Why Is Important to Understand Barriers Experienced by College Students

At the beginning of each academic year, I am always energized when I see the faces and new fashions of the incoming students (and returning students). In fact, these students are joining us after having various summer experiences with their lives at home, working for local businesses, interning out of state, studying abroad, summer school, and much more!

In fact, during this past week, I've been watching various videos from NBC News (on Hulu) focused on the Freshman Experience. Here are some of my favorites. I think each administrator, faculty member, staff members, and even members from the external campus community should watch one or more of these videos to gain a glimpse into some aspects lives of the students who are joining their campus community.

Which one is your favorite video? List it in the comment section listed below:

Video - I have always been intrigued by roommate selection at colleges and universities across the country. Do you know how roommates are selected by most higher education institutions?



Video - Most colleges and university students played one or more sports in high school, but then they transition to college and are not as engaged with their health and wellness. This means that the likelihood of students gaining weight is very high. Do you know that the average weight gained by college students during their first years of college is 15 pounds? Find out more...



Video - Student debt is one of the most crushing reminders that students have when they are happy and jubilant after reaching the requirements of their degree. This means that we will need to offer continued financial support and education for students once they graduate from college. Find out why...



These are simple videos, but they are great reminders of the celebrations and perils that college students experience as they graduate. What did the videos miss?

Interested in a specific student success topic or do you need a speaker for an upcoming conference? Contact me via direct message on Twitter or join our Student Success Communication and Technology Institute on Facebook!

Thanks for visiting! 

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Higher Education Speaker and Researcher

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My Research Interests: Customer Service and Social Media, Higher Education Retention, and Millennials at Work

Tried and True Ways to Incorporate Social Media in Higher Education Classrooms

In August, I was invited to speak at the #LEAPTX annual meeting in Nacogdoches, TX. I was excited to take advantage of this opportunity as a #LEAPTX Fellow and presented a session on "Incorporating Social Media in Higher Education Classrooms (and High-Impact Educational Practices)".

Here are the slides from this session:


Also, to continue the conversation, the #55HigherEd Community was launched on Facebook. This community is for faculty to ask questions about the teaching, research, and/or service process and to also keep one another accountable on our journey towards tenure (or towards becoming a full-professor). Here's the community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/589073234563970/.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
- Twitter/Instagram - @drjtedwards
- http://www.facebook.com/millennialprofessor/
- drjtedwards at gmail.com

55 Higher Education and Social Media Ideas! #55HigherEd from the SxSWEdu Conference!

In March, I was very fortunate to attend the SxSWEdu conference in Austin, TX. I attended sessions hosted by the TAMU system, the Gates Foundation, and several university colleagues from other institutions. This year marks my second year of attendance and I have to tout that this is the best year so far!

This year, we presented a session titled, "#55HigherEd Ideas and Resources" and we had participants from high schools, community colleges, universities, foundations, and associations. The ideas presented in the session were recorded via Twitter and via a Google Document!

Here's our tagboard from the session (the tweets): http://tgb.io/55HigherEd/219916

Here are my notes from the audience members attending the session!

1 - Reaching Current Undergraduate Students via Social Media

- Create a hashtag for recruiting students and engaging other departments to communicate with them.

- Place your twitter handle on your email signature line.

- Create professional groups for like-minded students on Facebook.

2 - Recruiting and Retaining Faculty and Staff on Social Media

- Create secondary social media posts of positions to recruit faculty and staff (without publishing on higher education.)

- Focus on faculty and staff members's secondary interests (what they like to do outside of the typical workday).

- Post a video about the staff environment and the benefits/ How they match 401Ks. Two weeks off during Christmas break.

- Utilize Flickr accounts, seeing the attire of the workplace.

- Focus on Faculty Student Success Stories - Faculty will have a different focus.

3 - Student Engagement and Social Media

- Post Lists Focused on Your Community (i.e. - Things to do in Alpine - Going out to the Sul Ross Campaign (students and their parents)).

- Form a Twitter Debate - Two teams. Limited numbers of tweets.Number of favorites within a certain time frame.

4 - University Recruitment and Social Media

- Create Buzzfeed-like videos focused on your university. For example, the top 10 reasons why you should join the teacher education program.

- Connect with Community Colleges via the University Account

5 - The University Classroom and Social Media

- Insert a Twitter Widget on Blackboard

- Creating Instagram account for your department.

- Remember to be more proactive with social media listening.

- Have a social media policy on your syllabus.

- Create expectations of social media posts. Twitter and instagram. Tagboard. Giving students a visual for students and other.

- Post student group projects to LinkedIn. Becoming references to one another.

- Have Pop-Up Sessions from One Class Session to the Next - Group work and generating ideas. Great for problem based learning. Ideas would come through and everyone would have everyone's idea. Other classes could add to that.

6 - University Marketing on Social Media

- Push for a social page on the website to list all of the university's social media accounts.

- Engage the internal departments.

- Ask students how they discovered your university.

- Practice social media listening. Create a search focused on your college or university's name.

- Find student social media ambassadors for your university. They will be the ambassadors to start the #besomebody

Next Year!

When the call for sessions is available, I will definitely submit another session (Vote for the @TSMRI Session)! This was one of the best conferences this year and I hope that I will continue to connect with my colleagues from other institutions and foundations throughout the year.

In June, we will start our #55HigherEd chat on Wednesdays in June at 8pm on Twitter! Join us! 

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

Out-of-the-Box Ideas for Motivating College Students During Midterms and Finals

Two of my favorite times of the semester are midterms and finals. Odd, right? These are the two times students usually hear about their progress within a course (although I provide feedback more often).

To help students succeed during these key times, our area provides Midterm and Finals activities and programs for students to connect with their academic-sides! Everyone has one (or two) - perhaps a major and a minor).

While planning for the week, I have several Pinterest boards and an amazing committee. Also, we search for ideas on the web to gain insight into other university's approaches to these important time periods.

Binghamton University's Dean of Students's office connects with a wealth of offices across their campus to provide students with incentives for studying!

Here are some of their approaches:

- free group fitness classes

- therapy dogs

- chair massages

- donuts with the Dean (we have not tried this year, but sounds like a great idea)!

- one of the neatest aspects of the event is the REACH vehicle - a mobile approach to providing students with healthy tips and giveways. Here's some more information about the pink car - the mobile solution! Take a look - http://www.binghamton.edu/health/education/

- the sleep kits include sleep masks and other items you would need for a night of rest

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU