eBook Community_in_Higher_Ed-v7

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Community in Higher Ed
Helping Students to Feel that they Matter
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Contents
Introduction 2
What is Mattering? And Why Does It Matter?
Interview with Gregory Elliott, Ph.D. 5
Specific Challenges of… 12
Latino Students
First Generation Students
Online and Distance Learners
How to Enable Student Success: 7 Tips 19

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When students show up to a football game wearing their school colors, faces painted, waving signs,
cheering for their heroes and demonizing their villains, the sense of community is so strong, it’s almost
tribal. They belong to the tribe.
But belonging isn’t so simple for everyone. For many students, it’s not so easy to find a niche and to feel
connected, and without these relationships and connectedness, education is a very different experience.
It’s harder to feel like, This is my university. People are here for me. People care if I succeed. I matter to these
people.
That sense of mattering is critically important, and it most often takes place within an intentional commu-
nity—the military, urban gangs, sports fans…education.
“It’s a basic human need to belong and to belong to
something bigger than ourselves.”
— Paul LeBlanc, Ph.D. President, Southern New Hampshire University

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For the most insightful information, we went straight to the
source and interviewed sociologist Gregory Elliott, Ph.D.1
Currently a professor of Sociology at Brown University, Dr.
Elliott’s research interests focus on the social development
of the individual and the problem of integrating the self into
society. In particular, he currently researches the concept of
mattering (the extent to which one makes a difference in the
lives of others) and its motivational impact on behavior.
1
Elliott, Gregory. Personal Interview. 19 Nov 2015.
So what IS mattering?
And why does mattering matter?

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For anybody who hasn’t heard of the concept before,
can you give us a brief overview of mattering is and
why it’s important?
Mattering is the understanding that, in any of a variety of ways, you make a dif-
ference in the world around you. It’s kind of like the obverse notion of significant
other. So if a significant other is someone who makes a difference in your life, the
question of mattering is whether you make a difference in anybody else’s life. The
basic notion behind mattering is
that it is an extremely important
motivation — that we need to know
that we matter. It is, in fact, I would
argue, the primary motivation in
all human beings. Before anything
else, we need to know we matter.
And that’s not an issue for most people because most people do, and they can see
that they matter to somebody. But if you feel that you don’t matter, you are in dire
straights.
In fact, I would say there’s nothing worse you can think about yourself than that
you don’t make a difference anywhere.
“Before anything else, we
need to know we matter.”

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What sort of things are required to make a person feel like
they matter?
Well, there are three different kinds of mattering, all of which are important. The
first one is very basic, very fundamental, and I call it awareness. It is basically the
question of whether you can capture other people’s attention. So when you walk
into a room, do people at least look up and notice that you’ve come in? If you say
something, do people acknowledge that they heard it? Can people put a name to
your face? It’s a basic notion that I am not socially invisible.
Then there are two other kinds of mattering that are more relationship-oriented.
The first one is called importance. With importance, it’s a matter of, do you recog-
nize that people invest in your welfare? So for example, if something really good
happens to you, does anyone else care? Or on the other side, if you have a really
bad day, is there someone you can lean on because they’ll take the time to be with
you? The question is whether people will take some of their precious resources,
including time, and spend it on you because they want to improve your welfare.
The last one is the kind of reverse of importance and I call it reliance. That is, do
people come to you with their wants and needs? Do people ask your advice about
any problem that they might be hav-
ing? Do people want your opinion on
social and political issues? Do people
turn to you when they’re having a bad
time?
Those are the three different ways
that you can matter. It’s very import-
ant for every individual to feel like,
there is at least somebody that has
this orientation to me.
“It’s very important for every
individual to feel like, there is
at least somebody that has this
orientation to me.”

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Let’s take this over to mattering in higher ed. Why is it
particularly important for students to feel like they matter
in this setting?
Because they’re on a new path. They are entering one of the important transition
points in life. For students that go to college, it’s probably the second most import-
ant transition point. The first is when they gain the cognitive ability to be able to
think rather than just deal in the concrete and tangible, they can deal in the ab-
stract. That’s a huge transition and it starts happening for kids around age 12, give
or take.
The next big transition for those
who go to college is going to college
and entering an environment that
is qualitatively different from their
high schools and from their homes.
They have to get along with people
they don’t know very well, they’ve
got to take classes that may be quite
different, not just quantitatively
but qualitatively, from the kinds of
classes they had in high school, even
if they went to a very good one.
Look, we’re suffering from No Child
Left Behind. That No Child Left
Behind does absolutely nothing to prepare kids for college. It’s an embarrassment.
In fact, here at Brown, I teach a unit on education, a socialization class, and I al-
most feel obligated to apologize to my students in the class for what this society
has done for them in regards to education. They don’t come learning to think, they
don’t come learning to question. They are taught to the test and they’re really good
at memorizing, and they can’t write a paragraph.
“They have to get along with
people they don’t know very well,
they’ve got to take classes that
may be quite different, not just
quantitatively but qualitatively,
from the kinds of classes they had
in high school, even if they went to
a very good one.”

