adults to return to college and complete degrees.

Practices and Policies to Open Doors

In the fourth webinar, “Practices and Policies to Open Doors,” on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, colleagues from Yes We Must member schools Bloomfield College (NJ), and Finlandia University (MI) describe how their removing-barriers work has led to the creation of a Center for Student Success at Bloomfield and a Center for Vocation and Career at Finlandia, both of which implement cross-campus strategies to support students’ belonging, retention, and success.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/RrIpt13gAfyP1A366IfmsDikkWLsyRIk_btxSts6teMtRB-nq_pkZk4Nx01-J4BQ.csMdf1FyIVmqfJ4P  |  Passcode: PWMv$51z

Download Powerpoint presentations (presenters’ email addresses are provided in their slide decks):

Bloomfield College  |  Finlandia University

Creating New Models II

In the third webinar in the series, Creating New Models II, on Monday, April 26, 2021, colleagues from Yes We Must member schools Averett University (VA), Mars Hill University (NC), and Trocaire College (NY) described their strategic, innovative approaches and how they have cultivated openness within their campus community (faculty and staff) to employing new approaches and the removing-barriers work that requires.

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Ti7cdDKBSbZFMbaNazbZ4zdsNQZFCgVmEpfHIAiiqpJC-x89YKjfAbuEDD1oHBTQ.GpFYXynZk2SnSlZ-
Passcode: 1S%KB=DA

Download Powerpoint presentations:
Averett University  |  Mars Hill University  |  Trocaire College

Creating New Models for Adult Students

In the second webinar of the series, Creating New Models, on Thursday, March 25, 2021 colleagues from Yes We Must member schools Mount Saint Mary’s University (Los Angeles) and Muskingum University (OH) described their ongoing efforts to remove barriers for students and create inviting and supportive practices.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/2grAKZX9-IXVZFuaZlxcxvyO4vc4ebZtmbSrtxMWBW9-tYfPvjOX_tSTJ4dNe0c6.ZBhf04gvxRTLVQpU | Passcode: 6f#G&Tqy
Download Powerpoint presentations (presenters’ email addresses are provided in their slide decks):

Muskingum University  |  Mount Saint Mary’s University

Identifying Obstacles and Embracing New Approaches

In the first webinar, on Thursday, February 18, 2021, special guest Leanne Davis, who leads IHEP’s Degrees When Due initiative (Enable JavaScript to view protected content.) and Adam Bush, Provost of YWM member College Unbound (RI) (Enable JavaScript to view protected content.), shared models and strategies for using institutional data to identify barriers and rethinking curricular structures to open doors for adult students in particular.

Watch the Zoom recording of this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/knVW5Ia7VhNImcJfrkmeklR1ATM0e-w3LiQyLZsJFV7_UeXwcRkrsXBEEt3qPnPN.pNfZCDe8h9BgkcWa  Passcode: #6v1C=z1

Download Powerpoint presentation: IHEP’s Degrees When Due Initiative

The Impact of COVID-19: Perspectives from Yes We Must Students

We know that the lives of students, particularly low-wealth students, have been significantly disrupted by the pandemic. As colleges and universities plan for the future, they need to be taking both public health data and student impact data into account. In this June 22, 2020 webinar, three YWMC institutions (Mount Saint Mary’s University Los Angeles, Augsburg University [MN], and New York Institute of Technology) report on data they have collected from students that describe the impact of the crisis and student concerns for the future as well as institutional responses.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/6c5JFune00ZLG6vRthCBYIwQJ9rhT6a8h3VL-vQMzkh4POhnzV2YQz21-uJOWWk1 · (Password: 6Z^6Mi=4)

Download PowerPoint presentations & pdf:
New York Tech Undergraduate Perspectives: Life, Academics, and More (pptx)

Virtual Learning and Student Engagement Survey Results (pptx)

COVID-19 Impact on Student Employment and Experiential Learning (pdf)

Finishing Strong: Online Teaching Tips for Supporting Low-Income Students’ Success

Held on Friday, April 3, 2020, this webinar gathered faculty from Yes We Must Coalition member schools across the U.S. who are focused on transitioning to and/or strengthening teaching and learning in remote/online environments with attention to low-income students’ success. Academic online instructional design leaders at three YWM member schools — Bluefield College (VA), Ferrum College (VA), and Mount Saint Mary’s University (CA) — shared “you got this” strategies for faculty with little to no online teaching experience as well as for those with experience. Strategies included ways to retain personal connection with students while managing professors’ own workflow, creating the right mix of structure and flexibility as they reshape content and engagement, awareness of technologies that demand limited connectivity or can be used on a mobile phone, among others.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar: https://zoom.us/rec/share/1NN7f7rBrXNIfq_w7FCCdvEOALq8T6a82nIY86ZbyR6Av_hR7LIeBg3sMQaeMG7w

