TRiO Mentor Families: A Social Media Strategic Plan

1. TRiO Mentor Families:A Social Media Strategic Plan Jason Lynch (Team Leader) Aaron Hood Sarah Cantrell Perkins Ashley Staples North Carolina State University

2. Outline • TRiO Information • Review of the Literature • Implantation • Limitations • Implications for Higher Education • Transferability within NCSU Student Affairs • Summary

3. TRiO Information

4. NCSU TRiO Programs Funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the term “TRIO” refers to three initiatives (Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Student Support Services) that serve to identify disenfranchised youths and assist them in gaining admission to college, as well as graduating from college. To date, many other programs have been added to the TRIO initiative; however, NCSU supports only Educational Talent Search (ETS), Upward Bound, and Student Support Services (SSS). http://studentaffairs.ncsu.edu/trio/main/what-is-trio.html

5. TRIO Organizational Chart

6. TRiO Programs http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

7. TRiO Services http://www2.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/index.html

8. TRiO Eligibility http://www2.ed.gov/programs/triotalent/index.html

9. Literature Review

10. Student Engagement “As student populations have become more diverse and participation in postsecondary education became all but universal, policy makers and institutional leaders increasingly recognized that institutions must also change teaching and learning approaches and cultivate campus cultures that welcome and affirm students as well as faculty and staff from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Simply put, engagement is a two-way street. Both institutions and students have roles to play in creating the conditions for engagement and for taking advantage of engagement opportunities” (Kuh, 2011, 202). Kuh, G.D. (2011) What educators and administrators need to know about college student engagement. In Harper S.R. and Jackson, Jerlando F.L. (eds.), Introduction to American higher education (pp. 189-212). New York, NY: Routledge.

11. Why Mentoring? • “Without serious efforts toward addressing the multicultural pipeline to ensure that adequate numbers of students of color attend and graduate from college, the problems that exist on our campuses and in our society may never be truly eliminated” (Pope, 2009, p. x). • Research indicates that “mentoring is critical to the recruitment, retention, and persistence of graduate students of color” (Poon & Hune, 2009, p. 84). The impact of mentoring along with a building a strong community network is equally valuable during the secondary school and undergraduate experience. • Statistics show minimal increases in the number of doctorates granted to students of color. Between 2002-03 and 2007-08, the greatest increases among race/ethnicity groups were minimal increases of 1.8% for Nonresident Aliens  and 0.6% for Blacks. The increase in the number of doctorates for American Indians/Alaska Natives does not even reflect a percentage increase over 10 years (U.S. Department of Education). Poon, O. A., and Hune, S. (2009). Countering master narratives of the “perpetual foreigner” and “model minority”: The hidden injuries of race and Asian American doctoral students. In M.F. Howard-Hamilton, C.L. Morelon-Quainoo, S.D. Johnson, R. Winkle-Wagner, and L. Santiague (eds.), Standing on the outside looking in (pp. 82-102). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC. Pope, R. L. (2009). Forward. In M.F. Howard-Hamilton, C.L. Morelon-Quainoo, S.D. Johnson, R. Winkle-Wagner, and L. Santiague (eds.), Standing on the outside looking in (pp. ix-xi). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997–98, 2002–03, and 2007–08 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:98) and Fall 2003 and 2008. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2010/section3/table-dcd-2.asp

12. Why Social Networking? NCSU TRiO Offices Are Located Off-Campus Mass Appeal and Frequency of Use • “According to the research by the Nielsen Company (2009), two-thirds of Internet users worldwide use social networks, and social networking has surpassed e-mail as the fourth most popular online activity” (Pikalek, 2010, p. 150). Relevance to Higher Education Recruitment • “Seventy-four percent of current college-bound high school seniors thought that colleges should have a presence on social media sites, and 81 percent of those students indicated they look for both official and unofficial content about a university when they go online” (Pikalek, 2010, p. 151). • “It provides an opportunity to develop a relationship with students who would otherwise be searching your website anonymously” (Pikalek, 2010, p. 159) Impact on College-Student Engagement • “Research by both Greg Heiberger and the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) found a positive relationship between social networking and college-student engagement. For instance, a higher percentage of frequent users of social networking Web sites participated in and spent more time in campus organizations than less frequent users” (Junco & Chickering, 2010, p. 13). Preparation of Students as Global Citizens in an Online World • “Our society is becoming highly dependent on online information. We must prepare tomorrow’s leaders to address online information with critical rigor” (Junco & Chickering, 2010, p. 17). • “If student affairs professionals […] are aware of the potential for misinterpretation, they can create programming that helps students effectively avoid or solve online disputes (Junco & Chickering, 2010, p. 14) Junco, R. and Chickering, A. W. (2010) Civil discourse in the age of social media. About Campus (15) 4, 12-18. Pikalek, A.J. (2010) Navigating the social media curve. Continuing higher education review, 74, pp. 150-160.

