{"id":108493,"date":"2020-04-16T08:50:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T12:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=108493"},"modified":"2020-04-16T09:38:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T13:38:18","slug":"ucf-study-finds-university-websites-lack-easy-access-for-first-generation-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-study-finds-university-websites-lack-easy-access-for-first-generation-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ Study Finds University Websites Lack Easy Access for First-Generation Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
A new Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ study recently published in Metropolitan Universities<\/em><\/a> indicates a need for university websites to better communicate with first-generation college students.<\/p>\n This is important as first-generation college students make up about one-third of undergraduate populations but are more likely to not earn their degree than their counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cAs universities become more digitized, my research team and I wondered how well do universities share support services for first-generation students online?,\u201d says Amanda Wilkerson \u2019 16 EdD<\/strong>, study co-author and an assistant professor in Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Community Innovation and Education<\/a>. \u201cEssentially, how much time would it take for a first-generation student to locate information specifically for them, that could assist them academically?\u201d<\/p>\n To find this out, the researchers performed a content analysis of websites of 14 higher education institutions located in the Southeast U.S. that are part of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities, one of the largest organizations of urban metropolitan institutions. Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ is not part of the coalition and also was not part of the study.<\/p>\n They chose metropolitan universities because of their large populations of first-generation students.<\/p>\n To collect their data, they performed a search for \u201cfirst-generation\u201d on the institution websites, which took them to the Home, About Us and Financial Aid pages.<\/p>\n However, the first-generation information from those locations was not easily assessible or in a central location, says Lynell Hodge \u201916EdD<\/strong> , the study\u2019s lead author and assistant director of assignments for Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s Housing and Residence Life<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found there were gaps in information that resulted in a first-generation student having to click around quite a bit to locate information,\u201d Hodge says.<\/p>\n The researchers recommended universities create a landing page specifically for first-generation college students as one way to reduce the number of clicks and make information easier to find. They also suggested providing content that helps prospective students determine if they are \u201cfirst-generation,\u201d as many might not be familiar with the term.<\/p>\n Marcus Frazier is a first-generation college student from Baltimore and a graduate student in Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s Department of Education Leadership and Higher Education<\/a>. He says challenges he faced as an undergraduate student at Bethune-Cookman University were lack of resources and financial support, issues that became even more apparent when out-of-town family emergencies occurred.<\/p>\n He says some of the most important resources for first-generation college students are those for scholarship and grant opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cSome first-generation students are first-generation college students because their parents may not have been able to afford college or finish,\u201d Frazier says. \u201cI believe this is extremely helpful for financial matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Emmanuela Pierre Stanislaus, associate director of Career and Talent Development at Florida International University\u2019s College of Engineering, also co-authored the study. Hodge and Stanislaus were first-generation college students themselves, and Wilkerson was a first-generation graduate student.<\/p>\n