TCNJ

22 The College of New Jersey Magazine "The process of adjusting to college can be complex for first generation college students," says Nadya Pancsofar, professor of early childhood and special education. "It can be an isolating and stressful experience. And when college is stressful, it starts to feel like it's not the right fit." According to a 2017 National Education Association research brief, the majority of teacher preparation program graduates skew white, middle class, and female. Pancsofar believes first generation students play a critical role in increasing representation in the teacher workforce. To get there, they need spaces where they can connect, become leaders, and celebrate their unique perspectives. "College is the right fit for these students. And being a teacher is right too," she says. The pairing of first-year student Moreno to upper- classman Fernandez was not a coincidence but, rather, the result of Pancsofar's efforts to create a peer-to-peer mentoring program, known as the ROSCOE (Resources, Opportunities, Support, and Collaboration for Equity) Educators program, specifically for first generation educa- tion majors. First generation students (who make up about one-third of the TCNJ student population) have access to an array of well-established advising, tutoring, and mento- ring programs at the college. Many of these services are provided through TCNJ's Center for Student Success and the Educational Opportunity Fund. "We support students in a variety of ways so that they succeed as a whole person," says Jamal Johnson, CSS senior assistant director for mentoring and retention. Johnson and his team engage students not only in programs for academic success but also in leadership opportunities; goal-setting seminars; and workshops for time management, study skills, and test-taking strategies. "We want them to develop as humans, as learners, and as members of the TCNJ community," he says. These programs, says Johnson, "certainly cater to the needs of first generation college students." But they are not exclusively for those students. Nor are they only for educa- tion majors. That's where Pancsofar stepped in. With input and guidance from Johnson and other staff experts in student success, she proposed a mentor program expressly for first gen education majors. "It's not possible for the folks in the Center for Student Success to be experts in all of the different academic areas and all of the different professions students may go into," she says. "There is a lot for students to navigate, especially in the School of Education, where most are dual majors." Lizzeth Jaramillo '23, a speech pathology major, helped Pancsofar with the initial research for the ROSCOE Educators program. A first gen student herself, Jaramillo understood the benefits a mentoring program specifically geared to education majors could provide. She recalled asking another student once which advisor had helped him put together his undergraduate plan. To her surprise, he shared that his parents did it for him. "I never realized how different my experience was to that of people whose parents had reached higher education," Jaramillo says. Together, Pancsofar and Jaramillo conducted 20 in-depth interviews with first generation students. Based on the research, Jaramillo created a definition to reflect the diversity within the first generation identity. A first gen student is someone who is the first in a family to go to college. But it also can include students who may have minimum exposure to four-year college experiences, such as those who only have a sibling who went to college or those whose parents completed college in another country or later in life. "They're going to be good teachers. What I'm hoping is that they're going to be more confident and more apt to embrace leadership opportunities and that they will continue on to advanced degrees at higher rates." — Nadya Pancsofar, education professor

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