Running head: COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
Final Paper: Fostering Changes in College Attendance at a Multicultural Institution
Leisha R. Cavallaro
1 Paradise Cove
Statesboro, GA 30458
An essay analyzing the need to foster changes in college attendance in a
multicultural educational environment submitted to:
Dr. J. Smith of Georgia Southern University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
COUN 7132 – 01F
SPRING 2012
Friday, May 4th, 2012
Statesboro, Georgia
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COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
There are many changes that have occurred over the past two decades in respect to
college attendance. As the numbers have risen overall, so has the number of minorities that
enroll in college. This new multicultural environment calls for some changes that need to be
fostered by education professionals. It is important to note that the extent of these changes does
depend on the type of school, location, size, qualifications, etc. However, despite the specifics of
the college there is a noticeable change overall that needs to be acknowledged and promoted to
continue the evolution. In this paper I am going to focus on a large public co-ed university,
specifically the University of Central Florida.
The University of Central Florida has over 58,000 students who represent every state in
the United States as well as students from over 140 countries (University of Central Florida,
2011). Being located UCF has a large amount of graduate students, almost 10,000 leaving their
freshmen entering class around 4,000 students. Though this seems like a small percentage of
their students it’s important to note the changes in demographics of students and how over time
if these freshmen continue to be more and more diverse the population will become increasingly
diverse. The percentage of white students in the school was 71.6% in 2001 and is currently
60.75% (University of Central Florida, 2011). This numbers show how this slow change turns
into big different over time this evolution must come with accommodation by education
professionals in order to maintain retention rates and encourage the changes.
It is important to realize that as our world changed around us we must also change with it.
For instance with the advancement in technology the education system must constantly be
updating their modes of lectures and ways of providing information. Also, as information
changes and we gather new bits of knowledge educators must constantly accommodate these
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COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
fluctuations; diversity and cultural changes shouldn’t be treated any different. The changes in
student population are important to note and understand because that can also change the
education system (Davis, 2007). Students have individual needs and these needs change student
to students as well as from culture to culture. Knowing these differences and needs can help
foster and encourage the changes that are happening in relation to current and future college
attendance trends.
The changes in college attendance needs to be recognized by the University itself and
efforts should be made by all departments not just educators. One major student service area that
must focus on these changes is the Admissions office. Through the application process it is
important to make efforts to encourage students of various cultures to apply to their institution.
At UCF the admission requirements have increased over time as there are more and more
applicants. These requirements have not necessarily discriminated against certain cultures;
however, as they continue to change the requisites the office needs to consider cultural
differences and needs of their applicants.
For instance, knowing that first generation students are more likely to come from
Hispanic or African American cultures (Olive, 2010) could alter the deadline or marketing
process of searching for applicants. It is important that admissions offices make efforts to market
for students to apply rather than just accept students who make the effort on their own; this
would put students who are less informed about the college culture at a disadvantage of even
applying to college correctly or in a timely manner. Outside of higher education, K-12 educators
need to be aware of this statistic and encourage minorities to continue to apply and go to college.
Some of these students have little support from their families and even if they do have support
the have no model to look to in assistance for the process of applying for and attending college.
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COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
Outside of merely applying to college, there comes the issue of cultural competence.
Many students may not experience a multicultural setting before college and minority students
may have a hard time acclimating and feeling welcomed in a University setting. The
development of each student is important and key throughout college especially in regards to
retention. In fact, the development of all students can be related directly to Chickernings seven
vectors. Culturally diverse students especially struggle with vector 4 – establishing mature
interpersonal relationships – and vector 5 – developing identity (Pascarella & Terenzini 2005).
Many minority students end up dropping out due to inability to cope with their environment as
well as having different values and learning styles based on their culture. Many minorities report
feeling socially isolated and left out of general campus life (Miller & Sujitparapitaya, 2010).
Knowing these trends put an obligation on administrators to make efforts to
counterbalance these feelings and assist and making students feel welcome and comfortable. As
educators there should be conscious efforts to have students interact with each other, even if it is
only a school project, intentional groups instead of allowing students to choose groups could
assist in getting students to know each other and interact. As humans we tend to be attracted to
things and people who are like us, but if given the opportunity to get to know something different
we could just find out that we can enjoy that too. (Fischer, 2008). Exposing students to a diverse
atmosphere can encourage interracial relationships which can help diminish the feeling of
isolation.
There are a lot of prejudices as well as discriminatory feelings towards minorities, which
also assists in their isolation (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Education about various cultures is
key in eliminating these stereotypes. With a better understanding of the culture of miniorities
students can learn to appreciate each other and be more encouraged to interact and create
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COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
friendships. (Fischer, 2008). The requirement of cultural education should be a general education
requirement in our ever diverse world. If administrators made this a requirement more and more
students would become educated about other cultures, encouraging a friendly and welcoming
environment. Merely feeling accepted can help minority students get acclimated which can assist
in their success and development.
