Faculty Resources

ascender

intr. Subir.

fig.Adelantar en empleo o dignidad.

tr. Dar o conceder un ascenso.

Birthing Internal Images: Employing the Cajita Project as a Contemplative Activity in a College Classroom
^{by Vijay Kanagala, Laura I. Rendón}

^{Click on the image for full PDF}

Ascending Toward New Heights: Building Navigational Capital for Latinx Community College Students
^{by Erin Doran, Paul Hengesteg}

The Ascender program was created in 2012 by Catch the Next Inc., to address the challenges of increasing community college retention and transfer rates for students in developmental education. This study looks at the experiences of participants in this program and how it provided validating experiences and fostered their navigational capital on campus and through the transfer process. Results show that a rich first-year experience and additional engagement with the Ascender program help students learn how to better navigate the complex systems of financial aid and transfer processes while also building their confidence as successful college students.

^{Doran, Erin E. and Hengesteg, Paul, "Ascending Toward New Heights: Building Navigational Capital for Latinx Community College Students" (2020). Education Publications. 176. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/edu_pubs/176}
Ascending Toward New Heights

Teaching Latinx Students With Cariño: Using Validation Theory and Culturally Inclusive Pedagogy in Catch the Next’s Ascender Program
^{by Rafael Castillo}

CTN has grown successfully as a state-wide initiative building a strong, data-driven program that allows students to grow intellectually, to read competently, and to expand their self-worth. The Ascender model enriches students to become civic participants and assume roles for the benefit of all people, regardless of color. Teaching through validation theory increases their self-worth and allows students to influence others and assert their identity skills in classroom environments. It is worth noting that CTN continues to forge ahead in a state with shifting budgets, earning accolades and supporting excellence as one of its foundational colleges, Palo Alto College, earned the Rising Star Award from the Aspen Foundation. Catch the Next’s Ascender Programs continue to gain philanthropic support from the Greater Texas Foundation, the Meadows Foundation, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Teaching Latinx Students With Cariño

Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College
^{by Felten, Peter & Lambert, Leo M.}

What single factor makes for an excellent college education? As it turns out, it's pretty simple: human relationships. Decades of research demonstrate the transformative potential and the lasting legacies of a relationship-rich college experience. Critics suggest that to build connections with peers, faculty, staff, and other mentors is expensive and only an option at elite institutions where instructors have the luxury of time with students. But in this revelatory book brimming with the voices of students, faculty, and staff from across the country, Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert argue that relationship-rich environments can and should exist for all students at all types of institutions. In "Relationship-Rich Education," Felten and Lambert demonstrate that for relationships to be central in undergraduate education, colleges and universities do not require immense resources, privileged students, or specially qualified faculty and staff. All students learn best in an environment characterized by high expectation and high support, and all faculty and staff can learn to teach and work in ways that enable relationship-based education. Emphasizing the centrality of the classroom experience to fostering quality relationships, Felten and Lambert focus on students' influence in shaping the learning environment for their peers, as well as the key difference a single, well-timed conversation can make in a student's life. They also stress that relationship-rich education is particularly important for first-generation college students, who bring significant capacities to college but often face long-standing inequities and barriers to attaining their educational aspirations. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with students, faculty, and staff at 29 higher education institutions across the country, "Relationship-Rich Education" provides readers with practical advice on how they can develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning in their own contexts. Ultimately, the book is an invitation--and a challenge--for faculty, administrators, and student life staff to move relationships from the periphery to the center of undergraduate education.

_{Johns Hopkins University Press, (2020)}

Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College

Validating Students in an Online Teaching Environment

Below is a collection of literature to help us understand the importance of validating all students' experiences especially those of first generation college students. COVID has disparately impacted these students and has uncovered the reality that they're facing.

Validating Culturally Diverse Students: Toward a New Model of Learning and Student Development ASPIRATIONS TO ACHIEVEMENT Men of Color and Community Colleges The COVID-igital Divide First-Generation Students’ Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic Connecting Communities During COVID-19 Redesigning College Admission: COVID-19, Access And Equity Creando una cultura universitaria: How an Ed Tech non-profit engages families of elementary aged future first-generation Latin@ college students