Download PowerPoint presentation:
https://www.yeswemustcoalition.org/site/assets/files/1122/yes-we-must_finishing-strong_online-teaching-tips-for-supporting-low-income-students-_success-4-3-20.pptx

SPRING 2020 WEBINAR SERIES
Ensuring Career-Readiness among Low-Income Students

The YWMC Spring 2020 Webinar Series focuses on Ensuring Career-Readiness among Low-Income Students. In this series, Yes We Must Coalition member schools share existing models and strategies that could be adopted by other colleges and universities. The webinar topics emerged from Yes We Must’s fall 2019 Ascendium-funded convening “Increasing Employer-Engagement in Ways that Work for Low-Income Students.”

Developing Campus to Career Pipeline Programs

In the fourth and final webinar in the Yes We Must Coalition Spring 2020 Webinar Series focusing on Ensuring Career-Readiness among Low-Income Students, Developing Campus to Career Pipeline Programs, presenters from Augsburg University (Minnesota) and Trocaire College (New York) describes their models for collaborating with employers to create and implement developmental talent recruitment programs that support access for underrepresented students to opportunities in diverse professions.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/z_EuPrXJ9lpIUpHc6krcAPEQXYfdaaa8hyUf8vUInxpdYQZWtiKQDj1smvk7wzTh
(Password: 1t.M82^+)

Employer Sponsored Pipeline Programs
Pathways to Nursing Success: A Career Oriented Pipeline Program

Constructing Internships to Deepen Engagement With Employers

In the third webinar in the Webinar Series on Ensuring Career-Readiness among Low-Income Students, which took place on Monday, April 27, presenters from Averett University (VA) described internship models that can foster dialogue among students, faculty, staff, and employers and site supervisors regarding expectations about student learning outcomes, project/​issue-based approaches, and career development. Their presentation addressed virtual possibiltiies even with the current coronavirus restrictions on face-to-face opportunties.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/2-1uFb3g6WNJS7fLxWSGSJwjM9TuX6a813VN__cImRx2CRSxDDZydN7lp7t3YcC3

Download PowerPoint presentation:
Internships as Catalysts in “The New Normal”

Professionalizing Student On-Campus Employment Experiences

In the second webinar in the series focusing on Ensuring Career-Readiness among Low-Income Students on March 23, 2020, presenters from YWMC member schools Augsburg University (MN) and Blackburn College (IL) described the strategies they have developed to Professionalize On-Campus Student Employment Experiences.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar: https://zoom.us/rec/share/vZB2Bp_0xD9LWZH240XCcakhNd-1aaa8g3cd_PcPnkhh8BRAJ3S7L7qOKfdYJa_r

Download PowerPoint presentations:

Augsburg University

Blackburn College

In the first webinar on February 28, 2020, “COMPREHENSIVE PLANS FOR A CAREER-READINESS CAMPUS,” presenters from Robert Morris University–Illinois and Averett University (Virginia) described how they have integrated comprehensive career-focused programming across all the years of the student experience and in ways that have expanded the institution’s culture of shared responsibility for students’ career-readiness.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar: https://zoom.us/rec/share/5eYsDZTh50VOT4GUq339VbMzA7rmaaa80HAd-aULyknlp9h5BBE6VXgk6OXkh5B5

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Averett University

Robert Morris University–Illinois

How to Create Trauma Responsive Institutions and Why It Matters

January 31, 2020

We live in a world of increasing trauma, whether created by nature (fires, floods, earthquakes) or by individuals (shootings, suicides, family dysfunction, addictions). We carry our trauma with us and many students in college, arguably one in two, has experienced trauma in their lives and will display trauma symptomology moving forward. Trauma symptomology affects learning outcomes as well as psycho-social and physical well-being. Colleges and their faculty/staff would benefit from becoming trauma responsive on the micro and macro levels, enabling improved retention, academic progression and graduation rates. In this Yes We Must Coalition webinar, Karen Gross, a former college president and an author and educator specializing in trauma, provided concrete strategies that colleges and those who work within them can deploy, all grounded in theory, to provide a more trauma responsive environment for their students (regardless of their age and stage).