13. Social Capital - Definitions • Social capital is the sum of resources that a person is able to harness based on their network of connections (Bourdieu, 1986) • A student’s ability to access social capital is impacted by race or ethnicity, gender, and amounts of human, cultural, and economic capital (Perna & Titus, 2005) • Actions by parents such as encouraging the student’s academic achievement, making contacts with the schools, speaking with other students’ parents, and bringing information from the surrounding community into the home will increase the social capital available to the student (Coleman, 1986) Bordieu. P. (1986). The forms of capital. From J. E. Richardson (ed.). Handbook of theory of research for the sociology of education. p.241-258. Greenwood Press. • Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. The American Journal of Sociology,94(supplement), p. 95-120. • Perna, L.W. and Titus, M.A. (2005). The relationship between parental involvement as social capital and college enrollment: An examination of racial/ethnic group differences. The Journal of Higher Education, 76(5), p. 485-518.

14. Social Capital - Considerations • Students may gain access to different information from another social network, with the loose tie forming a “bridge” that would not have otherwise been available (Perna & Titus, 2005) • Coleman (1988) suggests that closed loop systems create more social capital; for example, if a students’ parents are friends with each other, then the amount of capital increases because the norms of the community can be established (figure at right) Figure 1: If B and C are students and friends at school, and A and D are their respective parents, by closing the loop between A and D as demonstrated above they can come to consensus about norms (e.g., that it is normal or expected for their children to attend college) that will ultimately increase their children’s social capital

15. TRiO Student Engagement at NSCU • We propose a Virtual Mentoring program, which will serve as an “opportunity structure” to build community and better serve students in our TRiO programs (Kuh, 2011, p. 203). • The TRiO Virtual Mentoring program is an initiative emphasizing social media networking, social capital, and mentoring. Kuh, G.D. (2011) What educators and administrators need to know about college student engagement. In Harper S.R. and Jackson, Jerlando F.L. (eds.), Introduction to American higher education (pp. 189-212). New York, NY: Routledge.

16. Implementation

17. Plan Components • TRiO Mentor Families • “Generational” mentorship across TRiO programs • ETS assigned to Upward Bound, who are assigned to SSS, who are assigned to alumni • Students in Upward Bound and SSS, who have the highest stop out or drop out risk, will have both pulling and pushing motivations within the families that support the TRiO missions of retention, persistence, and completion • TRiO Alumni Network • Purposefully maintain contact with the alumni of the NC State TRiO program, continuing to provide a supportive community as they move into the world • The mission of persistence, through college and then into gainful employment or graduate education, will be better realized with positive examples of similarly challenged youth

18. TRiO Mentor Families “We propose that e-mentoring holds promise for redefining mentoring relationships and changing the conditions under which mentoring is sought and offered. E-mentoring could potentially make mentoring relationships more available to groups that have previously had limited access to mentoring.” (Bierema & Merriam, 2002) • Facebook dynamic groups will be the main platform for communication • TRiO site coordinators, typically a school guidance counselor, will assist with the effort by coordinating computer lab access for students • Live and asynchronous chat features will be used to create community, along with all other Facebook attributes, such as Facebook chat • Summer sessions at NC State will feature a “family” day that includes entire chains of mentors and mentees, organized over the Facebook group “meet-up” style • “Meet-up”: An in person opportunity for members of the Facebook family groups to meet at NCSU, with the goal to deepen relationships. Bierema, L.L. and Merriam, S.B. (2002). E-mentoring: Using Computer Mediated Communication to Enhance the Mentoring Process. Innovative Higher Education, 26(3), p. 211-227.

