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An Initiative Of NASPA and The Suder Foundation

First Scholars

This page is designed to be a resource to your application process to the First Scholars phase of the First Scholars Network.
CORE COMPONENTS
BENEFITS
KEY DATES
DIAGNOSTICS
APPLICATION
FIRST SCHOLARS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

First Scholars: A National Scaling Model

First Scholars is the third phase of the First Scholars Network and serves as the Center’s customized approach to intentional institutional transformation.

Through First Scholars, institutions receive a customized approach to transform institutional infrastructures and supports to advance first-generation student success.  Utilizing a continuous improvement framework, First Scholars offers diagnostic tools providing critical institutional insight, a host of customized solutions and turnkey toolkits, robust data reporting, and the guidance of experts across the experience. First Scholars offers institutions the flexibility to shape their knowledge to meet institutional needs while aligning with the evidence-based outcomes imperative to advancing the success of first-generation students.

First Scholars Core Components

First Scholars Core Components Slide Download

Benefits

Institutional participants in the First Scholars phase benefit from:

  • Engagement in a evidence-informed process, grounded in implementation science, to reach your goals and designed to address identified barriers that typically impede progress;
  • Assignment of a dedicated expert coach to guide your progress to goals and serve as a resource for the institutional team;
  • Access to proprietary assessments designed to facilitate understanding around your institution’s capacity to implement systemic cultural shifts that will holistically support first-generation student success; and Support from a network of institutions with similar priorities and goals related to first-generation student success;
  • Access to valuable data and insights on first-generation student outcomes through PDP dashboards, including student-level outcomes and trends across the First Scholars Network;
  • Engagement in modules and networking opportunities related to creating organizational structures and scaling and implementing student-centered approaches designed to increase first-generation student success;
  • Opportunity to earn the additional designation of institutional excellence related to supporting first-generation students;
  • Discounted or free registration on professional development offerings tailored to first-generation student success including but not limited to virtual learning and engagement opportunities, live briefings, short-courses, community building and networking conversations, and large-scale virtual events; and
  • Discounted registration on the NASPA Annual Conference, NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education, and special offerings hosted by the Center for First-generation Student Success.

 

 

Key Dates to Know

We are excited for your institution to take the next step within the First Scholars Network by applying to First Scholars. Below you will find a timeline for application and onboarding, including links to viewable versions of required documents.

NASPA Conference Information Sessions 

First Scholars in-person Information Session at the NASPA Annual Conference - March 11, 2024 (conference registration required)

First Scholars in-person Information Session at the NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education - June 2024 (conference registration required)

First Scholars Interest Meetings 

Register Here: May 6, 2024  •  June 5, 2024

Selection

April - September 2024 (rolling selection)

Onboarding

September - December 2024

Introduction to Continous Improvement and Expert Guidance

January - February 2025

First Scholars Leadership Academy

June 2025

 

Diagnostics

Data Visibility for First-generation Student Success

Throughout the Network journey, institutions gain access to diagnostic tools and advisory sessions to discover and document the current state of first-generation student outcomes, organizational structures, programmatic offerings, and cultural elements critical to first-generation student success.

The following provide a foundation for this work: 

  • The Readiness and Progress Audit (RPA) is a tool utilized throughout the First Scholars Network experience to collect longitudinal progress data. Providing insight into how your institution is working to strengthen and scale institutional infrastructure and resources for first-generation students. We have ask institutions to complete this audit at various points to be able to compare this data including at the end of previous phases.

  • The Insights Tool is a proprietary assessment designed to facilitate understanding around your institution’s first-generation initiatives and collects staff, faculty, and other institutional members’ perceptions of first-generation support. 

  • The Postsecondary Data Partnership (PDP) empowers institutions with more comprehensive data, easier analysis, centralized reporting functions, and better visual representations to help you understand, improve, and communicate student outcomes. The PDP offers interactive dashboards that enable your institution to visualize student outcomes in aggregated and disaggregated forms and an analysis-ready file that lets you dig deeper into the data to find where you can make the biggest improvements on your campus and implement student interventions in a timely manner.

 

  • PDP BENEFITS

    • All undergraduate students are included in the data submission, regardless of starting term or official cohort;

    • Benchmarking across a variety of institutional types;

    • Early momentum metrics for early and ongoing support;

    • Outcome indicators for long-term effectiveness evaluation & support;

    • Term-by-term analyses to track student progress toward degree completion;

    • Highly accessible data with multiple filters and dimensions;

    • Visualizations specific to achievement gaps; and

    • Analysis-ready files for further analyses and comparisons

     

  • FEATURES OF THE PDP

    The data submission benefits the institutions by giving the practitioners closely involved in the First Scholars Network access to valuable data and insights on first-generation student outcomes. The data also benefits the First Scholars Network as the team can access student-level outcomes indirectly influenced by participation in the First Scholars Network, as well as identify trends across the First Scholars Network so content can be adjusted to most benefit the institutions as they work to better support first-generation students.

     

     

  • THROUGH THE FIRST SCHOLARS NETWORK, OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS WILL:

    • help institutions navigate conversations about inclusivity and equity. For example, the intersectional identities of first-generation students can be included in all analyses;

    • work with institutions to better understand what the data are saying and what the data are not saying;

    • identify what institutional changes can affect the data for improvement; and

    • help institutions communicate the findings to appropriate audiences and create a compelling narrative that is relevant to continuous improvement. For example, are the findings aligned with other institutional data analyses? Are there any contradictions?

    As more institutions join First Scholars, we will begin to have robust insights from a high-level perspective of first-generation trends, including longitudinal insights.

First Scholars Application Process

We encourage active Network Member & First-gen Forward institutions to apply to First Scholars! After having reviewed the information on this web page, the next step is to register for a First Scholars Information Session. A registration link and additional information will be added to this web page and emailed directly to the institution's primary contacts as soon they are available.

 

The application process includes the following:

 

Selection for First Scholars Cohort Six will occur on a rolling basis as institutions complete the First Scholars Application. 

First Scholars Leadership Academy

The First Scholars Leadership Academy at the NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education convenes leadership teams from each of our newest First Scholars institutions and focuses on the role of leaders in advancing a national narrative on first-generation student success while offering critical training and professional development. Selected institutions should expect to receive further details from the First Scholars team and their expert guide to support your team through the process.

 

Institutions will:

  • Meet with expert guides;
  • Network with peer institutions;
  • Hear from national leaders in first-generation student sucess;
  • Finalize continuous improvement priorities for the coming year; and 
  • Access to unique pre-conference workshops.
 

Contact Us

Thank you for your time and continued commitment to first-generation student success. Please contact [email protected] should you have any questions.