By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – At its regular meeting Monday, March 11, the Howard-Suamico school board hosted a number of area post-secondary representatives and various staff members from the district.
The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to share recent trends in post-secondary education, to identify strategies to help students in the transition from high school to higher education and to discuss what factors seem to be holding students back in that transition.
“Some students just aren’t ready for post-secondary education on many levels,” said Sara Beth Holman, director of financial aid at Lawrence University. “Some aren’t ready mentally, but I see a lot of students suffering financial stress of the cost – can they afford it? Maybe it’s not solely the financial part of it, but add that to the rigors of the course work and maybe working 20 hours per week, then it becomes stressful.”
Many pointed out that one thing they’d like to see every graduating student do is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
“A lot of students don’t fill out the FAFSA because they are intimidated by it,” said Holman. “Some also don’t feel they will get financial aid even if they do fill it out, but there are discounts and things we can do if it’s on file. If they don’t fill it out, there’s not much that can be done. Even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for financial aid at the time, circumstances change.”
In some cases, a student may begin post-secondary education a year after graduating from high school.
“There are cases where a gap year is warranted,” said Tynisha Meidl, Ph.D. co-chair of teacher education discipline and an associate professor of teacher education at St. Norbert College. “Ideally, it would be a productive year where they are bettering themselves and working to improve.”
Aside from financial consideration and some just not being ready mentally, Meidl said other factors include access to the necessary tools (internet, computer), personal support from family and friends, not having realistic expectations and integrating into the demands of college from the transition from high school.
When things come naturally for students in high school, but they don’t necessarily have the right study skills, Meidl said college may be a shock when things get difficult.
Meidl said Howard-Suamico graduates coming into post-secondary programs seem to be prepared well.
“I see a lot of Howard-Suamico students,” added Meidl. “Overall, I’ve been very pleased with their level of preparation. Many come in with a lot of experience with AP (ADvanced Placement) coursework. I’d like to see that continue or even expanded. We see a lot of students that want to come in and graduate in 3 1/2 years and not stay the extra semester. They are coming to us motivated and with a sense of what they want to accomplish.”
Another topic discussed dealt with how post-secondary institutions will be adapting their programs in the near future to better meet the needs of incoming students.
“The statistics show that having shorter sessions in post-secondary education is more beneficial to the student,” said Mark Weber, dean of trades and engineering technologies at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. “We are moving in the direction of having eight-week sessions. Instead of a student taking maybe four classes for 16 credits in a semester, they might take two classes for eight credits during an eight-week session. If something happens in an individual’s life where they may have to take a session off, they can come back without missing a whole semester or even a year.”
Weber said other trends include expanding programs, working on cost/affordability, expanding partnerships with other colleges, working on retention rate, increasing the diversity of the student body and faculty and increasing graduation rates.
Meeuwsen recognized: In other news, Bay Port junior Max Meeuwsen was also recognized by the board for recently winning the WIAA Division 1 heavyweight state wrestling title in Madison.
Meeuwsen, who began wrestling only last year, finished the season with a 40-1 record.
His second-period pin at the Kohl Center in Madison Feb. 23 came against Janesville Craig’s Keeanu Benton, who came into the match as the No. 1 heavyweight in Division 1.