19. TRiO Alumni Network “Engaging students & alumni through digital media is a natural, because it’s ‘the No. 1 way students get information”’ (Halligan, 2010, p. 31). • Help Alumni Stay Informed, Connected, & Engaged • Provide more than updates and contact information to alumni • “Invite alumni to events” and “feature online resources, career connections, class notes, events and activities, foundation information, and news” (Halligan, 2010, p. 33) • Alumni as Recruiters • “Alumni could be the best recruiters among traditionally under-served populations” (Williams, Leatherwood, Bryd, & Pennington, 2010, p 28). • Alumni as Success Stories & Inspiration to Current Students • “Feature pictures and stories of successful alumni from that community” to highlight the impact of the community Williams, Leatherwood, Bryd, & Pennington, 2010, p. 31). Halligan, T. (2010). The social media evolution: Online tools drive opportunities for alumni outreach, fundraising. Community College Journal 80 (4) p. 30-33. Williams, M. R., Leatherwood, L., Bryd, L., Boyd, M.S., & Pennington, K. (2010). Alumni engaging students from under-served groups in southern Appalachia. The Community College Enterprise 16 (1) 23-35.

20. Visual Relationship Map ETS Alumni TRiO Upward Bound SSS

21. Implementation • Halligan (2010) suggests using SCANR to guide digital media marketing initiatives for colleges and universities. • SCANR approach: • Strategy • Content • Architecture • Navigation • Return on Investment Halligan, T. (2010). The social media evolution: Online tools drive opportunities for alumni outreach, fundraising. Community College Journal 80 (4) p. 30-33.

22. Strategy • We want to create digital communities so that students can connect with each other even when they are not together on our campus. • The current undergraduate student mentors will be connected directly with their groups in a closed community on Facebook. • The groups will be able to communicate with each other and have guided conversations/discussions with their mentor about issues they may be facing or finding ways to connect with NC State.

23. Content • The mentors will go through a training process about facilitating group discussions online and will learn how to administer the Facebook group. • The content will include study skills help, time management concepts, difficulties, and encouragement. • We will want the mentors to understand the basic theory of Challenge and Support (Sanford, 1967) so that the mentees will be able to get the most out of their participation. Sanford, N. (1968). Where colleges fail: A study of student as person. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

24. Architecture • Each student enrolled in our programs will primarily utilize Facebook in order to participate in our mentor families. The students will be grouped into families (cohorts) and enrolled in a closed group on Facebook. TRiO professional staff will also be enrolled in the groups in order to monitor the behavior of each family. • These closed groups can only be accessed by students who are enrolled. The students who will be enrolled can have discussions with each other and will be notified when someone posts to the group. • Students will be able to share videos, documents, links, events, photos, or texts. Each post will allow students to comment and engage in a discussion. • In addition to the family groups, our student mentors will be enrolled in a group in order for our professional staff to continue to supervise and train the staff. The mentor group will serve as a support system for the mentors as well.

25. Navigation • Through basing our mentoring families on a social networking site that a significant number of students already use, navigation of the service is expected to be familiar to the students. • 40% of Facebook users are 18-24 years old • 13.5% of Faebook users are 13-17 years old • Site leaders, students, and mentors will be provided with training on how to Facebook mentoring family’s effectively. Students will also be educated in the safe use of social networking sites such as Facebook. http://www.istrategylabs.com/2010/01/facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-2010-145-growth-in-1-year/

26. Return on Investment • TRiO’s cost for the use of Facebook will be nothing. The training and recruitment of mentors will be the most costly as it will take time to develop the training and recruitment materials. • By using this method, we will be meeting our students where they are and engaging them in conversations about their plans for enrolling in higher education and the struggles they may face along the way. • Our return on investment will be measured by an assessment at the end of each year that will allow students to tell us how valuable they found their mentoring family and what it did to help their participation in ETS, Upward Bound, or SSS.

