Student Life

On November 5, Off-Campus Programs will be hosting an information session on our International Development in Kenya and International Development in Ecuador programs. These programs, sponsored by Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID) put students in direct contact with the social and economic realities of actual communities and the people working within them to address complex problems. Through classes, field trips, and an extended internship or research placement, students have the opportunity to focus on the theoretical and practical implications of international development and social justice and study firsthand the challenges faced by developing countries.

The presentation will start at 11:15 a.m. and be offered on Zoom.

To get the Zoom details, sign up via our Virtual Fair Registration Form.

Need to walk somewhere after dark and don’t want to walk alone?  Call or text for a SafeWalk!  A SafeWalker will meet you at your current location and walk with you anywhere on campus. Sunday – Thursday 5pm-11pm, Friday & Saturday 5pm-12am

Outside of these dedicated hours, Safe Walks are still provided by Campus Safety and can be requested by calling 920-832-6999.

The Global Employees of Lawrence (GEL) Employee Resource Group is sharing this opportunity open to all Lawrence students, faculty, and staff hosted online by the College of Wooster:

Immigration in the U.S:

Immigration in the United States is an ever-changing, complex system that influences the lives of everyone—both citizens and non-citizens alike. Join David Ware, immigration attorney and founding partner of Ware Immigration on Tuesday, October 27 from 5:00-6:30PM EST (4:00-5:30PM CST) to learn about immigration policies, trends in immigration and what we can hope for in the future. This event is sponsored by the College of Wooster with funding from the Great Lakes College Association’s (GLCA) Internationalization Initiatives grant. To register for the event, please click here. Following your registration, you will be sent the link to the Zoom session. 

Please contact Leah McSorley (leah.d.mcsorley@lawrence.edu) with any questions.

We hope that you can join!

Off-Campus Programs Virtual Fair wraps up next week with information sessions on Tuesday, October 27, and Thursday, October 29.

October 27

11:15 a.m. – Coe College Wilderness Field Station – Four-week summer program offering biological field study in the Superior National Forest of northern Minnesota, as well as a canoe trip through the Boundary Waters Area Wilderness.

12 p.m. – ACM Newberry Seminar: Research in the Humanities – Fall 2021 program at the Newberry Library in Chicago offers students the chance to further their research skills working alongside visiting professors and resident scholars.

October 29

11:30 a.m. – Carleton Global Engagement – Learn more about our affiliated programs: Buddhist Studies in Bodh Gaya, India and Ecology and Anthropology in Tanzania

12 p.m. – TeachChicago – Learn how you can student teach in Chicago!

More information can be found on our Virtual Fair site. Sign up to receive Zoom details by filling our our Off-Campus Programs Virtual Fair Registration Form.

The HEDS New Student Survey was administered September 9-22, 2020 to all new first-time students over the age of 18. We had a response rate of 67.9% (247/364); the survey respondents were representative of the panel (students invited to participate in the survey).

HEDS New Student Survey Executive Summary

New students are focused on their futures:
– 99.6% report it is important for them to graduate from college, and 82.5% want to graduate from Lawrence.
– 94.4% say getting good grades is important to them.
– 94.3% report they are likely to continue at Lawrence.
– 93.1% are confident in their decision to attend Lawrence.
– 74.1% have a major in mind.

New students perceive themselves to be passionate and persevering:
– 87.8% report overcoming setbacks and 63.9% are not easily discouraged by setbacks.
– 88.6% perceive themselves to be hard workers, 73.0% are diligent, and 66.6% finish what they start.

A successful college experience involves learning new things that will help them in life after college, feeling prepared to begin a meaningful career and to deal with intellectual and interpersonal challenges that will come their way, feeling confident that they will be able to financially support them self in the future, and being better prepared to make a positive impact on the world.

New students worry often about doing well in college (74.6%), balancing class, social, family, and other life responsibilities (71.0%), and maintaining their mental health and well-being (66.3%).

