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The Pilot Education Program
GC Students Share Ideas About Preparing for College
Mala Ugargol
College of Education and Human Development graduate student
Many challenges arise when developing a new program for student retention. These challenges can provide valuable insight and opportunities for program improvements.
In 1979, the General College (GC) of the University of Minnesota piloted a two-year program, the Pilot Education Program (PEP). It was designed to increase the retention of “at risk” students from three cultural backgrounds. The University funded three PEP packages: for Native American, Latino, and African American students. According to
Pilot Education Programs Final Report (1979-1980), each package included programming relevant to that specific group. It was an integrated, multidisciplinary package that included both content courses and a skill development component. Support seminars and tutoring services were also provided, as well as counseling, advising, and career planning assistance.
PEP students came to General College with some disadvantages compared to their non-PEP peers in GC. They ranked lower in high school percentile rankings, were older, and many were first-generation college students. PEP students were more likely to be dependent on financial aid and had a strong need for academic, career, and financial counseling.
During the first year of the PEP program, many unanticipated issues came to light. The Latino community found that many of the students were monolingual in Spanish, had limited formal schooling, and were not adequately prepared for college-level English as a Second Language (ESL). The college had to develop two different programs for the two distinct Latino populations, the monolingual and the multilingual students. Creating a package for the monolingual group led to additional expenses because more needs had to be met in order to retain them. The experience later led the General College to recruit students with a higher level of academic preparedness.
Another challenge to the program’s success was a need for more effective counseling and advising assistance with course selection and registration. This became apparent when many students were unexpectedly registering for more non-General College courses. Many PEP students were also registering for self-paced math courses, in which they were not succeeding. Many students were discontented about needing to enroll in developmental courses that were not transferable to a degree. PEP student progress needed to be monitored more closely.
More efficient tutoring resources were also needed. Many students were dependent on financial aid, which required registering for a full time load in order to receive additional funds. However, a reduced credit load would have benefited many students.
Some costly program improvements included a need to offer cultural courses specific to each population, recruiting and maintaining faculty and support staff members from diverse cultural backgrounds, and providing adequate time and resources for teaching materials and team teaching. The first year of the Pilot Education Program pointed to many issues that new programs face. From this experience, the General College made improvements to resources and instruction.
About the Author:
Mala Ugargol is a student in the Post-Secondary Developmental Education certificate program through the College of Education and Human Development. She has an M.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language and has worked in a variety of settings with English language learners.
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