27. Limitations

28. Primary Limitations • The major limitation of our proposal is that TRiO will not have control over the direction that Facebook takes. It has a history of creating new features that make old features obsolete. Given this history, we could lose our current architecture. • A possible solution to this problem is to use a self-hosted website using Wordpress (a blogging engine) and the Buddypressplugin which creates a social media website and creates groups within that particular tool. • This potential solution would eliminate the issue of having to rely on Facebook. However, we could include a Facebook Connect login so that students would not have to create an entirely new login for the site. The connection will apply only to the login and would not transfer any data. • With this Buddypress site, we would have ways to archive our data from the use of the site and assess the data to guide our future projects within the Buddypress site.

29. Additional Limitations • TRiO programs do not function as a single unit. Changing the culture so that this initiative is integrated into all three programs will be a challenge • Resource: Support functions such as budget officers and administrative staff support all offices • No one TRiO staff member to run this program • Resource: graduate assistants to expand the current services offered • Access to technology by the students • Resource: coordinators at partnered schools

30. Potential Future Initiatives • Hosting the TRiO Mentor Families initiative on a separate website in order to have more control over the software and functionality • Including community mentors in the “family” who would mentor TRiO alumni • Interactive “stories of success” that feature TRiO students who have attained a goal, telling their stories to future “generations” and allowing time for questions

31. Implications for Higher Education

32. Implications for Higher Education Student Success • Increase in Student Retention & Persistence • Increase in Student Engagement • Mentoring Pipeline is beneficial beyond TRiO participation Community of Life-Long Learners • Increase Alumni Base, including a potential donor base • Improve student services by” creating an emotional bond with prospective or enrolled students” (Pikalek, 2010, p. 160) Campus - Community Relations • Better fulfill NCSU’s land-grant mission to serve the state of North Carolina • Strengthen Campus-Community partnerships with local high schools, specific counties, and local community colleges University Collaborations • Marketing & Student Services collaborate on Social Media Plan and assessment of the plan (Pikalek, 2010, p. 156) • Financial Aid & TRiO Officers collaborate on student support and program requirements • ”Financial aid as a gatekeeper toward [students’] ability to persist in their degree programs (Johnson, Kuykendall, & Winkle-Wagner, 2009, p. 53) Access to Higher Education • Increasing access & success • “Access to higher education is a key to finding a way to break the cycle of generational poverty” (Williams, Leatherwood, Bryd, Boyd, & Pennington, 2010, p. 34). Johnson, S. D., Kuykendall III, J.A., and Winkle-Wagner, R. (2009). Financing the dream: The impact of financial aid on graduate education for underrepresented minority students. In M.F. Howard-Hamilton, C.L. Morelon-Quainoo, S.D. Johnson, R. Winkle-Wagner, and L. Santiague (eds.), Standing on the outside looking in (pp. 45-62). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC. Williams, M. R., Leatherwood, L., Bryd, L., Boyd, M.S., & Pennington, K. (2010). Alumni engaging students from under-served groups in southern Appalachia. The Community College Enterprise 16 (1) 23-35.

33. Transferability

34. Transferability While this strategic plan was created for the purposes of serving the TRIO Programs, social network mentoring can be used to enhance many other departments within student affairs. • Orientation • First Year Experience Programs • Career Services • Multicultural Centers • Health Promotion Centers

35. Orientation and First Year Programs • Creating mentoring groups between high school seniors and outgoing college first years could be facilitated using social networking cites. Career Services/Alumni Offices • Alumni mentors can be paired with undergraduate students via social networking cites like Facebook and LinkedIn Health Promotion • Peer educators can form mentoring communities for support in healthy eating, safe sexual practices, and stress management. Multicultural Centers • Create mentoring communities for minority groups who may be small in number and dispersed around campus.

36. Summary • Our goal is to support the TRiO missions of student access, retention, persistence, and completion of underserved populations. • To do so, we propose utilizing Facebook, a social networking site that is already familiar to the TRiO demographic, to link students together in mentoring relationships that increase their social capital. • Our two initiatives are: 1) to establish an online mentoring community of “families” that cross the TRiO program lines, and 2) to intentionally maintain a TRiO alumni network that will be an integral part of our mentoring “families” initiative. • We believe these initiatives are feasible and pertinent based on the current literature, infrastructure available, and trends that support the use of social media as an avenue of mentoring.