During high school:
– 51.6% engaged in extracurricular activities, with an equal percentage spending an average of 1-3 hours (25.8%) or 11+ hours (25.8%) per week.
– 43.4% did not work for pay.
– 30.3% of students spent an average of 4-6 hours per week studying, doing homework, or preparing for class.

Compared to high school, in college they plan to spend more time studying, doing homework, or preparing for classes (66.8%) and working for pay (27.0%), and
the same amount of time on extracurricular activities (50.8%).

Imagine some point in the future, after you’re done with school and you’re leading a successful life. What does your life look like? What are you doing? How are you living? Please think big! Word clouds are included to capture the frequency of words mentioned in responses (the more frequent a word is mentioned, the larger it appears in the word cloud). Responses focused on financial stability, housing security, having a career and/or family, and giving back to their communities.

What could [Institution name] faculty and staff do this year to support you and help you be successful? Word clouds are included to capture the frequency of words mentioned in responses (the more frequent a word is mentioned, the larger it appears in the word cloud). Responses focused on a desire for help in the form of support, encouragement, reassurance, and guidance regarding education and career pathways. In addition, students expressed a desire to learn about resources available to support their success.

When asked if they wanted have a conversation about their goals and how to accomplish them with any of the people or offices listed (Academic advisors, Career Center, and/or Student Life) … 17.8% gave permission to forward responses to one person/office and 11.3% gave permission to forward responses to more than one person/office. If you gave permission to forward responses and have not yet heard from any of the people of offices listed, please contact Kristin McKinley at research.admin@lawrence.edu.

Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE): COVID-19 Disruption and High School Graduates Executive Summary

We administered supplemental questions, with permission from the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) Project Manager Jim Cole, from the BCSSE COVID-19 Disruption and High School Graduates module, to gain a better understanding of how COVID-19 disruptions impacted our incoming students’ high school experiences, college choice, expectations, and attitudes towards learning.

How did COVID-19 impact college choice?
The majority (86.8%) of students report COVID-19 did not disrupt their college choice. For the 13.2% who reported it did impact their choice, there were a variety of reasons provided including a desire to be closer to home, a desire for a remote setting, and being unable to afford their previous choice.

High School Instructional Changes and Preferences
– Almost all (94.7%) high school students experienced a switch from classroom-based to entirely online instruction. 80.4% report it was more challenging to learn in an entirely online environment. The consequences of this are evident with 56.6% report putting in less effort and 80.5% report learning less. The majority (67.4%) of students report lower grading standards. Students (66.5%) report performing about the same on online tests compared to classroom-based tests.
– The overwhelming majority (89.8%) prefer classroom-based instruction, but 59.7% report feeling very prepared/prepared to take future online courses.
– The overwhelming majority agreed their technology at home was sufficient to do schoolwork, and they were able to plan and implement a schedule to complete their online courses.

Future Optimism
The overwhelming majority (89.6%) are very optimistic/optimistic about having a successful first year of college.

Did your high school experiences from this past spring change how you think about online education? Please explain. Word clouds are included to capture the frequency of words mentioned in responses (the more frequent a word is mentioned, the larger it appears in the word cloud). Responses included both the positive and negative aspects of their experiences as their high schools switched to online instruction.

Who did we share the data with?

Results were shared with the President and some his Cabinet members (Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Vice President for Student Life, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, Vice President for Enrollment and Communication, Associate Vice President of Communications, and Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees), Riaz Waraich Dean for the Career Center & Center for Community Engagement and Social Change, Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of History, Faculty Director of Advising, the Dean of Academic Success, Freshman Studies Advisory Committee (who intends to share it with those teaching Freshman Studies), and three of the working groups (Health, Curricular, and Co-Curricular) of the Lawrence Pandemic Planning Team. In addition, some comments from the question about defining success (“Imagine some point in the future, after you’re done with school and you’re leading a successful life. What does your life look like? What are you doing? How are you living?”) were shared with the Board of Trustees Antiracism Task Force.