The Fostering Success Program at Colorado State University hosted the Highly Mobile Student Summit March 7, complete with a community keynote speech from Associate Dean of Students John Henderson.
Addressing a crowd of students, community leaders and educational professionals, Henderson spoke on the importance of bridging divides in the higher education system.
The Fostering Success Program is a support initiative for CSU students who have experienced significant independent lifestyles before college, including students who have been in foster care, maintained orphan status, were unaccompanied minors or dependents and wards of the court. Focusing on solution-based programming to ensure success in college, the program offers resources to students with nontraditional backgrounds.
“It’s so wonderful,” Henderson said about the FSP. “The students and the professionals in the university with our partners have been working on it for years. It’s taken mistakes; it’s taken all sorts of things, right? And so if you feel like you’re on the front end of some of this stuff, leverage the group. If we feel like we’re stronger supporting one population than another, let’s leverage the group, which I think the opening did that really well, to set the context.”
Henderson’s keynote included participation from groups at tables, including students in the FSP, to engage in discussions surrounding personal growth and student leadership.
“I feel like I bring a very unique perspective and a very loud voice,” said Jordan Garcia, an FSP student. “(Whether) that be with my own voice or with my actions, I have a very loud voice.”
Henderson asked FSP students and other audience members to reflect on their transitions to college and the impact of FSP on their education.
“When I came to college, I felt like a fish out of water so badly,” said Shannon Stortz, the Orientation and Transition Programs coordinator. “Anyone I met … was from completely different backgrounds, and … more traditional backgrounds, and I would (think), I don’t know if I actually belong. But I do belong here.”
Henderson concluded his interactive keynote by sharing the advice he gives families of students entering FSP.
“I try to look at it with families who are probably concerned about their students and the experience they’re going to have (as) a student,” Henderson said. “They’re wondering, ‘What’s the school going to be like? How’s my student going to belong here?’ Because we know belonging is so important. … And I try to reassure them that no matter what the dialogue is out there about a university or a school or a workspace (or) an office, we need to create room for different views, different life experiences.”
Among the keynote attendees was Paula Gumina, the Highly Mobile Student programs manager at the Colorado Department of Education.
“The sense of community that is provided through the Fostering Success Program is what creates the opportunity for students to not just get to Colorado State University but all the way through to the end,” Gumina said. “And many of the students, as part of the Fostering Success Program, have already overcome numerous barriers to try and access higher education. So once they’re here, programs like the Fostering Success Program really (make) it possible for them to succeed in terms of the broader community.”
Gumina worked with CSU through the FSP to bring awareness to the needs of independent students and said she hopes that events like the Highly Mobile Student Summit continue to promote student success throughout the entire college journey.
“They contribute so much perspective on what needs to happen in the world next,” Gumina said. “And that’s what’s so cool about it happening on a college campus, is they’re all studying different things, and they’re taking these experiences into those careers. So whether it’s journalism or chemistry or electrical engineering or whatever it is, they’re taking all of that experience and perspective with them.”
Reach Allie Seibel at news@collegian.com or on social media @allie_seibel_.
