Making Higher Education Work for Everyone at AUSB
Posted on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
“Imagine a single mother who has worked 20 years in accounting, dropped out of college, and has always wanted to finish her degree,” says Steve Weir, director of enrollment and financial aid for Antioch University Santa Barbara (AUSB). “We may be able to give her course credit. Even though she didn’t take Accounting 101, she has the equivalent experience.”
Weir is describing AUSB’s Bridge Program, which grants community college students and other qualifying applicants additional course units toward their bachelor’s degrees. He cites the Bridge Program as just one example of AUSB’s commitment to students who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to attend college.
“Our goal for the campus is to mirror the diversity of the community,” Weir says. That goal informs every AUSB initiative, from connecting with a wide range of prospective applicants to supporting enrolled students along the way to finishing their degrees.
Refining Community Outreach and One-on-one Support
To reach students from different backgrounds, school administrators work hard at building trust and relationships in the community. “We work very closely with the counseling offices at local community colleges,” says Weir. “They’ve become aware of the kind of place we are, the kind of attention we offer, which helps to set us apart.”
This year, the school introduced a guaranteed admission program for certain students starting at local community colleges. If those students complete specified courses and maintain the required GPA, they are guaranteed a future spot at AUSB.
Community outreach takes other forms too. AUSB emphasizes being present in the community, not simply to raise the school’s profile but also to share particular areas of expertise. President Nancy Leffert, for example, has addressed organizations on child psychology, her area of academic focus.
Once students arrive at AUSB, explains Weir, they find a network of support to see them through.
“Academic advising–and the indirect advising that faculty offer–is about much more than which courses to take,” he says. “We check in with students to see how things are going. If there appear to be issues like recurring absences or dropping grades, we try to intervene early to see if there’s something we can remediate, whether it’s a financial issue, a health or family issue, or an issue of not understanding the material.”
In an effort to ensure class offerings appeal to different student populations, AUSB recently introduced an academic concentration in Latino mental health at the master’s level, as well as a concentration in healthy aging.
“We have a much broader definition of diversity than simply ethnicity,” Weir says. “We also think of gender and age. Our students range in age from 23 to 70 years old, with the average being 35.”
Earning National Recognition
AUSB’s approach to building diversity is a dynamic effort that has borne impressive results. The U.S. Department of Education recently deemed the school as eligible to apply for designation as a Hispanic-serving institution. If awarded, such status would bring the school significant resources and expand student access to financial assistance, on a campus where 70 percent of students receive financial aid.
Increasing the Hispanic student population to mirror more closely the community as a whole is very important to Leffert, and Hispanic enrollment at AUSB has risen from about 12 percent to over 25 percent in recent years.
“There’s more work ahead,” Weir says. “But there’s a buzz in the community about what’s happening at AUSB. We’re proud of what we’ve done.”