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This makes it a very difficult transition to higher ed that
requires a solid sense of mattering.
Yes. My latest research is focusing on first-gen students, students neither of whose
parents have ever gone to college, and it’s especially true for someone like them.
That was exactly my next question. There are some
specific populations of students that have a harder time
persisting and graduating from college. You’ve done some
work with first-gen students, for example. Can you tell me
why it’s particularly important for first-gen students to
have community, to have a sense of mattering in school?
There’s a notion by a sociologist named Pierre Bourdieu, and he has this notion of
capital. That is financial capital, can your parents pay the money, but more import-
ant than that is what he calls cultural and social capital.
Social capital has to do with whether your family and you have connections. Are
there places you can go, people you can talk to, who will help prepare you for
this world? Those who are in relatively higher socioeconomic levels do. They have
teachers and decent schools, or they have family who have gone to college. And of
course their own parents.
The other thing is the cultural capital, which is,
do you have an understanding of the way the
world works? Again, those who are relatively well
off, middle to high socioeconomic status levels,
have this cultural capital. For them, college is a
transition, no doubt, but it’s nowhere near the
kind of transition that it is for first gens whose
parents cannot help them one iota with coming
to college and who have no other resources.
They may have even been discouraged in going
to college by their guidance counselors.
So they’re completely on their own. If they feel they matter to the school, or even to
one teacher in the school, they’re going to be in a lot better shape than if they think
they are basically there alone.
“If they feel they matter to
the school, or even to one
teacher in the school, they’re
going to be in a lot better
shape than if they think they
are basically there alone.”

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I’ve heard this is a similar problem for other populations
like Latino students, many of whom are also first gen
students. Is that your experience, as well?
Yes. And it can even be a problem for immigrant students, international students.
Even if they come from relatively good social class levels where they’re from, if their
society or culture has an approach to education very different from ours, they’re
going to have an awfully hard time coming to an American college.
There’s clearly a need for community and for mattering for
these student populations…
I’d say there’s a need for everybody, but especially for these student populations.

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Specific Challenges of
Latino Students
First-Generation Students
Specific Student Challenges
Dr. Elliott has helped us to establish the vital importance of
mattering and community in higher ed, especially for some
specific student populations. Now, let’s dig in a little deeper
to the challenges of these students, including Latino stu-
dents, first-generation students and online learners.

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Community colleges serve as an important gateway to higher educa-
tion for Latino students.2
Many attend community colleges not just
with the intention of completing short-term certificates or two-year
degree programs, but also to prepare for four-year institutions. But
while 80% of Latino students at two-year schools intend to transfer,
less than one quarter actually do.3
That’s a bit of a discrepancy.
So what challenges do they face that result in less successful out-
comes?
2-3
Tovar, Esau. “The Role of Faculty, Counselors, and Support Programs on Latino/a Community Col-
lege Students’ Success and Intent to Persist.” Community College Review 43.1 (2015): 46-71.
Latino/Latina Students
of Latinos at two-year schools intend
to transfer to a four-year institution
actually do transfer
spend several hours per week on
family responsibilities
hold a paid job
80%
25%
97%
75%

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Challenge: Aligning the Family
Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University explains:
“A lot of the language we use and the narratives we build to talk about education
are very individualized. There’s a lot of Reach your individual potential, and Discover
who you’re going to be. It tends to be very much about the individual at the heart
of the narrative. For Latino students, that narrative, that kind of language, runs
counter to a very strong sense of community and family where education becomes
a means of giving back and supporting the family [not a means to an individual
goal].”
And this disconnect is important. Framing their academic experience in a way that
resonates with them, culturally, is important for the success of Latino students. Re-
search has shown that their persistence is highly influenced by whether or not the
students have a sense of cultural belonging.4
Challenge: Less Time for School, Campus
The vast majority of Latino students at community colleges (96.6% in one study)
spend several hours per week on family responsibilities, and nearly three quarters
of them hold a paid job — making it likely that they are only on campus part time.5
As a result of spending less time on campus, they are not as familiar with the
programs and services available to them, and they are less likely to seek assistance
from instructors and counselors on a regular basis.6
Given that research has found
the highest predictor in Latino student GPA to be the frequency with which stu-
dents met with instructors outside of class, less frequent meetings are detrimental
to these students’ success.7
4-7
Tovar, Esau. “The Role of Faculty, Counselors, and Support Programs on Latino/a Community
College Students’ Success and Intent to Persist.” Community College Review 43.1 (2015): 46-71.
Latino/Latina Students

