Starting Strong

Imagine you are an incoming student, just beginning your journey at Portland State. You thrill at the prospect of new adventures: classes to begin and ideas to absorb, friends and professors to meet and a campus and city to explore. For many students, it's an exciting time, but it can also be an overwhelming one.

In their first weeks at PSU, students are adjusting to campus life, learning to manage college-level coursework and navigating their sense of self in an entirely new environment. And while PSU provides plenty of resources to support their transition, new students don't always remember to access them.

These challenges were particularly pronounced during and after the COVID-19 pandemic - so much so that PSU's provost took note and invited Shoshana Zeisman-Pereyo, Executive Director of the Student Learning Initiatives at Portland State, to join a small team of faculty members and create a solution.

The group dreamed up a summer program that could offer a small group of first year students and incoming transfers the opportunity to come to campus a few weeks before fall term begins, giving them the chance to adjust to college life before the crush of students and the pressure of a full-time course load descends. The program became known as Summer Scholars, and has been running ever since.

"It was great to be on campus when it was so quiet and so few people around, to get a lay of the land," says Matt Lynch, a recent Portland State graduate who participated in the Summer Scholars Program in 2021.

During the program, students like Lynch have the chance to get acquainted with PSU, build community with fellow classmates and professors and take for-credit classes. Some students can even move into their dorms early. And the best part? The entire Summer Scholars Program is free.

A head start

Zeisman-Pereyo and her team designed the Summer Scholars Program to be student-centered and engaging, with plenty of activities, guest speakers, panels, projects and trips that connect students with the PSU community.

Students receive guidance throughout the program and into the following academic year. First year students work closely with an advisor to plan their course load and register for classes, and are matched with a peer mentor; transfer students are connected with the Transfer and Returning Student Resource Center, the Learning Center and the Office of Student Success for ongoing support.

Both groups have the chance to earn college credits for free. Transfer students take College Success, a course designed to help them articulate their values and personal goals while learning about motivation, growth mindset and effective study strategies.

First year students take Academic Skills and Exploring Pathways @PSU. In these courses, they learn what to expect at Portland State and discuss their goals and expectations. They are also given the chance to explore the "hidden curriculum." This concept, coined in 1968 by University of Chicago researcher and pedagogue Philip Jackson, refers to unspoken expectations, beliefs and norms students absorb from teachers, other students and school culture.

Once the academic year begins, first year students also enroll in a one-credit workshop that continues throughout all three terms.. "These workshops allow for a deeper exploration of concepts introduced in the summer," Zeisman-Pereyo says. "This ongoing support helps students navigate their first year more effectively and builds a strong foundation for their academic journey."

'It was so worth it'

Kaylee Ordaz-Garcia is a linguistics major who just finished her first year at Portland State. She discovered the First Year Summer Scholars Program on the university's website before she started at PSU. After signing up, she was placed on a waitlist and then, amidst a busy summer, forgot about it.

"I got the [acceptance] email and was like, oh my god," she says. "I had to change some plans around, but it all worked out. It was so worth it."

After accepting her spot in the program, Ordaz-Garcia was able to move into her dorm, and discovered that her roommate would not arrive until the term officially started. "I got the dorm to myself for those three weeks. It was really nice," she says. But even better than getting settled into her dorm early, she says, was being able to transition into "school mode."

"[It's hard to] do anything with school if I'm just in my house," she says. "So it was great to be on campus early and get acquainted with the school. Then also getting to know some professors and some other people, that was really great too."

It was great to be on campus when it was so quiet and so few people around, to get a lay of the land.

Ordaz-Garcia made friends with fellow summer scholars, whom she remained close with throughout her first year, in part thanks to the year-long workshop they took together. "That was comforting," she says. "It was nice seeing familiar faces."

But it was her relationship with one of the program's professors that had the most lasting impact on Ordaz-Garcia. For her Exploring Pathways course, Ordaz-Garcia chose a class in design performance, taught by percussion faculty Mari Schay. It was a fun class, she says, and exposed her to new people and ideas. "It had a lot of art majors and music majors in it. We got to do a lot of artsy things like go to exhibits," she says.

