October 16, 2024 • 53 mins
So many mysterious terms and acronyms to understand when your student heads off to college! You’ll understand how college works better when you understand the strange terms they use. In our fourth installment of our College Lingo series, Vicki and Lynn define and discuss more of the insider terms that colleges use that may not always be clear to parents. In this episode we cover Blue Light Phones, Articulation Agreements, Federal Work Study, Course Modifications, Independent Study, and Micro Degrees and Certificates. If you missed Parts 1-3, with 18 additional terms, check out episodes #047, #057, and #098.
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Episode Transcript
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Announcer (00:10):
Welcome to the College Parent Central podcast.
Whether your child is justbeginning the college admission
process or is already in college, this podcast is for you.
You'll find food for thoughtand information about college
and about navigating thatdelicate balance of guidance,
involvement and knowing when toget out of the way.
(00:31):
Join your hosts, vicki Nelsonand Lynn Abrahams, as they share
support and a celebration ofthe amazing child in college.
Lynn Abrahams (00:47):
Welcome to the College Parent Central podcast.
This is the place where we talkabout all things related to our
changing roles as our kids gooff to college.
As parents, we're still prettyimportant, but our roles do
change.
My name is Lynn Abrahams and Iam coming at this from two ways.
(01:11):
One as a parent.
I have two sons who have beenin and out and through and
around college, and I also am aprofessional in the field.
Vicki Nelson (01:36):
I'm a learning disability specialist and I work
with college students who havelearning differences, and I am
here with my friend and collegestudents.
I have three daughters.
Lynn has the boys, I have thegirls and they have been to
college and been through collegeand they're on the other side
and we've all survived.
So I have come to the podcastas a parent, but I am also a
(01:59):
college professor, so I workwith students every day and I
(02:26):
learn a lot from what I see andwhat I hear from them.
So we both bring are in collegeand sometimes students who are
just stepping out of college and, more importantly, we love
talking to their parents and, asLynn said, talking about how
our role changes as we do that.
So we are today doing what Ithink is one of our favorite
kinds of episodes.
This is the fourth episodewe've done that has to do with
(02:49):
college lingo.
You know, college has its ownsort of language and we're
hearing a lot these days forstudents and for parents and
especially for first-generationstudents and parents, but not
exclusively about what's calledthe hidden curriculum and that
is just the idea that there's alot of things you have to know
(03:14):
to get through college andsometimes it's hidden, it's
assumed, it's not hiddenintentionally to keep it secret,
it's just an assumption thateverybody understands this and
understands that.
So these episodes it's thefourth one that we've done have
to do with college lingo.
What are some of the terms thatget thrown around and, as a
(03:36):
parent, it would be helpful foryou to understand.
So we have six things that wewant to talk about today.
Lynn has picked three termsthat she encounters and I've
picked three.
And if you're interested inmore than just these six, uh, we
have done three previousepisodes, so you can go back and
listen to episode 47, episode57, and episode 98.
(04:03):
And we'll list those in theshow notes, but those are also
talk, the talk lingo episodes.
So there's lots, lots of terms,but today we want to talk about
blue light phones.
We're going to talk aboutarticulation agreements, we're
going to talk about federal work, study modifications for
(04:26):
students with learningdisabilities, independent
studies and micro degrees andcertificates.
So it's a wide range covers alittle bit of everything, and if
those things didn't all soundfamiliar to you, then stick with
us, and hopefully they will.
Before we finish.
Lynn Abrahams (04:46):
Okay, okay.
Vicki Nelson (04:46):
You start, vicki, I'm going first.
All right, I wanted to talkabout blue light phones and if
you're in the admissions process, chances are, if you've been
doing college tours, you've seenthem and maybe you've heard
about them.
So really, it starts bythinking about campus safety,
and campus safety is really athree-way partnership.
(05:08):
We like to talk about thistripod all the time in all kinds
of contexts, but parents needto talk to their students before
they go to college aboutstaying safe and thinking about
safety on campus.
And then students need toexercise awareness as they are
moving around about campus andto behave responsibly, because
(05:33):
those are the ways that they'regoing to stay safe.
And then the college has aresponsibility to take
precautions to keep students assafe as possible.
