IVCC to develop support network for adult students

Illinois Valley Community College is launching a program to demystify the college experience for returning adults and establish support for students who do not follow the traditional high school route to campus.

The first phase begins Monday with a series of informational sessions. Soon, a tailored system to orient adult students to their new surroundings will be developed that will be a support resource and networking avenue, said Ashlee Fitzpatrick and Hannah Bowermaster, who are leading the initiative.

The first of the virtual question-and-answer sessions will be offered at 3 p.m. Monday, March 10. A second will be at 5:30 p.m. April 8, and a third will be May 7 at a time to be determined. No registration is required, and participants can drop in and out of the virtual meeting as their schedule permits. Adult students already enrolled are invited too.

One of IVCC’s goals is to develop a dedicated adult student resources program.

“These sessions are designed to address the unique needs of our adult student population and to help students begin to build community with other students with similar backgrounds,” IVCC President Tracy Morris said. “I am very excited to see this initiative begin to take shape and look forward to the positive impact for our students.”

In Fitzpatrick’s own return to college, she remembers wondering how to fit college into a life filled with a full-time job and raising children.

“The hardest part for me was just getting started,” said Fitzpatrick, who is the associate director of retention for IVCC. “I nearly talked myself out of doing it because I did not know where to start.”

Bowermaster, the special populations specialist, said the team wants to understand any barriers and how college services for adult students can be enhanced or modified.

As traditional students transition into college, Bowermaster said, they are advised by parents and counselors, and there is a defined pathway lined with information about everything from financial aid to support services.

Adult students, on the other hand, take many different paths to the college’s doorstep.

“Adult students are further removed from the education space,” Fitzpatrick said. “We are trying to provide them with similar resources but also to be there as an advocate for them. We can help them work through paperwork or connect them to services in our community.”

When she returned to school, Fitzpatrick did a lot on her own.

“I had to seek people out and ask questions,” Fitzpatrick said. “If there had been a program like this to help me come back to school, I 100% would have welcomed it.”

“We do not want to let preventable, solvable obstacles snowball into insurmountable issues,” Bowermaster said. “Every adult student is different. They might be working or be displaced workers. They might be looking for a new career. They might be caring for their children or for adult parents. There are all kinds of adult students, and just one kind of support does not fit them all.”

Bowermaster and Fitzpatrick say incoming students need more than just a page of instructions, and they hope to streamline the transition and build connections to make the college experience a better one. They also are relying on Luke Olivero, English as a second language/GED program coordinator, and Carrie Danekas, adult transition specialist, to help shape the onboarding process because they are familiar with adult students in transition.

Bowermaster said the team envisions “more of a buffet of services, so students can come and pick out what they need more help in, but a structure will be there.”

They hope the informational sessions lead to participants connecting with other adult students, which can be difficult in typical college settings.

“We are providing an opportunity to get answers from us and from one another. Currently enrolled students are also invited,” Fitzpatrick said. “They might have questions about what is next, how to get more involved on campus or want to build connections with their peers.”

Bowermaster and Fitzpatrick debated the format and scheduling of the sessions before opting for an online format, as it is more convenient for people with busy schedules. Adult students will help shape the transition program, so they want to be flexible.

“We see these sessions recurring, maybe once a month or every few months – we are feeling it out to see what is convenient,” Fitzpatrick said.

To access the Zoom meeting, participants can use this link: shorturl.at/V3eI3. The ID is 869 8965 3132, and the passcode is AdultQ&A. For more information, Fitzpatrick can be reached at ashlee_fitzpatrick@ivcc.edu and Bowermaster at hannah_bowermaster@ivcc.edu.