Economic Access Initiative at Ohio State - Access Advocate

Winter 2008

Dear Access Advocates:

Welcome to the first newsletter from the Economic Access Initiative! Over the past year, we have gathered together a truly inspiring list of Ohio State faculty, staff, and students who have expressed interest in access to college for low-income and first-generation students. Each quarter, we’ll try to spark your thinking about access issues, as well as put the spotlight on what is happening in the access arena here at Ohio State. We hope that you find this information useful as you go about your work. Our e-mails are listed below, so please feel free to contact us at anytime.

First Generation Focus:

Over 20% of this year’s freshman class will be in the first generation of their family to graduate from college. Here are some ways that you can support our first-generation students:

  • Be Aware. Not everyone has long legacies of college-going in his or her background. For all our students and their families, the world of the university is a new and unfamiliar place, but it can be an even more daunting prospect to come to Ohio State if you are the first of your family to “do college.”
  • Ask Questions. You may be surprised at who our first-generation students are. They come from cities and rural areas, from families who have struggled to make ends meet or families who are quite comfortable financially. Some may think it’s a big deal to be the first of their generation to attend college, while others may think it’s not. Some may have tons of family support; others may be doing this on their own.
  • Share your story. Every staff and faculty member has memories of their own college-going experience. Share your own doubts, missteps, joys, and triumphs. If you are a first-generation college graduate yourself, don’t be afraid to share that information with your students.
  • Talk Graduate and Professional School. One statistic that Ohio State is trying to change: Students who are first in their families to graduate from college tend to go on to graduate or professional school less frequently than their academically comparable classmates.

Student Spotlight: Desiree Johnson

Hometown: Euclid, Ohio
Major: Human Resources/Minor: Communications
Activities: Business Scholars, Blackburn/Houck/Norton Hall Council, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority

As a first-generation student, I found that coming to Ohio State was not the easiest journey. Neither of my parents graduated high school and neither had any money to spare to fund my higher education. To ensure I could send myself to a four-year institution upon graduation, I enrolled in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program at my high school, earning my associate’s while working multiple jobs during my junior and senior years.

Being here at Ohio State is important to me because of how hard I worked to get here and because I have seen my parents have to struggle through life without a college education. I want to earn a degree that allows me to support myself, my family, and my future children.

One day I hope to be in human resources management within a large corporation, and possibly work my way up to CEO. I want to stay active in giving back to the community and hope to be able to donate money to help fund the education of other first-generation or low-income students.

— Desiree

First-Generation Stories

Three members of the Buckeye family — a student, a staff member, and a college dean — describe their paths to college and what it means to be the first in their family to obtain a college degree. See the videos >

Program Spotlight: Blueprint:College

Blueprint:College is a collaboration led by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and First Year Experience with assistance from the Economic Access Initiative, the P-12 Project, and Columbus City Schools. Aimed at helping elementary school parents learn how to turn their children’s dreams for college into a reality, this six-week college planning workshop will kick off in the spring of ’08 and include weekly success seminars, a campus exploration day, and a program graduation ceremony. For more information: wade.203@osu.edu.

Contact Us:

Economic Access Initiative
Tally Hart: hart.149@osu.edu
Laura Kraus: kraus.47@osu.edu

Unsubscribe from Access Advocate