So between parents, studentsand the college, that's going to
be how to help keep studentsstay safe.
So blue light phones are one ofthe things that colleges do to
(05:57):
provide a safe environment, andwhat they are are emergency
phones, or sometimes they'recall boxes on a building.
Sometimes they're freestandingthat has a blue light above it,
so it's easily spotted,especially at night, that this
is an emergency phone, andactually over 90% of colleges
(06:18):
and universities that getfederal aid have blue light
phone system.
So almost anywhere that you goyou should hear about and see
that and these are specialphones.
It's not the old fashionedphone booth that we used to have
.
These are special phones,freestanding or on a building
(06:39):
with the blue light that you cansee, and you don't dial the
phone.
It's just got a red button andif you activate that red button
it connects directly to eithercampus safety or, in some cases,
depending on the school, tolocal police directly.
You don't have to dial anything, you just press the button and
(07:00):
you connect with campus safety.
And the good thing is that thedispatcher who receives the
incoming call can tell where thecall is coming from, because
part of the technology is thatthere's a locator thing so they
can tell where on campus thecall is coming from.
(07:21):
Even if you can't speak, evenif something has happened and
you can't say anything or you'retrying to be quiet or something
, they can see where the call iscoming from and they will send
help.
They'll send officers or policeofficers or campus safety,
depending on the setup.
Sometimes the blue light mightflash, which serves as a
(07:45):
deterrent.
If there's somebody you know,if you're uncomfortable because
you feel like someone'sfollowing you and this blue
light starts to flash, thatoften might mean the person is
going to run away and studentscan use it to report a crime, to
report, if they feel unsafe, amedical emergency, a fire, an
(08:06):
accident, suspicious activity.
They feel unsafe and they wantan escort.
So any of those things arereasons to push that red button
and connect with the caller.
So it's really important toencourage your student to locate
(08:27):
those blue phones on campus asyou walk around campus or take a
special walk and just kind ofnotice where they are.
So in an emergency you couldnotice where they are.
And I think the last couple ofthings to say and I think the
last couple of things to say,these blue light phones started
in about 1990 after the CleryAct, the Safety Act, went in on
(08:52):
campuses and that was allpre-cell phone, and a lot of
students and parents now, Ithink, may think well, what's
the point of this?
Everybody has their cell phone.
But a couple of things thesingle button, where you don't
have to have the presence ofmind to dial, is important.
And if you have your cell phoneand you dial 911, even if
(09:16):
you're driving and you have aflat tire and you dial 911, that
often goes to the state policeand then they have to try to
locate where you are before theycan send help.
So the difference with the bluelight phone is it goes directly
to the closest public safetyrather than going to the state.
(09:37):
And then they have to figureout where you are and and they
can figure out where the systemcan locate where you are.
And then again, you know,thinking about cell phones,
sometimes you have no signal.
Maybe what you want to report isthat someone just stole your
cell phone and then you know youcan't, or or you know the
battery dies, whatever.
But this is a backup plan thatcan work, so not falling into
(10:03):
that, you know, lull of well, weall have cell phones.
Why should I worry about this?
It's a wonderful backup systemand, you know, even if it's used
less, they found that justknowing that these are there is
a lot of peace of mind forstudents and for parents.
Lynn Abrahams (10:22):
You know I'm thinking as a parent.
This is very reassuring to methat this is happening, and if
I'm around looking at colleges,I might take a look at what
colleges and universities havemore than others you know of
these blue phones.
Vicki Nelson (10:36):
Yeah, yeah, and so many colleges have them.
But it might be an interestingquestion to ask and say how many
do you have?
Where on campus are theylocated?
So you know, that's importantin the ambitions piece.
And then, as you're thinkingabout safety, and then you know,
once students are on campus,just making sure they have some
(10:58):
idea of where you know ifthey're in this area of campus,
where's the closest one, ifthey're in that area, where's
the closest one?
And to be aware, so those areblue light phones in this area
of campus.
Where's the closest one?
If they're in that area,where's the closest one?
Lynn Abrahams (11:13):
And to be aware.
So those are blue light phones.
Thank you, that gave me someextra information.
