The NTCC CARE team, along with Student Success, will be presenting at the 10th Annual First Gen Summit, MIT, Boston, MA , on November 5th. The First Gen Summit serves as a site for the meeting of the minds. First-gen students and their allies come together to identify problems, discuss grassroots solutions, and share what’s working on their campuses. The focus is on finding solutions identified by students who can work with their staff, administrator, and faculty allies to create change.
“We are the only community college presenting at this conference. I am super proud of my student interns/AmeriCorps for all the time they put into serving our students and campus,” Carmen Shurtleff, Sociology/Social Work Professor and Faculty Advisor for the CARE Center, said.
The CARE Center team will be presenting a first-gen peer mentor program that targets students that are experiencing barriers to higher education attainment. The campus peer mentor program includes supporting an environment that promotes and embraces inclusiveness while enhancing equity. In addition, it includes changing the narrative of diversity on college campuses; and improving the socio-economical, educational attainment, employability, and overall well-being within the community.
The discussion will include the development and implementation of the peer mentor program through an embedded college course and collaboration with the Student Success Department. The implementation of the first gen peer mentor program was a result of grant funding through the Whatley Enhancement grant, DOE Title V Hispanic Serving Institution grant, and outstanding student leadership provided by the Social Work program. We are very proud and honored for this opportunity to present and learn more about serving First Gen students.
Presentation Information:
Mentoring 1st Generation Students to Success
A workshop by Tiffany Carpenter, Tonya Elmore and Carmen Shurtleff
Northeast Texas Community College/Texas A&M University-Commerce, Northeast Texas Community College and Northeast Texas Community College
Conference Info: https://classism.org/10th-anniversary-first-gen-summit-2022/
