| Announcing First Scholars! |
Welcome to the first edition of Inside First Scholars! Our goal is to share news about our university affiliates and scholars and to highlight first generation student issues.
We're extremely excited to announce our new name: First Scholars, a program of The Suder Foundation. First Scholars is a holistic program that supports first-generation students in completing their college degrees. By partnering with selected four-year public universities to provide academic, social, emotional, and financial support, our goal is to level the playing field for first-generation students during their college experience.
We establish each new program site by making a multi-year commitment for start-up and early-stage funding covering staff, program operations, tutors, mentors, workshops, and other activities that assist students' academic, social and emotional needs.
We address the financial aspect through scholarships, awarding an initial group of 20 students four-year renewable scholarships of $5,000 each. Throughout the next three years we will add cohorts of 20 students to our affiliate universities. Each university will receive over $1,000,000 in scholarships and operating funds from our foundation. Additionally, the universities have committed to raising funds to sustain the program and increase the number of scholars participating.
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| First Scholars Inaugural Groups Begin |
First Scholars officially launched at the end of August when cohorts of 20 scholars at the University of Kentucky and The University of Utah moved into their residence halls. Scholars attended orientation sessions specially designed by their respective program directors, Matthew Deffendall and Tony Gonzales. The incoming scholars possess solid academic credentials and plan to pursue diverse courses of study.
The following table summarizes key characteristics and statistics of our scholars:
| 2010 Scholars | Kentucky | Utah | | Applicants | 252 | 118 | | Gender | 10 female, 10 male | 12 female, 8 male | | Ethnicity | 15 white,
1 African-American,
4 Asian | 12 Hispanic,
4 Asian,
2 biracial,
1 Pacific Islander,
1 white | | Average ACT score | 23.6 | 20 | | Average high school GPA | 3.69 | 3.48 | | Intended majors | Biology, chemistry,
economics, nursing,
engineering, social sciences,
political science, accounting,
special education |
Pre-med, pre-law,
engineering, english,
education, film studies
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 First Scholars at the University of Utah during their fall orientation session
First Scholars at the University of Kentucky and their Peer Mentors during the fall retreat |
| Our Newest Partners |
Welcome to Southern Illinois University Carbondale and The University of Alabama! These universities were selected as the next locations for First Scholars and are actively engaged in planning for their programs to begin next fall. Summer activities included interviewing and hiring individuals to coordinate the planning process and making connections with campus departments to publicize the program to potential applicants. The planning coordinators will visit the University of Kentucky and The University of Utah this fall to discuss implementation strategies. Training on use of the Student Strengths Inventory™ in selecting scholarship recipients and the program evaluation process are also on their agenda for fall.
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| Determining Success |
First Scholars' holistic approach to supporting first-generation college students requires that we consider more than just an applicant's grades or standardized test scores in our selection process. We gathered information about non-cognitive characteristics needed to succeed in college, and identified the instrument that would allow us to measure and consider these characteristics when selecting our program participants. The Students Strengths Inventory™ is an evidence-based assessment platform for predicting post-secondary student outcomes. The tool measures six factors that have demonstrated to be strong predictors of both student retention and persistence in college: - Academic engagement and discipline
- Educational commitment
- Campus engagement
- Social activity
- Academic self-efficacy
- Resiliency
University-based selection committees receive training in using the SSI scores to select candidates for First Scholars. Once chosen, each scholar and the program director discuss the scholar's SSI results, as well as interventions recommended by the scores. Together, they create an individualized strategic plan outlining specific resources and strategies custom-designed to help the scholar succeed. Each applicant who is not selected is offered the opportunity to meet with the First Scholars program director to review his or her results and recommendations. Scholars will retake the SSI periodically as part of measuring their progress and fine-tuning their individualized strategic plan.
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To find out more about First Scholars, please visit
Executive Director The Suder Foundation |
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