1. PEGASUS: Theory to Application
Jodi Gonzalez and Joshua Barron, Texas Tech University
The data on First Generation College (FGC) students is arresting. The theory on student
success is convincing. But the endeavor of taking these theories and putting them into
practice is impossible to describe with only one word. Adjectives that accurately
characterize this work include: emergent, elaborate, exigent, and exciting. With the help of
these four descriptors, this paper will introduce a university program with eight years of
evidence promoting the devoted and diligent application of scholarly theory.
Emergent
The term emergent is primarily used here in reference to the relatively short history of
publicly available and accessible higher education, and to generically label institutional
efforts toward facilitating student success in academe. Further, it describes an ongoing
programmatic approach akin to “continual quality improvement” in business, or “action
research” in the classroom.
In August 2002, Texas Tech University launched PEGASUS, a new program intended to
support the transition and academic success of first-time-in-college, First Generation
College (FGC) students. Inspired and shaped considerably by the State of Texas’ “Closing
the Gaps” initiative and federally funded TRiO Programs, the program was financially
propelled by an initial two-year institutional funding commitment. The program still
pursues its original mission, though its methods are continually evolving.
PEGASUS began with a simple but assessable end in mind: increase the success of a
targeted FGC student population within the funded timeframe. The approach was the
creative synthesis of (1) best practices in student success, (2) available data, and (3) the
personal experiences, concern, and commitment of the FGC graduates who had undertaken
the endeavor as part of their professional responsibilities.
The most pressing student-related concerns were academic preparedness, culture shock,
financial needs, and loss of community; the most pressing institutional concerns were
grades, restricted timeframe, and constrained resources. The original initiatives were to
train and provide institutional representatives, to preemptively instruct students on
approaches known to encourage academic and cultural success, and to facilitate a social
community of support around their commonly shared status as FGC students.
Elements of each initiative remain, though the delivery and involvement mechanisms are
continually revised. Clearly, PEGASUS does not change for change’s sake, but evolves
appropriately as the emerging body of experiential and scholarly knowledge grows to
include new insights on the rapidly changing campus culture; student attitudes,
expectations, and characteristics, and especially with regard to the compounded effects of
many of external factors (e.g., fiscal, governmental, logistical, public opinion).

2. Elaborate
PEGASUS aims to: (1) encourage academic success, retention, and graduation rates, and (2)
to enhance the social and personal development of the participating FGC students. While
these goals appear straightforward, the term elaborate here is used to describe the
overlapping components of an academically based program that views and addresses the
students’ needs from a deliberately holistic, humanistic perspective.
The program finds its current success through the confluence of intrusive academic
advising with relevant transition guidance, consistent peer mentoring, an engaging cohort
community, a valuable skills development curriculum, and meaningful service
opportunities. These separate elements are woven together with the strong threads of
honest communication, understanding, inspiration, competition, and fun.
As one example, consider the service and outreach component of the program. FGC student
participants volunteer with and begin mentoring local area FGC students through the
program’s community partners like Buckner’s Children’s Home, the Texas Tech Upward
Bound program, and the Lubbock Area Boys & Girls Club. Volunteering provides students
with the opportunity to openly communicate their own goals, challenges, and intentions.
This further reinforces the commitment and motivation of the PEGASUS participants, while
planting seeds in the minds of the younger FGC students that will bear their own fruit in
due time. This experience engages both sets of FGC students (serving and receiving) and
instills a sense of purpose, opportunity, empowerment, and community.
There is neither space here to fully explore each of the component parts nor to explain the
importance each part has on the success of the others. Instead, we have attempted to
briefly relate our growing appreciation for each facet of the PEGASUS program. The
specifics are not secreted away, however; we direct you to the program’s web site,
http://www.fgc.ttu.edu, where full details are published including the following: program
calendar, participation guides, program curriculum, annual reports and marketing
collateral.
Exigent
As the research of our colleagues in this chapter have shown, the obstacles are not simple,
their combined effects are not well understood, and the characteristics of the
affected/targeted population are not fixed. The term exigent here is used to broadly
describe the complexity of the challenge and the intricacy of the successful solution when
theory is carried beyond the static and/or sterile environment of historical, descriptive,
and experimental research.
It is important and responsible of us to communicate momentarily on the magnitude and
complexity of the practical challenge. Our aim is to steady any reader who would endeavor
to programmatically impact FGC students within their realm of influence without fully
preparing for the long-term personal, professional, and institutional commitments that a
new program of this type ethically require.
Our experience is that personnel turn over, administrators waver, academics retreat, and
accountants scrutinize. Still, a program of this type makes long term promises to its

3. students, to their families, and to society at large; we would be remiss to overlook or
understate the importance and/or the complexity of the endeavor.
Exciting
Though few are familiar with the official name, “Pioneers in Education: Generations
Achieving Scholarship and Unprecedented Success”, the “PEGASUS” acronym and its
related mythological imagery clearly communicate the power, beauty, and mystery of the
program. “Excitement,” “enthusiasm,” and “energy,” or more academically, “motivation” is
germane to the topic because the research shows an important and significant relationship
between purely affective factors and the success of FGC students.
The practice of sharing stories, feasting, competing, awarding, and collectively celebrating
(in spite of any individual failure) is an extension of the cohort community that PEGASUS
successfully develops over the course of every academic year. When new students and
their families hear personally from returning alumni who come to events as featured guest
speakers, the hearers are (1) enabled and prompted to envision their own future success,
(2) challenged to perform at or above the level of the speaker, and (3) invited to believe in
themselves and the institution that has recruited and enrolled them.
Though it is impossible for this article to effectively convey the excitement of an actual
PEGASUS banquet, readers are invited to read success stories and student testimonials at
the program web site: http://www.fgc.ttu.edu.
Conclusions & Next Steps
PEGASUS is a valuable recruiting and retention device on the TTU campus that
demonstrably facilitates the successful transition and academic performance of its FGC
students in their first year. Its theoretical underpinnings continue to guide, inform, and
direct the activities. Its practical experiences over an eight year childhood are maturing
into a program that is (1) continually being refined, (2) understands and navigates the
institutional and cultural environment, (3) interacts holistically with its students, and (4)
deliberately addresses and leverages the vitally important affective elements of human
nature.
The program has operated to this point with its original three simple metrics of success
(GPA, Retention and Graduation Rate), which have sufficiently justified its own existence
and growth as a small player in the larger university environment. Moving forward, the
program is defining and clarifying the next layer of its own desired outcomes and
assessments. In so doing PEGASUS can more confidently determine and implement
subsequent improvements through the deliberate and measurable application of theory. In
so doing, the program will be more fully equipped to learn from mistakes and celebrate
successes.