Over a third of the student body at Notre Dame College is first-gen. Many of these students were unaware of available resources and felt embarrassed by the prospect of asking for help. Resultantly, retention rates for first-gen students between freshmen and sophomore year were alarmingly low: just 57% in 2013. After only three years of implementing a peer mentorship system at their FirstGen Center, they are seeing retention rates rise to over 70%. One of the most powerful tactics NDC has implemented is creating a positive association with being first-gen.

1. FirstGen Center at
Notre Dame College
Laurel G. Kaiser, MSW, LISW-S
Director, FirstGen Center

2. First Generation College Students
• Neither parent completed a 4 year undergraduate degree
• Approximately one in six first-year college students in the U.S. fit
the definition of FGCS.
• Only 11% national graduation rate
• Due to financial, academic and/or social/emotional factors.
• Costs of not supporting these students exceed beyond the high
cost of college attrition –impacts generations to follow

3. What do First-Generation
students need to succeed?
1. Supportive relationships
• Personal relationships with faculty, non-faculty staff and role models such as mentors
• Need support to resist pressure exerted by family members, friends and the familiar
to return home
• Connection to increase sense of belonging
The First Generation Student Experience: Implications for Campus Practice and Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success” (Jeff Davis,
2010)

4. 2. Academic Intervention
• FGCS Lag behind in math, English and study skills
• FGCS need to be placed in study groups where
study skills are taught
• Need specialized and more frequent advising and
additional academic support that accommodates
non-traditional schedules
(Jeff Davis, 2010)

5. 3. Additional time to become
acclimated with college culture,
processes and systems
• Negative feelings associated academic success are more
acute, also known as “the imposture phenomenon” (Martinez et. Al
2009, Terenzini et al., 1996)
• Need to be engaged early in the college process, provided
more frequent follow up and enrolled in a college 101 course
• Unfamiliar with college terminology “Registrar, office hours,
ombudsman”
(Davis, 2010)

6. 4. Support to gain self-confidence
and willingness to ask for help
• Often hold back in classroom discussions
• More likely to live and work off campus
• More likely to suffer from emotional problems
• Participate in fewer extracurricular activities,
internships, and networking opportunities
• Need more informal spaces to increase sense of
belonging and develop connections
(Glenn, 2004; Moschetti & Hudley, 2008). (Francis & Miller, 2008 ,Davis, 2010)

7. Establishment of
the FirstGen
Center
• The FirstGen Center
(FGC) Was established
in the fall of 2015 with
a pilot of 20 students
• Fall of 2016 welcomed
52 students into the
program, additional
50 students in Fall of
2017

8. What worked, what didn’t?
What we have learned…

12. What we learned..
• 4 questions
• Student feedback was essential
• Leadership opportunities
• Increasing social capital and connections
• Students need to learn the how and why of networking
• Increasing students support network, not just for times
of crisis…
• Changing stigma and culture around being “first-gen”

13. Resilience

14. FirstGen
Peer Mentoring
Program
• Future initiatives for peer to
peer connections
• Alumni relationships

15. Peer Mentoring
“I am showing them that if I can do it, then they can,
too, because they can. I really did not have anyone to
ask questions about college, but FirstGen has been a
place for me to start. I want to encourage my
brothers to go to college. They can make these
connections, too. They can succeed.”
JF, Class of 2020

16. Future of The FirstGen Center
• Close the achievement gap between first generation
students and non-first generation students
• Increase persistence rate and graduation rate of
first-generation college students at NDC.

17. Program Outcomes

18. Academic
Performance
(2016-2017)
• Average GPA 2.51 (vs. 2.87
traditional students)
• 35% of FirstGen students
received a 3.0 or higher
> 3.0
33%
2.00 - 2.99
42%
1.00 - 1.99
17%
< 1
8%
FIRSTGEN GPA DISTRIBUTION

19. Retention rates of First-generation
college students at Notre Dame.
57
60.1
63.1
70
64
65.8
69.7 70.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2013 2014 2015 2016
first-gen
non-first

20. Student Voice
The following quote really represents how FirstGen has
affected me. “Ohana means family. Family means no one
gets left behind or forgotten. ~ Lilo and Stich.”
In FirstGen, we are a family. In our FirstGen family, no one
gets left behind and no one gets forgotten. This family has
helped me overcome things that I never thought I could do
by myself. They were there for me when at times I wasn’t
even there for myself. They pushed me to be the best person
they saw and knew I could become. FirstGen has helped me
grow in my professional life by helping me know what is
best to do at an interview, like what you should wear, what
to bring with you, and how first impressions mean
everything. Without FirstGen I Would not be the person I
am today or have had the opportunities to better myself.”
-Current sophomore

21. Services Provided
• Cohort of students provided individualized coach
• ALL first-gen students can participate in groups,
events, programing.
• Drop-In Center (available to all students)
• 1 credit pass/fail course based on the “7 Habits of
Highly Effective College Students”

22. Mission Statement
The Mission of the FirstGen Center is to empower
first-generation students to preserver to graduation
through resiliency caching, mentoring and leadership
opportunities.