Summary
Week 16 of the Concurrent Enrollment Tool Kit is designed to assist you in discussing with students the importance of taking time for self-care and decompression.
Discussion Objectives
Assist the student in reflecting on how they currently practice self-care.
Work with the student to develop a plan to implement self-care.
Materials List
CE Tool Kit, Week 16 (attached)
Topic Focus
Why is self-care important?
Students taking concurrent courses can forget to take purposeful self-care time. It is an important part of being successful in their classes. Self-care can prevent students from burning out, improve mental and physical health, and reduce anxiety. Planning ways in which a student can decompress can encourage students to take time for themselves.
Guiding Notes
Greet the student by name and congratulate them on almost finishing up their concurrent course. Inquire what the student currently does to take care of their mental well-being. Have a conversation about how the student can implement methods of self-care and ways to decompress as a tool for managing stress.
Consider sharing some ways students can decompress or focus on themselves such as:
Exercising by taking a walk or a session of yoga/stretching.
Doing something they love, such as a hobby.
Spend some time with friends doing something the group thinks is fun.
Before closing the meeting, check with the student to make sure they have no outstanding questions or concerns.
Discussion Starters
Consider starting the session by asking:
What does self-care mean to you? What about decompressing?
Do you currently take time to focus on yourself?
Discussion Questions
To guide this week’s discussion, consider asking some of the following questions:
When can you build some self-care time into your schedule?
What is something you can do that is just for yourself and not school-related?
Next Steps
To prepare for next week, ask students to:
Do something that is just for themself!
Research Rationale
Research shows a clear and strong link between concurrent enrollment and increased student academic performance (Jones, 2014; Dingess, 2018). Several studies have also found that students who participate in concurrent enrollment have time to acclimate to the college environment and thus earn higher grades in their postsecondary careers (Allen & Dadgar, 2012; Dingess, 2018). This opportunity to build momentum also provides an avenue for those students who might carry complex social and educational challenges from high school as they transition into the university setting (Wang et al., 2015). A consistent concern with students as they transition from high school to PSE is that many of them might have difficulty in fully acclimating to the rigor and expectations of university-level coursework (Taylor, 2015; Vargas et al., 2017). This is especially apparent when looking at students who identify as first-generation college students, as they might feel overwhelmed by everything from student support to the specifics of financial aid (Lee et al., 2022). Concurrent enrollment offers a bridge between the familiarity of high school and the frontier of higher learning, building on the initial benefits of concurrent enrollment in high school to build toward greater academic momentum fueled by a smooth transition from high school to university (Wang et al., 2015).
To expand on the inherent benefits associated with concurrent enrollment programs, these programs are most successful when students are provided with extra guidance in how to navigate this new academic environment (Witkowsky & Clayton, 2020). Though students in concurrent enrollment programs might be high-performing, it is helpful to remember that they are still high school students and stand to benefit from “wraparound” services that counselors can provide as a bridge between high school and university-level expectations (Witkowsky & Clayton, 2020). Whether partnering directly with specific higher education institutions as part of the concurrent enrollment program or not, wraparound services can still be designed with the university course expectations in mind.
These tool kits are designed as conversation starters to provide the kind of ongoing support that allows concurrent enrollment students to be most successful (Johnson et al., 2021; Lile et al., 2018). Spanning a range of topics between goal setting and writing expectations, each conversation serves as an opportunity for relationship building and mentoring with students. For students who might not know which questions to ask or which resources to look for, these tool kits can help concurrent enrollment coordinators set a foundation for success for students to draw on after high school.
Resources
Allen, D., & Dadgar, M. (2012). Does dual enrollment increase students’ success in college? Evidence from a quasi-experimental analysis of dual enrollment in New York City. New Directions for Higher Education, 11-19.
Dingess, E. (2018). The impact of the number of dual enrollment credits on racial minority students' completion time at five Virginia community colleges. ODU Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_etds/68
Johnson, J. M., Paris, J. H., Curci, J. D., & Horchos, S. (2021). Beyond college access: An exploration of the short-term impact of a dual enrollment program. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, & Practice, 1–23.
Jones, S. (2014). Student participation in dual enrollment and college success. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38(1), 24-37.
Lee, J., Fernandez, F., Ro, H. K., & Suh, H. (2022, January 4). Does dual enrollment influence high school graduation, college enrollment, choice, and persistence? Research in Higher Education, 63, 825-848. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11162-021-09667-3.pdf
Lile, J. R., Ottusch, T. M., Jones, T., & Richards, L. N. (2017). Understanding college-student roles: Perspectives of participants in a high school/community college dual-enrollment program. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42(2), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2016.1264899