FEATURE
least one summer course, Foster said. This includes 100 to 150 incoming first-year students who typically are part of SPECTRA or are student-ath- letes. A smaller number of incom- ing freshmen who are not part of a cohort like SPECTRA or an athletic program also start in the summer. “Today’s student wants to be so much more flexible. It’s natural we see more first-year entering stu- dents want to start on their own time or when they’re ready, even if that means starting ahead of the tradi- tional start,” Foster said. WHAT COUNSELORS NEED TO KNOW Although Twitty participated in pre-college and bridge programs over the summer, as an enrolled student, she took the summers off through her senior year. That’s because studying over sum- mer semesters isn’t for everyone, or every circumstance. “There are advantages and disad- vantages (to summer semesters),” said Foster. “It’s not the perfect fit for every student.” Counselors should be sure their students have a clear understand- ing of the resources that are avail- able — or not — over the summer. Traditionally, there isn’t the same number of faculty, the same num- ber of students, or the same amount of resources as in the fall or spring. Enrolled students often navigate those circumstances just fine, as they’ve become familiar with the institution, but that’s not always the case for incoming first-year students. “From an institutional perspective, if you can get students to start as a cohort, that’s a bit easier to manage,” said Foster. “If you have a student start in the summer on their own, you have a very independent student
A participant of Maker’s Mark, a two-week engineering summer program at Marymount University, where students learn how to build and program a robotic dog.
there who takes that initiative. Is the student the kind of student who will be able to seek out support if they need it or ask the questions that they need in order to navigate their start in a less traditional way?” Frisenda also encourages coun- selors to become familiar with local summer programs and reach out to get a feel for them. “I do find our toughest point of contact is counselors,” he said, noting that it’s hard to break through every- thing else they are juggling. Once familiar with local summer programs, counselors may find that they can really help position students for success. SPECTRA students of color, for instance, have a 79 per- cent retention rate during their first two years at the college — nearly on par with the overall student reten- tion rate of 80 percent, said Johnson. SPECTRA students of color also maintain an overall 3 percent higher retention rate to graduation than non-SPECTRA students of color, she said.
As Twitty nears the end of her undergraduate journey, she reg- ularly promotes Junior Project, Senior Project, and SPECTRA to other students. “I always tell them that whether you’re coming to the College of Charleston or another school, the school won’t make the experience for you, you have to make it yourself,” she said. “That means putting your- self out there.” Through her summer opportuni- ties, she developed lasting friend- ships, kickstarted her college journey on a strong note, and developed rela- tionships with the faculty members and counselors who oversaw the pro- grams. One of them even wrote her letter of recommendation for gradu- ate school. “These programs did a really great job of making me feel included, mak- ing the students feel incorporated, and exposing us to college life and what to expect and prepare for,” she said.
Rachel Williams is a content editor and writer at NACAC.
30 • THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ADMISSION
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