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar:
https://zoom.us/rec/share/9MJzKq76×2xObdaO5hv0dqIcHansT6a8hykfrvJfz0fCPo5BgdC1LNVRBaN2YahN

Download presentation (pdf):

Strategies for Creating Trauma Responsive Institutions

Post-Secondary Education for Incarcerated Students

December 9, 2019

Of the more than 600,000 people released from state and federal prisons in 2017, 78% of the men and 83% of the women were between the ages of 25 and 54 — the prime working age. At the same time, and not surprisingly, incarcerated individuals in the US have disproportionately low levels of education. Especially because current research is clear that obtaining post-secondary education in prison substantially reduces recidivism and is positively correlated with post-release employment measures, a growing number of colleges are providing educational opportunities to incarcerated and recently incarcerated individuals. Presenters from two YWM member institutions, College Unbound (RI) and Guilford College (NC), described their innovative prison education programs and discussed the challenges and benefits of establishing such programs.

Watch the Zoom recording of this webinar:
https://zoom.us/recording/share/9AtTA14WRX0C7B76qvAf-5MauG42MA6LyczTTgcQeRc

Download PowerPoint and pdf presentations:

Guilford College (pptx)

College Unbound (pdf)

Addressing Students’ Basic Needs Insecurity

Yes We Must Coalition Fall Webinars are focused on Strategies for Addressing Students’ Basic Needs Insecurity.

In the second webinar on November 4, 2019, colleagues at YWMC member schools Blackburn College (Illinois), Holy Names University (California) and Trocaire College (New York) described their successes and challenges in providing effective programming to address students’ basic needs affecting housing, food, non-academic emergencies and mental health support.

Listen to the Zoom recording:
https://zoom.us/recording/share/A5M9oleEcJYzNW968jgoVXunEUnaTtxE7y4xihbXGqmwIumekTziMw

Download PowerPoint presentations:

Blackburn College

Holy Names University

Trocaire College

In the first webinar on September 27, 2019, colleagues at YWMC member schools Coker University (South Carolina) and College of Saint Elizabeth (New Jersey) described their successes and challenges in providing effective programming to address students’ basic needs affecting housing, food, and mental health support.

Listen to the Zoom recording:
https://zoom.us/recording/share/zRasONY8XN-R3O5n6nEHQe1hSVpACHCtufFzUA9ypnqwIumekTziMw

Download PowerPoint presentations:

College of Saint Elizabeth: Strategies for Addressing Students’ Basic Needs (pptx)

Addressing Student Needs at Coker University (pdf)

Using Data to Promote Success

We know that data should drive decision-making regarding the success of our low-income students, but we also know that not all of the individual schools in our Coalition have the resources to efficiently collect, analyze and apply the information available in ways most likely to promote student success. To address that issue, 19 members of the YWM Coalition have collaborated to design, execute and analyze data using a longitudinal design focusing on key variables known to be associated with student persistence and retention. The resulting data are allowing us to make comparisons across and within institutions.

Ways to use Data in Decision-Making

Thursday, June 20, 2019

In this Yes We Must Coalition Webinar, colleagues at two member schools that are participating in the YWM Longitudinal Data Project — Coker College (SC) and Martin Methodist College (TN) — described how they have used the results of the first two years of the study to assess strengths and address gaps, and they shared the techniques they have used for organizing and presenting the data to various constituencies including Boards, accrediting agencies, faculty and administrators.

Download PowerPoint & pdf presentations:

Yes We Must Data Projection Introduction

Coker College Powerpoint

Martin Methodist College Powerpoint

Strategies that Promote Persistence and Success among Transfers

Friday, May 17, 2019

This webinar was the fourth in a series that showcased the practices of those institutions that had comparatively strong outcomes with regard to particular sub populations of students. Presenters from Coker College (SC), Muskingum University (OH), and Trocaire College (NY) described the strategies that they feel have led to the comparatively high levels of persistence and retention achieved with transfer students who entered in 2015 and 2016.

Online recording of webinar:
https://zoom.us/recording/share/4sOTSfeID3LM1p2NXg8wr-8glSvz3_ilk4NaExjKPG-wIumekTziMw

Download PowerPoint & pdf presentations:

Coker College | Muskingum University | Trocaire College

Strategies that Promote Success among First-Year Student Athletes

Thursday, April 18, 2019

This webinar was the third in a series that showcases the practices of those institutions that had comparatively strong outcomes with regard to particular sub populations of students. Presenters from Keuka College (NY) and Union College (KY) described the strategies that they feel have led to the comparatively high levels of persistence and retention they are achieving with student athletes who entered in 2015 and 2016.