Intentional efforts are being made by many universities to assist in the acclimation to
college, especially for freshmen students. Freshman first year experience is important in students
involvement in campus and their feeling of comfort in their college experience. At UCF there are
over 400 student organizations in their Office of Student Involvement. This wide variety of
organizations and clubs allows for something that every student can relate to; providing the
opportunity to get involved in something they are interested in. One program is specific for
freshmen involvement. Learning and Interacting with New Knights (LINK). This program
provides a wide variety of fun activities for students to attend, for each event they attend they
receive points (University of Central Florida, 2011) that they can exchange for prizes at the end
of the year. These activities encourage interaction between new freshmen who may also be
feeling isolated. This is a great program it is important to note how they market to all groups of
students. Just providing workshops and activities to get students together isn’t good enough.
Efforts need to be made to encourage the participation of all minority groups through providing
activities that will attract them, which can help in their freshman year experience.
Another useful tool and department in most public universities is the Multicultural
Affairs division. The administrators in this role are very aware of the changes in college
attendance making them more and more important in campus life. They are a great resource for
various departments and divisions on campus that may need help or advice on their own efforts
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COLLEGE ATTENDANCE: MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
involving diversity. Many Multicultural programs run their own events to involve minority
students. However, it is important that these students not only interact with each other and those
of their same culture but with those of other cultures; it is also important that they become
comfortable in their college life. This department works with other departments across campus to
collaborate on projects and events to involve the diverse population. For instance, at UCF the
Intramural program and Multicultural Center worked together to create a World Cup soccer
tournament where international students were heavily involved creating their own soccer teams
and playing as various countries in a soccer tournament.
This leads me to the student service that I am most involved with, Recreation. Most large
public universities have some form of Recreation department and this provides a great deal of
opportunity for interaction and involvement with the student body outside of the classroom if it
is done right. It is vital that the Recreation department on campus makes efforts to offer
programs and events that attracts students of all cultures. If they merely stick to a weight room,
hip hop classes, and American sports then they are turning away a great deal of students of
different backgrounds. Efforts should be made to assess what the student body wants and needs
to get each and every student to come to the gym and get involved. Some programs that have
been established at the institutions I have been at are wheelchair basketball, racquetball,
badminton, secluded workout areas and Wii bowling just to name a few.
Allowing students to participate in activities that are enjoyed by other cultures not only
educates them and allows them to appreciate other cultures, it also encourages the involvement
of minority students. Recreation can be a vital component in assisting students in their college
experience, giving them something outside of academics that they enjoy. If you would have
asked me 4 years ago I would never have even thought about providing activities outside of the
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American norm with the reasoning of that is what the majority of the students want and
participate in so why offer other things. Now I am aware of the effect and impact we can have on
multicultural students as well as the majority by allowing the populations to interact with each
other. In fact UCF’s Recreation and Wellness Center was the first in its division of Student
Affairs to have a Diversity Statement and initiative. Though it may not stand out at first,
Recreation on campus can be key in fostering the constant changes in the student population, but
efforts must be made to know and accommodate the changing student population.
It is evident that the changes in college attendance have had and will continue to have a
huge impact on an institution as a whole. These changes need to be recognized and helped along
the way; as administrators and educators we cannot just sit back and hope that the changes take
hold and continue, we must make intentional efforts to encourage this evolution. From forcing
interaction to providing events and activities specific to each students interest and everything in
between it is vital to the survival of the multicultural environment.
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References
Davis, J. (2007). Making a difference: How teachers can positively affect racial identity and
acceptance in america. Social Studies, 98(5), 209-214. Retrieved on May 2nd , 2011, from
EBSCOHOST
Fischer, M. J. (2008). Does campus diversity promote friendship diversity? A look at
interracial friendships in college. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing
Limited), 89(3), 631-655. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00552.x
Kadison, R.& DiGeronimo (2004). College of the overwhelmed: The campus mental
health crisis and what to do about it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Miller, B., & Sujitparapitaya, S. (2010). Campus climate in the twenty-first century: Estimating
perceptions of discrimination at a racially mixed institution, 1994–2006. New Directions
For Institutional Research, 2010(145), 29-52. doi:10.1002/ir.321
Olive, T. (2010). Desire for higher education in first-generation hispanic college
students. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(1), 377-389.
Retrieved on May 2nd , 2011, from EBSCOHOST
Pascarella, E.T., & Terenzini, P.T. (2005). How college affects students. San Franciso,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
University of Central Florida. (2011). Facts at a Glance. Retrieved May 3rd, 2012, from
http://www.iroffice.ucf.edu/character/current.html
University of Central Florida. (2011). Office of Student Involvement. Retrieved May 3rd,
2012, from http://www.getinvolveducf.com/
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