Creating Communities in a Large,
Urban, Commuter-Based University
Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, Associate Vice President,
Academic Learning Initiatives
York University, Toronto Canada
John Amanatides, Master, Bethune College
Overview
• Introduction to York
• Introduction to ACMAPS
• ACMAPS Initiatives and Data
• Introduction to Bethune College
• Bethune College Initiatives
• Discussion and Questions
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York Facts
• Founded in 1959
• Third largest in Canada
• 10 Faculties
• >50,000 students
• 1400 FT faculty members
• 1000 PT faculty/TA
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Background: ACMAPS
The Atkinson Centre for Mature
and Part-time Students
Established August 2007
Pan-university mission and mandate
Four Pillars:
access
advocacy
support
research
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Background: Demographics
York student population
101s and 105s
Highly diverse student body
How do we define “Mature”?
admissions category
age, life experience, etc.
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Background: Demographics
The number of adult learners at York increased in 2009/10
Nov. 2008
Nov. 2009
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FT
PT
All
FT
PT
All
Heads
(0 or 1)
Heads
(0 or 1)
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(0 or 1)
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(0 or 1)
Heads
(0 or 1)
Heads
(0 or 1)
33142
3619
36761
5027
3649
8676
38169
7268
45437
agegrp
Under 25
GE 25
All
agegrp
32639
3613
36252
4644
3529
8173
37283
7142
44425
Under 25
GE 25
All
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Activities
Academic Orientation for Mature Students
•2 Fall, 1 Winter
Mature Student Success Program
•23 events 2008/09; 2 streams with 24 sessions in
2009/10
Back to the Books Sessions
•Proactive communications and post-strike workshop
in 2008/09
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Activities
Peer Mentors
Parent Support Group
Guest Lecture: “Invisible Students:
Succeeding as a Student Parent in PostSecondary Education”
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Mature Student Success Program
Student Life Stream
Time and Stress Management
Basic Computing Skills
Exam Preparation and Study Strategies
Looking Ahead to Graduate and Professional School
What’s Next in my Degree? Drop-in Advising
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Mature Student Success Program
Research and Writing Stream
An Overview of the Writing Process
Analyzing the Assignment and Pre-writing Strategies
Research Strategies, Reading and Note-taking
Come with your Writing Questions
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Assessment
Key measures
•Institutional data on year one retention
–Operationally defined in 2008/09 data as still enrolled
at end of year one
•Student satisfaction/ student experience
–Experimental groups
Orientation only (E1), Sessions only (E2), Both (E3)
–Control group
•Grades
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Retention Data
Historically, at York mature students are at
higher risk for attrition
After one year of study, drop-out rate for new entry
undergrads 25 years of age and above who started at
York in 2006 was 34.4% compared to students aged
less than 25 whose drop-out rate was only 14.4%
Nb. Data not reflective of voluntary stop-outs
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Retention Data 2008/09
Persistence
Experimental group members remained in courses at a much higher rate than control group members (84.9%, 90.9% and 96.7% vs. 73.5%)
Students who attended both Orientation and ongoing Sessions remained in courses at the highest rate (96.67%)
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Student Survey 2008/09
On-line student experience survey
•Control group
•Experimental group (E1, E2, and E3 combined)
Survey details
•8 questions common to both groups
•Experimental group answered additional program-specific
questions
•Notable differences in response rates
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Student Survey 2008/09
Years away from school before resuming in 2008
Participants in our programs were, on average, out of school nearly twice as long as students who did not participate
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Student Survey 2008/09
Overall, how would you rate your academic experience over the
past year at York University?
Approximately 60% of participants rated their experience as Good
or Excellent compared with only 44% of students in the control
group
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Student Survey 2008/09
Participation in Sessions
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Student Survey 2008/09
Satisfaction with the relevance of our sessions was
very high
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Student Survey 2008/09
Participants report that what they encountered in
the sessions supported their academic success
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Grades Data 2008/09
Mean GPA (reported on basis of final grades using a 9 point scale) was
higher for students in the experimental group (B vs C+), with those
participating in both Orientation and sessions achieving the highest GPA
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Bethune College
• 6,500 Science and Engineering students
• home for co-curricular/extra-curricular activities
• clubs, lounges, study hall
• intramural sports
• student government
• residence (270 students)
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Science Curriculum
• hierarchical
• common courses in early years
• sensitive to 1st-year mastery
• sensitive to math mastery
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Our Typical Student
• 1st in family to attend postsecondary
• average marks
• commuter
• less affluent
• part-time work
– 60 % work
–15 hr/week average
2
Typical Problems
• “freedom at last”
• different from high school
– no one checks attendance, homework
– lecturers don’t review
– firm deadlines
• don’t have university-level study skills
• “record” mode
• big, impersonal university
• isolated
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Transition Strategy:
Make Connections with Other Students
• orientation (cohorts)
• encourage study groups
• student lounge space
• science-oriented clubs
• intramural sports
• try to break PCP
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Transition Strategy:
Get into Study Patterns Early
• orientation (study secrets)
• encourage study groups
• student study space
• Life Sciences Help Centre
• First-year Math Background Tutorials
• Learning Skills workshops
2
Life Sciences Help Centre
• peer tutoring in 1st-year Biology,
Chemistry, Math, Physics
• in Study Hall
• every afternoon, 2:30-6:30 pm
2
Math Background Tutorials
• pilot project since 2005
• as of 2010, all incoming science students take
pre-calculus quiz (algebra, trig)
• weak students encouraged to take free 4-day
Math background tutorials in late August
• offered again in Fall Co-curricular Week
• 5-10% improvement in math grades
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Commuters:
Don’t Waste their Time
• fit their schedule
• core 1st-year courses finish MWF2:30
• plan for events right after this
• free cookies/coffee, pizza/pop
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Make a Big University feel Small
• geography important
• critical mass of services in one location
• Wednesday Workshops, 2:30 pm
– Career Centre
– Learning Skills
– SOS: Professional Schools
• Writing Centre
• Career Centre
• Science Librarians
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Life Sciences House
• New in 2010
• Living-Learning community (40 students)
• Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Kinesiology
• same core courses (Biol, Chem, Math)
• enrolled in same labs
• Supplemental Instruction
• field trips
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Conclusion
THANK YOU!
Discussion and Questions
Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt [email protected]
John Amanatides [email protected]
Bethune College www.yorku.ca/bethune/
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