by Ryan Lopez, Culturally Responsive Teaching Faculty Fellow, Dual Credit English

Many students at Austin Community College (ACC) are first-generation college students, which often means their families lack the institutional knowledge required for academic success. This is especially true for our dual credit students (for the purposes of this paper, I am including Early College High School students in the term “dual credit”) taking advantage of the low-cost access to early college credit. Last fall alone, ACC enrolled over 7,500 high school students (OIRA). Thankfully, the college has a wealth of free programs and resources to support all students, including counseling centers, learning labs, online tutoring, food pantries, and academic success coaches. However, many students, first-generation in particular, never utilize these resources because they are unaware of their existence or how to access them (Bennet, Stebleton).

In light of this need for increased awareness of college resources and support systems, this past fall, I created a two-page “Helpful Resources” document with a list of programs and contacts, as well as relevant locations, hours, and links to numerous available resources tailored to each campus. For instance, I included the hours and locations of libraries on the nearest ACC campus, the names and emails of success coaches and high school liaisons, and links to online “toolboxes” for a variety of skills such as note-taking and time management. These documents were readily available on Blackboard and a direct link was included in my welcome email. A sample of this document can be viewed HERE.

I asked all of my students to read this document and familiarize themselves with the resources listed as part of their first participation grade. I also addressed the document in my first-day slide presentation. However, because students are inundated with new information during the first week of classes, it was necessary to direct students back to these resources throughout the semester. Some ways I did this included inviting a campus counselor and a learning lab tutor to introduce themselves and their services during class time. Each class visit took less than five minutes. I also invited college librarians to give in-class instruction 1-2 times during the semester. During their presentations, they explained in detail the various library services offered at ACC and how they can assist students in multiple classes, not just mine. Several students commented that this was the most helpful class of my entire course.

During the semester, when individual students emailed me to explain personal issues that were hindering their academic performance, in my reply, I would redirect them to the “Helpful Resources” document, including direct links to any specific resources I felt might be helpful in their situation. Furthermore, I required all of my students to complete a mid-semester survey, one section of which focused entirely on student support. First, it asked students to rank how confident they felt finding support for a specific assignment, personal issues, or general success at college. I also provided the option to explain their reasoning for their rankings and two open-ended questions: “How can I better support you?” and “How can you better advocate for yourself?” Reviewing student responses provided yet another opportunity to remind students of specific programs listed in the “Helpful Resources” document.

This survey also allowed me to gauge how helpful students found the “Helpful Resources” document and whether they were utilizing any of those resources. Some of the most encouraging comments I received were as follows:

“Your class has been the first to really let me know what resources I have available. The visit to the library was very helpful.”
“you have shown that we have a myriad of resources”
“In class, we have discussed the various materials that ACC has to offer. Including the library, learning lab, and the counseling center. Therefore, I have no doubt I’ll find the help I need.”

Other students also mentioned how I had provided a lot of information about college resources. One even thanked me for inviting the counselor to visit the class. Many reported confidence in accessing the resources they need. Finally, I learned that some students were actively using the learning lab and tutoring, which I had not previously been aware of. Most surprising was the comment from a junior at an early college high school that no previous classes had covered available college resources, since they had likely already taken two years of courses with ACC. Unfortunately, some students still reported a lack of familiarity with resources and how to access them, but overall the results were informative and encouraging.

Student comments also revealed why college resources are not more utilized. Broadly speaking, the three most common reasons were the students’ difficulty being vulnerable, general aversion to or discomfort with asking for help, and poor time management. Instructors can play a major role in helping students gain the confidence to advocate for themselves, both in and out of their own classes. This begins by making students aware of available resources and how to access them (including one’s own office hours and contact information), strongly encouraging them to take advantage of those resources, and providing frequent reminders.

It is also essential to respond promptly with positivity and understanding when students do ask for help. In my survey, by far the most common way students claimed I could better support them was to simply “be understanding.” Many first-generation dual credit students are taking multiple college courses, participating in extracurricular events, working part-time, and taking care of family members, all during a single semester. As if this were not enough, some also experience unexpected hardships regarding transportation, finances, illness, and more. Unfortunately, some students have had negative past experiences when reaching out to professors to explain such personal issues, as the following student reported:

“Personally I have dealt with certain personal issues before, but was hesitant to let my professor know which led to me dropping the class. Even when I eventually told the professor he did not have compassion towards me and even suggested for me to drop the class.”

One challenge I faced in connecting students to resources was scheduling conflicts with classroom visitors. It is always difficult to find enough class time for my own content, so adding anything else can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, my contacts were all flexible, responsive, and excited to help. Regardless, I was unable to arrange for all of the visits I had hoped for. In the future, it might be more effective to coordinate with high school liaisons, college program coordinators, and department chairs to provide A) program visits to entire high school dual credit programs and/or multiple classrooms at once and B) a more standardized version of the “Helpful Resources” document by campus which could be automatically included in Blackboard shells but also customizable to each instructor’s specific needs.

Even when made aware, some students still faced difficulties accessing resources. For instance, minors (the majority of dual credit students) must provide parental consent to receive counseling services, and, understandably, not all students are comfortable approaching their parents about receiving professional counseling. Many students also lack reliable transportation, making it difficult to reach on-campus resources during their hours of operation. Depending on location, the drive from a high school student’s home to the nearest ACC campus could be as long as 45 minutes. Such hindrances make it imperative to promote awareness of online resources, such as the 24/7 chat with a librarian feature on ACC’s library website. However, several of my students this past fall reported limited or no home internet access for at least part of the semester. While there will always be limitations that cannot be planned or accounted for, it is a certainty that no one will take advantage of resources they do not know exist.

Culturally responsive teaching requires sensitivity to our students’ unique needs and limitations. “We have to not only care about them in a general sense but also actively care for them in a physical and emotional sense” (Hammond, 73) Some instructors may view these efforts described above as an unnecessary weight on their already overburdened shoulders, but the potential results in student success could far outweigh the inconvenience. True, it may not be reasonable for an instructor to serve as a private tutor, counselor, librarian, and success coach to each of their students, which may number over 100 in a given semester, but fortunately, such extremes are unnecessary. In place of taking other professional roles upon ourselves or recreating resources that already exist, we can support student success by connecting (and reconnecting) our students to college resources. While students could, theoretically, seek out such resources on their own, they often have no prior reference for what kinds of resources might exist or where to begin when seeking help. Furthermore, it does no harm to any student to receive multiple reminders of the help available to them. The best approach to increasing student utilization of college resources is a multi-angled one and classroom instructors should see themselves as a vital part of this effort.

Works Cited

Bennett, Cecil Todd. “THE DUAL ENROLLMENT CHALLENGES OF FIRST-GENERATION APPALACHIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS: A HOLISTIC SINGLE-CASE STUDY,” Liberty University, 36-37, 45-47, https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3470&context=doctoral.

Hammond, Zaretta. Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain, Crown, 2015. OIRA: Office of Institutional Research & Analytics. “ACC Fact Book – Fall 2023,” Austin Community College, https://oira.austincc.edu/data-and-reports/factbook/acc-fact-book-fall-2023/.

Stebleton, Michael J., and Krista M. Soria. “Breaking Down Barriers: Academic Obstacles of First-Generation Students at Research Universities,” University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1002281.pdf.

About Ryan Lopez

Ryan Shane Lopez is an English teacher with a combined seven years of experience at the middle school, high school, and college levels. He has an MFA in fiction from Texas State University and his writing has appeared in numerous magazines, including Deep Overstock, Hypnopomp, Lunate, Fudoki, Patheos, Bodega, and Porter House Review. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their three young children.