Putting Access on the MAP
The “face" of CLA is changing, thanks to initiatives such as the McGuire Academic Program, which supports high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds.
By Andi McDaniel
Deep in the bowels of Johnston Hall, you'll find a light on at 8:30 a.m. sharp. That's when freshmen in the new McGuire Academic Program (MAP) begin to stream in to room B-29 each morning to share breakfast toast, lounge on worn blue thrift-store couches, and check in with each other and their peer mentors about how their first year at the U is going.
MAP students chase after clues during "The Amazing Race, Edge-style"
Photo by Everett Ayoubzadeh
While CLA strives to make academic success a reality for a broader swath of young people, the questions remain: What exactly is “success" in the first place? Is it even measurable? CLA faculty from a variety of disciplines are studying the ways our society tests success, particularly in education——and drawing fascinating conclusions about how well our measures measure up.
As the age of “No Child Left Behind" makes standardized tests ever more central to the public education experience, it's crucial that we keep tabs on how well the tests are doing the job. Political science professor Scott Abernathy has taken on this challenge in his new book No Child Left Behind and the Public Schools, in which he explores the challenges and pitfalls of measuring education from the top down——and looks at what it would take for the No Child legislation to live up to its promises and ensure that our kids are getting a “good" education.
Meanwhile, Nathan Kuncel (psychology) is trying to find out whether success is in your future. Kuncel's research focuses on the various predictors of academic and workplace success. By studying how well certain tests—such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and the Miller Analogies Test (MAT)—predict student achievement both in school and beyond, Kuncel has been able to debunk that old myth about how “school smarts" don't apply in the real world. As it turns out, the skills required for success in school aren't so different from the skills that matter in everyday life.
Paul Sackett, the Beverly and Richard Fink Distinguished Professor of Psychology and recipient of the American Psychology Association's Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, is known internationally for his research on “employee selection systems"—one of those crucial hurdles that could stand between you and the job of your dreams. Sackett's work has helped assure that ability testing—whether in an educational or a work environment—improves selection for high performance as well as for ethnic, racial, and gender diversity.
MAP just launched this fall, but already, MAP students have made themselves at home in this underground enclave, using the space and the resources it provides to tackle their first year head on. The 134 students in the program are enrolled in all seven freshman-admitting colleges across the campus, but CLA is “advising central."
MAP just launched this fall, but already, MAP students have made themselves at home in this underground enclave, using the space and the resources it provides to tackle their first year head on. The 134 students in the program are enrolled in all seven freshman-admitting colleges across the campus, but CLA is “advising central."
The high level of involvement pleases program coordinator Manisha Nordine. MAP's goal, she explains, is to help high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds—many of whom are first-generation college students—reach their full potential at the U. That means orienting them to aspects of college life that other students take for granted, from day one to graduation.
“What that translates to is connecting them to resources, providing them with advisers, and providing opportunities for meaningful relationships with their peers, in the form of peer mentors," she says.
Brianna Deal, one of MAP's seven peer mentors, says her own freshman year was a “whirlwind," and she sees great benefit to orienting students early on. “It's just so valuable to have somebody reach out to you and say, ‘Here's what we have to offer, here's how I can help you. I want to get to know you better and help you deal.'
The “McGuire Edge" gives students a jump start. Over six days, students get to know their peer mentors, each other, and the campus. One of the more popular activities this fall was “The Amazing Race, Edge-style," a campus-wide scavenger hunt that helps teams of students learn their way around.
Carrying the Baton
y providing support to students from low-income backgrounds throughout their college careers, MAP functions as a sort of next step for programs such as LearningWorks and Admission Possible, which serve middle- and high-school students. In fact, to qualify for MAP, students must be alumni of one of those programs, or be “McGuire scholars," students who have been selected for scholarships funded by the McGuire Foundation.
MAP is one of several new University/K-12 outreach initiatives that CLA is leading—all reflecting the college's staunch commitment to access. The purpose of increasing access is not just to level the higher education playing field for Minnesota's young people but also to better reflect and serve Minnesota's rapidly changing population.
“We're constantly embracing new immigrant populations," says Nordine. “Students represent these new communities and multicultural identities as well as traditional communities." Such diversity “prepares all students to be citizens not only of Minnesota and the U.S.—but also of the world," says Deal.
The ripples will spread as students take their education with them into communities and workplaces throughout Minnesota and beyond—bringing about lasting social change. “The revolution is going to occur," says Nordine, “as these students enter the workforce. It's in their respective jobs—in their relationships with majority populations in their jobs—that the change is going to happen. That's when race and class bias are going to lose their grip—because diversity will be part of people's everyday experiences."
Of course, if MAP didn't inspire students, all this talk about access would be just that—talk. But already, there are clear signs that the program's goals resonate powerfully with student needs. Asked how he knows their efforts are paying off, peer mentor Mike Clark says he just sees it in their faces.
“They don't have to come in here, but they do," Clark says, referring to MAP headquarters. “They could easily be going out to a coffee shop or restaurant with their friends, but no—they come in here. Because they want to be with this community." Nordine grins, “We have students waiting in the morning to come in, and the place is still buzzing at the end of the day."
As the University forges ahead to implement the recommendations of the various task forces that have been charged with strengthening the U, it's worth noting that the McGuire Academic Program advances several of those recommendations—namely, those related to outreach, access, and diversity. “The health of the McGuire Program," says Manisha, “reflects the health of the rest of the University." Judging from the crowded couches in MAP's Johnston headquarters, the University is in good health indeed.