SHREVEPORT – With nearly half of its first-year students in 2023-24 identifying as first-generation college scholars, LSU Shreveport has increasingly explored methods to improve the success of this student population.
Because of its strategies and programs supporting first-generation students, LSUS has been accepted into the FirstGen Forward Network in the 2024-25 class.
First-generation students are defined as students in which neither parent completed a bachelor’s degree.
“As a university where a high proportion of our undergraduate students are in the first generation of their family to attend college, we have focused a great deal of effort on supporting this important group of students,” said LSUS Chancellor Dr. Robert Smith. “Joining FirstGen Forward signals to the community our commitment to the success of first-generation students and will assist LSUS in developing new and better supports for these students.
“As a first-generation student myself, I recognize the unique challenges that such students have and the importance of giving them the support they need to be successful in college.”
Membership into FirstGen Forward opens a collaboration network of 429 institutions across 49 states that are similarly focused on creating learning environments and structures that identify and reduce obstacles that first-generation students face.
Institutions participate in monthly calls, professional development, annual reporting, and other knowledge sharing with member institutions.
Feedback from FirstGen Forward and member institutions assist universities across the nation in better serving first-generation students.
“We are pleased to welcome LSUS into the FirstGen Forward Network,” said Dr. Sarah E. Whitley, vice president with FirstGen Forward. “Through this application process, it was evident that LSUS is not only taking steps to serve first-generation students but is prepared to make a long-term commitment and employ strategies that foster an environment of success for this important population.”
The application process necessitated a detailed dive into LSUS’s activities and programs that reflected the school’s commitment to first-generation students.
“After not being accepted in the first year we applied, we scaled up our strategies and programs this past year and applied again,” said Angie Pellerin, assistant vice chancellor for student success initiatives. “We have worked tirelessly to make this happen, and it’s a satisfying feeling to have earned this opportunity for our campus.
“What this means for LSUS’s larger strategic goals is that through being a FirstGen Forward Network Member, we will be able to further expand not only direct support to first-generation students but also be better positioned to improve larger-scale systems, processes, and policies to reduce barriers for students. This benefits every student that enters our doors.”
The FirstGen Forward program is organized into phases, with institutions starting as a Network Member with the opportunity to advance to later phases based on the level of support provided to first-generation students.
“Our goal is to scale our first-generation programs to qualify for later phases, ultimately earning LSUS the designation of Network Champion,” Pellerin said. “We’re motivated and fully invested in making this happen as we improve our tools to better help first-generation students.”
LSUS’s current programs aimed at first-generation students include a series of workshops designed to decode the college experience.
Part of that content is what Pellerin calls the “Hidden Curriculum,” or topics that typically aren’t addressed at length but that students are supposed to know.
Examples include selection of a major that aligns with career goals and values, knowledge about different sources of financial aid, and familiarization with the typical academic calendar like drop dates and their advantages and disadvantages.
A 2023 survey revealed that 80 percent of LSUS students work more than 30 hours per week, which necessitates this content being available in a self-serve, online format.
Revamping the First-Year Seminar class in which students learn how college and its resources work was a first step in better preparing students for college.
Acceptance into FirstGen Forward is just the latest of a string of developments demonstrating LSUS’s commitment to first-generation students.
In addition to offering first-generation cords at graduation ceremonies, LSUS inducted nearly 300 students and staff in its first year of membership in Tri Alpha, a national honors society for first-generation students.
LSUS earned Tier 1 status in the second annual Economic Mobility Index, which measures how effectively institutions help low-income students improve their socioeconomic level upon graduation.
The university is one of 11 colleges participating in a new national initiative to transform the first two years of the college experience. The Gardner Institute is facilitating the initiative designed to reduce or remove barriers preventing college students from finishing their degrees.
