How UCLA is Utilizing the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit to Perform Inquiry and Identify Key Sources of Existing Institutional Data about our

Student Parents

Student Parent Support Symposium, The Ohio State UniversityMay 31, 2019

Jean Libby and Valerie Shepard, UCLA

Welcome! Who is in the room?

Link to online poll (https://onlinepoll.ucla.edu)

Search for poll "UCLA at SPSS 2019"

Password: SPSS2019

Presenters

Jean Libby, M. Ed.She/her/hers

Program Director, Students with Dependents Program, UCLA Bruin Resource Center

jlibby@saonet.ucla.edu

Valerie Shepard, Ph.D.She/her/hers

Student Affairs Grant Support and Writer, UCLA Recreation

vshepard@saonet.ucla.edu

Learning Outcomes: UCLA 2018-19

Learn the practical, concrete steps we took to adapt the Program Evaluation and Research Group at Endicott College’s Family Friendly Campus Toolkit at UCLA in 2018-19 to understand the experience of our parenting students

Learn about the already-existing institutional data regarding parenting students at UCLA we were able to find and analyze, as well as about key campus partnerships that made our effort possible

Learning Outcomes: Your Next Steps

Learn how to identify potential existing sources of data that may exist at your own institution

Learn strategies for creating a Task Force on your own campus and building institutional support for your work to support student parents

Connect with one another, exchange ideas, and learn from each other about promising practices, leaving with a network of partners and an action plan

Case StudyUCLA Students with Dependents Task Force

Challenges at UCLA for Supporting Student Parents 1

Numbers: How many student parents at UCLA? What are their demographics? Request for data from campus partners and potential donors.

Silos–one Students with Dependents program, but many offices

Parenting students expressed frustration at lack of support for their community on campus

Challenges at UCLA for Supporting Student Parents 2How and where to start?

Moving beyond anecdotesData needed to tell compelling, evidence-based stories

Data needed to identify key systemic issues for supporting parenting students at an institutional level to drive change

At UCLA, FAFSA data has been crucial to identify undergraduate student parents; however, many graduate/professional school students and most international students do not file a FAFSA.

Impetus for Task Force Student concerns presented an opportunity for institutional buy-in to begin the task force

Because of these challenges, the Students with Dependents program director decided to implement a year-long task force.

Self-study: gathering institutional data, identifying gaps in data

Identify high-need areas to drive change

Identify stakeholders, build relationships, collaborations to support parenting students

Profile of UCLA 1Urban campus, public 4-year R1 university

As of Fall 2018-19: Almost 46,000 total students

About 24,000 undergraduate students; about 7400 of those are new/ continuing/returning transfer students.

Transfer students are around 30% of our undergraduate population.Almost 13,000 graduate and professional school students.

Graduate/professional school students students are around 28% of our total student population.

Profile of UCLA 2As of 2017-18:

Over 35% of UCLA undergraduates are Pell grant recipientsOver 1/3 of UCLA undergraduates are first generation students

Domestic/International:Undergraduate: 12% international, 88% domesticGrad/professional students (GPS): 26% international, 75% domestic students

Gender:Undergraduate: 43% male, 57% femaleGPS: 53% male, 47% female

Profile of UCLA 3

Ethnicity (domestic students):

African American: 3% undergraduate, 3% GPSAmerican Indian/Alaska Native: <1% undergraduate, <1% GPSAsian: 28% undergraduate, 18% GPSHispanic: 22% undergraduate, 12% GPSPacific Islander: <1% undergraduate, <1% GPSWhite: 27% undergraduate, 34% GPSTwo or more races: 5% undergraduate, 4% GPSOther domestic/unknown: 2% undergraduate, 4% GPS

From UCLA 2017-18 Undergraduate Profile (https://www.apb.ucla.edu/Portals/90/Documents/Campus%20Stats/UGProfile17-18.pdf)

Bruin Resource CenterOffers Specialized Services for:

Current and Former Foster YouthStudents with DependentsTransfer StudentsStudents in RecoveryUndocumented StudentsVeterans

Programs & CurriculaIntergroup Dialogue

Resource Center model enhances resources and centers support for students of intersectional identities

Parenting Student ResourcesParenting student staff of 5, Professional Staff member .5 FTENewsletters with job opportunities, scholarships, and eventsReferrals to campus and community resources:

Lactation SupportParent Support GroupLittle Bruin Clubhouse: Evening Child Care ProgramLittle Bruin Wishes Holiday Gift Program

Housing PriorityLearning how to navigate UCLA and how to access childcare, financial aid, and family housingHelp with navigating CalFresh, CalWorks, GAIN, WIC and MediCalIndividual academic and personal supportSocial media community

Research question for Task ForceHow can we mine our own existing institutional data in a spirit of inquiry to understand our parenting student population?

How can we utilize and adapt the PERG Family Friendly Campus Toolkit self-study process to

Get comprehensive view of the services, supports, and policies that exist on campus? Identify potential gaps or barriers students or departments are experiencing? Create a roadmap for future action steps?