Of the 7.3 million full-time undergraduates attending four-year public
and private nonprofit institutions, about 20 percent are the first in their
families to go to college.8
They often face some of the same challenges
faced by Latino students — in fact, one study found that about 75% of
Latino students were first generation, as well, which compounds the
challenges these students face.9
8
Pappano, Laura. “First-Generation Students Unite.” New York Times, 08 April 2015.
Web. 23 Nov 2015.
9
Tovar, Esau. “The Role of Faculty, Counselors, and Support Programs on Latino/a Community College
Students’ Success and Intent to Persist.” Community College Review 43.1 (2015): 46-71.
First-Generation College Students
Full-time undergrad students in
public and private universities
First-generations students
of Latino students are also
first generation
7.3M
20%
75%

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Challenge: Fewer Frames of Reference
LeBlanc explains, “I was a first-gen student myself. I think if you grow up in a family
where college going is a tradition, you forget how much your frames of referenc-
es are in place—you just know stuff. A first generation student who comes onto a
campus often doesn’t know a lot [about college], and doesn’t want to ask for help,
and already feels a bit like an imposter. They may feel like they don’t belong.”
Without these frames of reference, first generation students may not avail them-
selves of the many support resources available. They may not know that it’s okay to
go to the tutoring center or the academic support center. They may not know about
all of the available financial supports. And they may feel dumb for asking questions.
Challenge: I Don’t Belong
“I think, at the heart of it for most first gen students is a feeling of I don’t belong,”
explains LeBlanc. First-generation students can also experience culture shock and a
cultural disconnect between what they’re used to at home and what they’re experi-
encing at the university.10
To compound the issue, having fewer frames of reference
regarding the college experience means first-generation students may find it partic-
ularly difficult to find community and develop support systems on campus. In fact,
research shows that first-generation students are less likely to develop relation-
ships with both faculty and other students. They are also less likely to participate in
campus clubs and organizations and spend less time overall on campus compared
to other students.11
10
“1st Generation College Students.” Marquette University. Web. 23 Nov 2015. [http://www.mu.edu/
counseling/documents/1stgenerationcollege students.pdf]
11
Pike, Gary R., and George D. Kuh. “First- and Second-generation College Students: A Comparison
of Their Engagement and Intellectual Development.” The Journal of Higher Education 76.3 (2005):
276–300.
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First-Generation College Students

Cost of Attending Traditional College
Traditional College Enrollments
Availability of Online Courses
College has historically been a residential, in-person experience. But
the cost of attending a traditional university has been rising above the
rate of inflation for some time, making many students rethink atten-
dance. In addition, the traditional on-campus experience presents
difficulties to returning adult students, full-time workers, students with
children, etc. On the flip side, offering courses online can allow colleges
to combat declining enrollment by opening up the school to a wider
geographic base while simultaneously reducing the need for additional
faculty in popular courses.
Combine these things with ubiquitous use of technology, and online
alternatives to residential university have been proliferating. It’s an-
ticipated that by 2019, roughly half of all college classes will be based
online.12
While online learning offers more students the opportunity to attend
college — and often at a lower price point — it also brings with it some
unique challenges.
12
Pappas, Christopher. “Top 10 e-Learning Statistics for 2014 You Need To Know.” eLearning Industry.
Web. 23 Nov 2015.

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Challenge: Isolation
The beauty of online learning is that a student can come home from work, have
dinner with her kids, tuck them into bed, read them a story, put the dishes in the
dishwasher, put on fuzzy slippers and make a cup of tea at 10 pm before logging in
and putting on her student hat.
But this can also feel isolating.
Distance learning, by definition, creates a physical chasm between students, their
fellow students, and their campus community at large. Without a community that
provides encouraging, supportive relationships, online learners are more likely to
succumb to difficulties and less likely to persist in their education.
Challenge: Confidence and Perseverance
Many online learners are adults and have been removed from school for some
years. They may or may not have much experience at the college level. They may or
may not have failures in their background (which could have been the reason they
didn’t continue with education in the first place). These students often suffer from a
lack of confidence. Grit. Perseverance. If that first paper comes back and the grade
isn’t very good, it’s very easy to slip into, See, I know I shouldn’t have done this. See, I
knew I wasn’t college material.

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Tips to Help Students
Matter, Succeed
As Dr. Elliott explained, providing opportunities for true com-
munity can help all of these students to develop relationships
and find that all-critical sense of mattering. The following tips
will help you to address many of the challenges facing Latino
students, first generation students, online learners, as well
as the student population at large, through enabling true,
robust communities.

