By Mary Stoudt
“Students need to ask for help, we’re here wanting to help,” said Dave Wiggins, dean of Academic Success.
Wiggins is the new director of the First Generation Program at Ferrum College. He came back to Ferrum in 2019 after leaving in the 1990s to pursue his doctorate in counseling. As the dean of Academic Success Wiggins focuses on improving programs for student success and works directly with the staff of the Carter Center for Academic Success.
The First Generation Program - anticipated to launch on May 1, 2021 - primarily seeks to serve first-generation students but also branches out to serving new students to Ferrum. It is currently led by a committee of Ferrum faculty and staff, including Wiggins, the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Kevin Reilly, Assistant Professor of biology David Park, Director of the Stanley Library Eric Rector, Director of Career Services Leslie Holden, and Coordinator of the First-Year Experience Program Michelle Carter.
The committee has been devoted to investigating the best practices for serving first-generation students. Some potential strategies to achieve this goal include utilizing student mentors, working with the Financial Aid Office to better explain to first-generation students how to pay for college, introducing students to their academic advisor sooner, and many more.
Roughly 20 to 30 percent of currently registered Ferrum undergraduates are first-generation students, according to Wiggins. First-generation student Dexter McCraw, a sophomore at Ferrum, is excited about the new First Generation Program.
“The program will be a great opportunity to learn new things about being a college student and it’s a great tool for when your parents can not help with FAFSA. You also may feel overwhelmed with coming to college but the new program will be able to set you up to be successful here,” McCraw said.
In addition to the First Generation Program, Ferrum also unveiled a new office near the entrance of the Stanley Library. This new office is the Michael T. Christian ‘63 Center for First-Year Experience. The center aims to help incoming freshmen, including first-generation students, acclimate into college life and succeed in academics. The First-Generation Program and the Center for First-Year Experience will work together to better help Ferrum students.
As the First-Generation Program continues to prepare for its official launch, the Center for First-Year Experience is also up and running. The center has new tables and chairs and is available for students to use.
Carter, the coordinator of the First-Year Experience Program, expressed her desire for more students to utilize the center.
“The center is currently open and students can use it any time it is opened to work on homework and such. I would love to see people come use it more,” Carter said.
While work on the new program continues, students can still utilize the Center for First-Year Experience and the Carter Center for Academic Success, both of which are located in the Stanley Library.