Increasing Student Engagement Through Belonging: The Co-Curricular Accelerator to Career with Confidence

Concurrent Session 7

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

Are your students confident to make the transition?  In this session, we’ll discuss foundational research for student engagement, belonging and career attainment in the online environment. In addition, we’ll explore and brainstorm opportunities to increase the aforementioned areas to support our students’ transition from the classroom to careers.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Jelisa Dallas, University of Phoenix

Jelisa Dallas, M.S. Ed. is the Program Manager for Recognized Student Organizations at the University of Phoenix. In her role, she collaborates with department leadership to fulfill objectives relative to diversity and inclusion among students, encourages and fosters innovation to further student success and retention through co-curricular programming and develops projects aligned with increasing student belonging and social capital. Her skills range from online community building to DEIB strategies for student engagement.

Extended Abstract

Student engagement has been directly correlated with persistence and retention (Astin, 1999).  A student’s psychological investment in learning with a willingness and desire to participate is a universal definition of student engagement.  As a benefit to institutions of higher education, increasing student engagement is a primary goal.  Typically, engagement is measured in the classroom to include faculty encouragement of student participation or faculty receiving training on techniques to increase student involvement in learning.  Thomas et al. (2014) offers engagement and collaboration with peers fosters “a sense of camaraderie that diffuse[s] some of the isolation” for online learners (p.76)

In the online educational environment, belonging is expressed by developing a humanized experience for students.  This likely encompasses the students’ perceived satisfaction, engagement, integration, self-efficacy, institutional fit and staff and faculty relationships (Jorgenson, Farrell, Fudge, and Pritchard, 2018).  Further, Tinto’s (1993) model infers that to achieve student persistence, institutional connectedness or belonging is essential, along with academic systems of support.  

The online classroom requires engagement to capture student attendance and participation for course credit.  But how do we keep students engaged beyond the classroom to support their ambitions of career attainment amidst their familial, professional and personal commitments?  

It's imperative that we provide avenues of engagement beyond the classroom to address questions connected to students’ career endeavors.  As the University of Phoenix aspires to support students to Career with Confidence through Careers Services for Life, our Recognized Student Organizations (RSO) are the co-curricular bridge to each students’ transition from education to the workplace.   Co-curricular programs such as RSOs reinforce a student’s “why”—intentions of purpose— by equipping them with skills for personal and professional development.  This creates motivation to meet and exceed their goals of academic completion and job attainment.

According to the Journal for New Directions in Student Leadership, participation in RSOs cultivate social and civic development, leadership identity formation, soft skills (i.e. collaboration and communication) reinforcement, community networking and career support (Rosch and Collins, 2017).

To this effect, we have cultivated a sense of belonging for students through our RSO programs while increasing engagement and preparing students to effectively transition from the classroom to careers.  In this session, we will discuss the research basis for this discovery as well as strategies to maintain engagement.  In addition, we’ll explore and brainstorm opportunities to increase student involvement and connectedness to enhance their experience and sense of belonging.