The movation behind the research is for a non-profit I am trying to help get started called Carpenter Square. It is a big dream but it takes something big to change the world.
Here is our promotional video:
Carpenter's Sqaure Video
Here are some quotes from my research so far:
The greatest gains in retention rates will result from focusing not only on the selection
process, but also the student-environment interaction after college entry (Thayer,
2000).
Some Student Support Services programs are implementing “learning community”
type strategies. These learning communities help students form supportive peer
groups that extend beyond the classroom (Thayer, 2000).
Effective programs affirm and help students understand that academic success is not
attained through individual achievement alone, but through an axis of support (Gullatt
and Jan, 2003).
From interviews Richardson and Skinner (1992) found that first-generation students
who attended community colleges typically attended part-time and were more likely
than their classmates to have significant work and family responsibilities (Hsiao,
1992).
In terms of enrollment, beginning students who are first-generation students are more
likely than their non-first-generation counterparts to: attend part-time (30 percent vs.
13 percent), live off-campus or with family or relatives (84 percent vs. 60 percent),
not be in a bachelor’s degree program (88 percent vs. 43 percent), delay entering after
high school graduation (46 percent vs. 19 percent), receive aid (51 percent vs. 42
percent), or work full-time while enrolled (33 percent vs. 24 percent) (Nunez and
Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998).
First-generation minority students in one study expressed a need “to find places to
study, meet friends, or seek support … spaces that provided some measure of
‘comfortability’” on campus (Hsiao, 1992).
