Recruitment and Retention of Minority Students
One of the key issues in public engagement of colleges and universities is how to recruit and retain students from minority and immigrant communities. The piece I've reprinted below addresses some of the main obstacles: need to communicate effectively with students and their families in culturally appropriate ways, to explain the higher education system and available options for financial aid, and to provide effective counseling. This piece is addressed specifically to the needs of the Somali communities in Minnesota, but they are relevant for all.
Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention:
A Report on Somali Colloquium in Metro Area
Prepared By
Abdimalik Askar
Metro Alliance Outreach Coordinator
Executive Summary
On March 10th, 2006, Metro Alliance’s community outreach program invited members of the Somali communities in Minnesota for a colloquium discussion to find ways and means of recruiting and retaining Somali students in colleges. Thirty three Somali community members were involved in the discussion. They consisted of influential community leaders, educators, members drawn from various non-profit organizations and students in different colleges in Minnesota. Among the diverse audience were two current college presidents, one dean and other school officials representing different institutions within the Metro Alliance. The discussion was held in the Normandale Community College Auditorium.
The discussion was organized into five different panels. The first panel consisted of people drawn from high schools within the Twin Cities. The second panel consisted of Somali professionals who work in different fields. The third panel was made up of the Somali community organizations and members of the local Somali media. The fourth panel was Somali women professionals. The last panel included students from different colleges and universities.
The main objective of the colloquium was to find the root causes that lead to low enrollment and high drop-out rates of Somali students in college. The panels raised a lot of issues affecting the Somali community, particularly the students, as well as possible solutions. The main concern raised was that educational institutions were not doing enough to cater to the needs of this community. Lack of effective communication between the institutions and Somali families was identified as the main problem. It was mentioned that families often had no idea about how to navigate the educational system, that this leads to a lot of frustration, and results in under-representation of Somali students in higher education institutions. One of the speakers challenged the Metro Alliance to change the topic of the discussion from how to recruit and retain students to “what the Metro Alliance needs to do to change current policies.”
The panels stressed the need for community involvement and academic enrichment for students. They stated that the way to do this is by cultural accommodation within the systems governing these institutions. Among the recommendations offered were hiring more bilingual staff and providing more scholarship support for minority communities.
The panel speakers were also explicit in their recommendation that more information be provided to the community to educate parents and students about their options and, also, to provide workshops on financial aid and scholarship opportunities. Often, these students have no idea of what resources, like scholarships, are available and, therefore, fail to take advantage of them.
The issue of counseling came up time and time again. The panels expressed the need for effective, honest and culturally sensitive counselors so that students may make good choices about their classes and eventually their careers. One of the panelists shared a personal story about her college days when her counselor told her that she would never make it in her chosen field. The counselor told her that she had more chances of being a fire-fighter than a nurse. This greatly offended her. She felt those comments were discouraging and rude. This was a sentiment echoed by the student panelists who also added that ineffective counselors prolonged the students’ stay in college as they didn’t tell them what classes would benefit them. This led to frustration and resulted in students giving up on college entirely.