PERG Family Friendly Campus Toolkit (https://www.endicott.edu/family-friendly-campus-toolkit)

Purpose of Task Force

Identify the large and small barriers to parenting student success and identify the specific actionable steps we need to take to mitigate them

Emphasize a broad definition of student success by supporting all student parents more effectively, based on their own choices rather than circumstances dictating their choices

UCLA’s Task Force: The Nitty Gritty 1Fall of 2017: Mothers of Color de Academia marched to our Equity Diversity & Inclusion office demanding additional supports for parenting students

Student Affairs charged with responding to these requests

Task Force Structure:4 meetings: 1 initial meeting Spring 2018; 3 meetings (one per quarter) in Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019Co-chairs: Jean Libby, Students with Dependents Program, and Kristen McKinney, UCLA Student Affairs Information Research OfficeAdditional Task Force administrators: Valerie Shepard, UCLA Recreation, and Amy Woodbridge, SAIRO Graduate Student Researcher (and parenting student)

UCLA’s Task Force: The Nitty Gritty 2Key stakeholders were identified by brainstorming existing contacts and supporters. Student Affairs leadership contacted the department directors to solicit additional participants.

Key partnershipsSAIROFinancial AidRecreationCreating Space/Bruin Lactation Coalition

Task Force Stakeholders 1AVC Student DevelopmentStudents with Dependents Program (lead) Bruin Resource Center Leadership & BRC Transfer CenterStudent Affairs Information Research Office (co-leads) Student Organizations: MOCA, Creating SpaceStudent Interns at the Bruin Resource CenterBruin Lactation CoalitionGrad & Family Residential Life, Residential Life LeadershipAcademic Divisions: Academic Advancement Program, Center for Community College Partnerships, and College Academic Counseling (Division of Undergraduate Education); Graduate Division Academic Services

Task Force Stakeholders 2Dean of Students OfficeTitle IXHousingNew Student Transitions/OrientationFinancial Wellness/Economic Crisis Response TeamUCLA Recreation (Little Bruin Clubhouse, Youth Programs)Community Programs Office/ Basic Needs CommitteeUCLA Early Care and EducationArthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness CenterDashew Center for International Students and ScholarsParking/TransportationFinancial Aid

Task Force Stakeholders 3

Undergraduate Admissions--Transfer AdmissionsParent & Family ProgramsStudent Affairs DevelopmentCenter for Accessible Education Counseling and Psychological ServicesCareer CenterStudent Health Education and PromotionOffice of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, InclusionLGBT Campus Resource CenterGraduate Student Resource Center TIE-INS, K-12 School Partnership with Los Angeles Unified School DistrictCase Management Team; Case Management for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars

Meetings Meeting 1: Spring 2018

SAIRO presented demographic data; student panel: 5 students

Meeting 2: Fall 2018SAIRO presented experiential data based on existing UCUES and GPS surveys; Activity presented by Intergroup Dialogue Program

Meeting 3: Winter 2019Presentations by Bruin Lactation Coalition and Early Care and Education (Childcare)

Meeting 4: Spring 2019Research Presentations by staff in graduate programs regarding transfer student parents. Discussed Know Your Rights Panel organized by students (Title IX, services for students with disabilities office, student legal services and discrimination prevention office)Discussed Task Force’s priorities using worksheet tool in the Toolkit

Each meeting’s content built on questions raised in meeting immediately prior, based on the interests of our group

Key Takeaways Identified multiple sources of existing institutional data

Existing survey data, programmatic data, policy and organizational data snowball effect

Staff members and constituent research

Findings based on this institutional dataPriorities identified:

Written statement recognizing student parents as an identity on campus to be served Increasing visibility for parenting students across media and marketing platforms throughout the universityContinued and enhanced information sharing and task force subcommittee work

ChildcarePolicies Communication and collaboration

Immediate Next StepsData collection and analysis based on Family Friendly Campus Toolkit completeLearn about best practices for FFCT at Student Parent Success SymposiumDraft Task Force Report and send to VC Student Affairs by end of June 2019Create plan for continuance of SWD Task Force based on membership inputTask Force requested rotating leadership for AY 2019-20 meetings, both to support Students with Dependents program and to signal that supporting parenting students is a campuswide responsibility. Appoint student leadership role on Task Force.

What We Have LearnedOur institutional knowledge has greatly increased

Value of the Task Force to all participantsTask Force members are excited that issues and next steps are being defined; they know they are having an impact, which is creating more buy-in

Ongoing Challenges and GoalsFaculty involvementGaining visible support/buy-in from high level champions

Momentum and output from the Task Force is helping to gain support—visible results, but we are not yet where we need to be

Correlate goals of task force with existing UC and national goals

Further Partnerships and BenchmarksUCLA Lactation Coalition

Started by students, supported by UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI)HCI core value: Striving to reduce inequities in health; HCI also supports both a UC systemwide priority to combat food insecurity and a Basic Needs committee on campus

Healthy Campus Initiative Core Values (https://healthy.ucla.edu/core-values-key-ingredients/)UCOP Global Food Initiative (https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/)

UC Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of WomenKey UC-wide study that helps to justify our efforts at an institutional level

Information on the committee (UC https://sacsw.universityofcalifornia.edu/)

UC Transfer Students; Transfer PathwaysA UC Presidential Priority for streamlining transfer admissions and giving more support to enrolled transfer students, as almost 1/3 of UC undergraduates are transfer students

Initiative website (https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/initiative/student-opportunity/transfer/transfer-students-initiative)Parenting student highlighted when you click through (https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-looks-simplify-and-improve-transfer-experience)

Q and A

Connecting and Creating an Action Plan

Get into groups of 4

On the handout, write contact information for members of your group

20 minutes: Discussion; short shareout to larger group.

Fill out the action plan section of your handout. These are your own notes for your next steps at your institution.

Thank you!!Jean Libby, jlibby@saonet.ucla.eduValerie Shepard, vshepard@saonet.ucla.edu

Link to Box Resources (https://ucla.box.com/s/057p2i61ttokx9q27wuygcmgin9xzg86)