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1
Due to work and family obligations, both Latino students and first-gen-
eration students often spend less time on campus. Online learners
often spend little to no time on campus. This means schools need to
provide online community resources to help these students develop
the relationships they need for academic success. Look for technology
features that encourage students to and help students in discovering
other individuals and groups with similar interests and backgrounds.
Online tools should also be built to encourage offline interaction
through event functionality.
Focus on relationship building.
How to Enable Student Success: Tip #1

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2
Interacting with faculty outside of class plays a key role in both GPA and
persistence, particularly for Latino students — schools need to encour-
age these interactions. And given that the students often have limited
time to spend on campus, institutions should specifically encourage
interaction and relationship building with convenient, intuitive online
tools that blend seamlessly into their current schedules and technology
habits. Look for community building tools that facilitate easy communi-
cation outside of the typical classroom/course structure —relationships
should continue beyond a single semester.
Facilitate easy, convenient communication
between students and instructors, counselors
and other faculty.

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3
Bring together newly-arrived first-gen students, for example, with each
other, as well as with upperclassmen that are also first generation stu-
dents, to help them realize, Hey, I’m not alone in this. Encouraging inter-
action among members affinity groups like this, in person and online,
will help students successfully transition to college while also providing
a valuable support system throughout. Community is the antithesis of, I
don’t belong.
To enable community building and relationships online, look for tech-
nology that allows students to create and lead their own affinity groups,
while also easily finding existing groups through robust search features
and built-in discoverability.
Connect students with peers through
affinity groups.

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4
The strongest predictor of Latino student persistence is the support of
family and friends.13
Given that it may be difficult for family members to
actively participate in life on campus, institutions should consider how
technology can enable the inclusion of family members in the students’
academic experience and academic community. Leblanc agrees: “I
could imagine using community-building tools to give families access to
the educational space.”
Include family in the academic experience.
13
Tovar, Esau. “The Role of Faculty, Counselors, and Support Programs on Latino/a Community College
Students’ Success and Intent to Persist.” Community College Review 43.1 (2015): 46-71.

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5
Having a holistic view of the student’s engagement, along with the
actionable data that comes with it, can provide early warnings that
students may need some extra support and attention. Faculty, coach-
es, mentors, etc. can then reach out to the student in a timely manner,
providing whatever support is necessary to get students back on track.
Choose technology that provides a true
360-degree view of the student.

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6
This hub should aggregate and simply organize all of the school’s
various resources in one easily accessible, user-friendly online loca-
tion. Find a tool that allows administrators to provide links to things
like course registration and financial aid while also allowing document
uploads for things like How to Register for Courses or How to Find
an Advisor. The tool should also allow these items to be organized by
themes or tags to improve searchability and discoverability—students
don’t always know what, exactly, it is they’re looking for.
With all of the university’s resources provided in one convenient loca-
tion, students are more likely to find them and make use of them when
they need them. Bonus points if this functionality can be provided in an
existing digital location that students already frequent.
Provide a one-stop resource hub.

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7
As we’ve noted, many students are now spending less time on campus
than the traditional resident student. In addition, technology has be-
come pervasive in our daily lives. However robust the school’s in-per-
son community building programs are, the institution should consider
how to enable and encourage online community, as well.
However, there are very few community-building tools designed specif-
ically for higher ed. While the LMS, SIS, student portal, etc. all provide
important functionality to the academic experience, they all fall a step
short in encouraging interactions and relationship building — and
providing meaningful data about these interactions. Make sure to make
community-building functionality a key component of your educational
technology environment.
Enable robust online community.

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The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that, in order to persist in their studies, graduate from college,
and succeed in life, learners need to matter. True community can provide students
with the sense of mattering they need for success.
As LeBlanc explains, “Community is that place where these students can get a lot of
support and reassurance and be bolstered….If you are connecting in very human
ways with your instructor, with your peers, with your advisor — that’s all very, very
powerful.”
Ready to Begin Building Your Campus Community?
Check out Unity, the free community building platform designed specifically for
higher ed.
Unity was built by Motivis Learning in collaboration with the Higher Education Advi-
sory Council, The Salesforce Foundation, and Cornell University.
See How Unity Works

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Born out of the Innovation Lab at Southern New Hampshire University, Motivis
Learning is disrupting typical educational technology — and traditional models
of education. As a pioneer in Learning Relationship Management, we build the
technology that lets you build dynamic relationships with your students. Dynamic
relationships lead to positive outcomes — our ultimate mission.
To achieve this mission, we’ve developed a fully-integrated suite of learning tools
(built on Salesforce) that provide the complete, yet elusive, 360-degree view-of-stu-
dent through an easy, familiar interface. Think fully integrated LMS, SIS, commu-
nity engagement, ePortfolio...everything you need to surprise, delight and engage
students at every point of interaction, from prospect to alumnus.
The result? Happier, more successful students. Happier, more successful educators.
Happier, more successful everyone.
About Motivis Learning

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