Share recording with viewers:
https://zoom.us/recording/share/78E6WKU_3EcBBTsFLxJWLOK15IdT0SX_Iy5QTtUC3-WwIumekTziMw

Download PowerPoint presentations:
Keuka College | Union College

Strategies that Promote Success among First-Year Hispanic Males

Presenters from Heritage University (WA), Robert Morris University (IL), and Union College (KY)

March 11, 2019

This webinar was the second in a series that showcases the practices of those institutions that had comparatively strong outcomes with regard to particular sub populations of students. Presenters from Heritage University (WA), Robert Morris University (IL), and Union College (KY) described the strategies that they feel have led to the comparatively high levels of retention they are achieving with Hispanic men who entered in 2015 and 2016.

— Click to listen to the webinar —

Download Powerpoint presentations:

Heritage University  |  Robert Morris University Illinois  |  Union College

Strategies that Promote Success among First Year African-American Males

Presenters from Coker College, Calumet College of St. Joseph, and Mercy College

February 15, 2019

This webinar was the first in a series that showcases the practices of those institutions that had comparatively strong outcomes with regard to particular sub populations of students. Presenters from Coker College, Calumet College of St. Joseph, and Mercy College described the strategies that they feel have led to the comparatively high levels of retention they are achieving with African-American men who entered in 2015 and 2016.

— Click to listen to the webinar —

Download Powerpoint files from Gloria Nemerowicz, President of YWMC, and Coker College
Download or view Mercy College presentation (pdf)

Integrating Fields Across Disciplinary Lines – Facilitating Learning and Understanding

Presenter: Dr. Julia Klimek, Professor of English and Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Coker College

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Participants in the YWMC grant from the Teagle Foundation to Infuse Liberal Arts Content and Learning into Business Curriculum met for a Zoom webinar/discussion as a Community of Practice. Faculty and staff from Coker College (SC), College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ), and Keuka College (NY) and YWMC were led by Julia in a conversation about some of the challenges our students face in a traditional college system and the ways course goals and interdisciplinarity can respond to those challenges. She offered suggestions of ways we can connect discipline-specific knowledge with context from other disciplines, including through projects that take students outside the classroom, and she addressed assessment strategies for interdisciplinary teaching/learning.

— Click to listen to the discussion —

Download Julia’s PowerPoint presentation (pdf, 1MB)

Critical Data: Understanding Inequity of Baccalaureate Degree Attainment

Presenter: Tom Mortenson

October 10, 2018

YWMC Associate member Tom Mortenson discussed his latest analysis, “Estimated Baccalaureate Degree Attainment by Age 24 by Family Income Quartiles: 1970 to 2016” in our second webinar. Using this Pell Institute report, Tom provided data and explanation to support the troubling fact of continued disparity over time in access to, persistence in, and graduation from college for low-income individuals. These are more than just numbers; they are evidence of continuing inequity across the education system, of the need for the work being done by Yes We Must Coalition schools, and the need to do more on our campuses and at the state and federal policy level.

Read and download Tom’s study here (pdf opens in new page).

Thomas G. Mortenson is a Senior Scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, D.C., and an independent higher education policy analyst.

Download Tom Mortenson’s PowerPoint presentation

Helping Low-Income and First-Gen Students Get to the Finish Line: Classroom Strategies

Presenter: Kathleen Ross

Friday, September 7, 2018

As YWMC institutions, we are proud of our commitment to “New Majority” students from first-gen and/or low-income families. But we are challenged by the lower graduation rates these students achieve, compared to other student groups both in our institutions and across US higher education. One of the goals of YWM is to discover better ways to create equity in university outcomes for these New Majority students. This webinar shared creative and effective faculty strategies that both maintained high standards and overcame the invisible barriers responsible for derailing New Majority student success. Practical examples demonstrated ways to create strong student engagement, promote a sense of belonging, build confidence, and encourage students’ vision for their futures.

Presenter Kathleen Ross is the Founding President of Heritage University in rural central Washington. After 28 years as President, she retired and initiated research on student success factors within college classrooms. This resulted in opening an Institute for Student Identity Research and producing 14 three-minute videos where faculty members share their creative and research-documented successful strategies. This was followed by Breakthrough Strategies: Classroom-based Practices to Support New Majority Students, published by Harvard Education Press in 2016. Dr. Ross serves as the Secretary for the Board of Yes We Must Coalition, and she is a life-time member of the Catholic order, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

Download Kathleen Ross’s PowerPoint presentation

What Every College and University That Cares About the Success of Students from Low-Income Backgrounds Should Be Doing

Based on what we have learned from working with Yes We Must Coalition members for 10 years, this list highlights the areas in which we feel comfortable helping individual institutions to increase equity for low-income students. There will undoubtedly be occasions when we need to bring in one or more of our members to demonstrate to others how they are meeting these challenges.

Read the list >

Collaborative Projects

The Yes We Must Coalition has several collaborative projects underway right now that are open to any member institution. Read about them here.

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