At the beginning of the course, Ordaz-Garcia thought she might major in business. "I didn't really want to do that. I just knew that I could be successful," she admits. "But then I talked to Mari and asked her how she did it, because so many people look down on art. And she was like, 'Well, you know what you have to do. Everyone finds a way.' It felt like she was giving me advice on not letting other people decide what I should do, and instead just doing what I want to do. Hearing that from her was really nice."

The program inspired Ordaz-Garcia to follow her passion for linguistics, and gave her the confidence to network within the linguistics department. She hopes to apply for an internship with the department next year - something she says she felt too intimidated to pursue in the past. "I just want to get more involved," she says. "That would be really, really cool."

'I could be a successful student'

Lynch participated in the Transfers Summer Scholars Program just before finishing his undergraduate degree and completing the prerequisites for PSU's graduate teaching program. As a returning student, Lynch knew how to build a course schedule to achieve his goals. However, after nearly three decades away from school, he was grateful for the opportunity to come to campus early and ease back into student life.

"It was a small group, maybe 18 or 20 transfer students. Most of them were quite a bit younger than I was, but there were a few parents and folks near my age. It was a small, intimate, safe place," Lynch says.

Like Ordaz-Garcia, Lynch found the small-group setting helpful in beginning the transition into PSU, particularly when it came to learning online platforms.

"When I left college in 1994, they were like, big announcement, we're getting a computer lab!" Lynch says with a chuckle. "I've kept up with technology, but I hadn't done anything with school on a computer before. So getting support with Canvas, getting into the PSU Odin system, all of that was nice to have before I had a full schedule of classes."

But for Lynch, the program offered more than the opportunity to familiarize himself with new technology. It also gave him the chance to address the internal hurdles he was facing as a transfer student at PSU.

"The content covered a lot of things I had already been struggling with," says Lynch. "Examining things that you think are shortcomings and figuring out how you can - not reimagine them, but look at them from a different perspective. Maybe looking at some things that were a little bit scary to you, and taking them head on. It was really cool."

The class really did make me feel like I could be a successful student. I never had felt that way in my life before.

Lynch says that one thing he remembers struggling with in school was procrastination. "I just put things off. I would rather chill out," he says.

Through the writing prompts and reflection in his Summer Scholars class, however, he was able to view the situation from a new perspective.

"They had us look at these things that get in our way not necessarily as negatives, but just as a reality that you need to deal with in order to get done what needs to get done," Lynch explains. "And so I can call myself a procrastinator and make myself feel like I'm lazy and don't like to work. But there's also a side to it that you can be deliberate and you don't rush into things without processing and taking the time to think about what you're trying to do. That's not necessarily a negative thing. The class really did make me feel like I could be a successful student. I never had felt that way in my life before."

Now, Lynch is looking forward to using the lessons he learned in the program as he enters the education field. "I've been a musician my whole life - that's why I left college, originally," he says. "I did my final [Summer Scholars] project in the form of a song, and that really made a connection for me. It doesn't need to be a separate thing, academics and creativity. They can hold hands together."

Lynch just finished his final weeks of student teaching, where he brought music into his elementary school classroom. "I was a little worried that fourth graders would be a little too old and too cool, but no, they were all in. It was so much fun," he says.

A hopeful future

Since its inception, the Summer Scholars Program has continued to evolve. Zeisman-Pereyo says that between the annual meeting with faculty and peer mentors, assessments and student surveys, she is able to collect and implement feedback to improve the program. "We can make necessary changes year-to-year," she says. "The program remains nimble and adaptable to meet the changing needs of the students."

However, the future of the program is not guaranteed. The program is funded through the Strong Start Grant, which public universities have requested be renewed by the state legislature through the 2024-2025 school year. Zeisman-Pereyo is hopeful that, alongside other public Oregon universities, they can successfully lobby for its renewal, and receive continued support for the program. "This state funding is essential for the sustainability of the program," she says.

For now, faculty and staff are preparing for the new cohort of summer scholars, who will begin the program later this summer.

"I am incredibly proud of all the faculty, staff, peer mentors and scholars who have been part of this program," Zeisman-Pereyo says. "I hope this program will continue for many years to come, benefiting future students as it has done so far."

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