Your turn, my turn.
My term is wow, it's a littledifferent than blue lights.
I'd like to talk aboutarticulation agreements and
that's something you may notknow much about, but what it is
is a formal arrangement between,usually between community
(11:37):
colleges and four-year collegesto help transfer, when students
transfer from one to the other.
It's a partnership betweencolleges.
Hopefully you know it allowsfor a smooth transition.
You know the goal of thesearticulation agreements is to
(12:00):
protect students frombacktracking and repeating or
overlapping courses.
I spent some time at thecollege that we work at working
with transfer students and thatcould be really complicated.
You don't want to repeatcourses.
This articulation agreementscan be also sort of a map
(12:21):
outlining requirements and andfor some places it could make
things more affordable.
I did some looking atMassachusetts and we actually
have this is our state,massachusetts and we have a
program called the CommonwealthCommitment Program and it
(12:42):
actually offers a 10% rebate oftuition and mandatory fees to
make this.
You know from when you make thistransition, this shift from
community college to colleges,to four-year colleges, so you
(13:03):
want to do some research andthis is the key point I want to
make.
Different states have differentsituations, different colleges
have different situations.
You could find articulationagreements between community
college and four-year privateuniversities.
(13:23):
I know Cornell has a particularprogram that they have where
they have an arrangement withcommunity colleges.
So you really want to do someresearch.
Some schools may require acertain GPA in order to make the
(13:44):
transition easier and get thissupport rebate gets.
You know, support Rebate, Iguess, is what I'm talking about
.
The articulation agreement canbe complicated.
That's the other point I wantto make.
Sometimes it's between coursesand courses equivalency.
(14:09):
I know at our school we have adatabase where students can get
on and see courses from otherschools and whether they
transfer over to our school.
So it could be course to course.
It could be program to program,like a particular criminal
(14:45):
justice program shifting over toa four a part of me that
wonders.
Gosh, they make it so difficultto find these.
You know these programs andthese benefits for students, but
what it means is we need to doour homework, students need to
do their research, parents needto do their research, but these
articulation agreements can beincredibly helpful and smooth a
(15:09):
transition from a two-yearcollege to a four-year.
Vicki Nelson (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, they really are a bonus for a lot of
students.
So if a student is deciding, Imean anybody can transfer
anything.
Lynn Abrahams (15:25):
You don't need an articulation agreement.
Vicki Nelson (15:27):
But if a student decides I want to start out at a
community college, and somejust go to a community college
for, say, a year, take a fewcourses and then move on to a
four-year.
But is there also and maybe yousaid it, I'm trying to it is
complicated, so I think there'sa guarantee of acceptance.
(15:47):
If a student completes anassociate's degree at that
college, probably with a certainGPA, they're guaranteed
(16:14):
acceptance to the college.
So it means you can be assuredthat if you complete this
program and you get yourassociate's degree and you have
a solid GPA, you know you'regoing to get in and then you
know that your courses are goingto transfer.
Lynn Abrahams (16:34):
So the key here is if you're in a community
college or if you're looking atcommunity colleges, ask them do
they have articulationagreements with any particular
colleges or universities?
Ask those questions.
I think more and more studentsare starting in community
(16:56):
college.
It's less expensive.
They feel they're getting someof their basic requirements done
before they move on and so whenyou choose that community
college, that's a key questionto ask Do you have these
agreements and please explain tome how it works?
Announcer (17:13):
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (17:14):
And you know, it occurs to me it could be the
opposite.
You might have your sights on acertain four-year college and
it would not be inappropriate togo to an admissions office at a
four-year college and say, arethere any community colleges
with which you have anarticulation agreement?
And then that might help youchoose what community college to
(17:36):
go to, because you know you'vegot a path going forward and I
think the people at communitycolleges and the people at
four-year colleges all want tohelp make this path work for
students.
So they're not.
You know it's not inappropriateto just ask lots of questions
on either and they're.
(17:58):
They're there to to help, andthe reason I have these is to
make it work for students.
Yep, Yep.
Announcer (18:04):
It's really ask a lot of questions.
Vicki Nelson (18:06):
Yeah, and to be, I think it's good you know good
sort of questions.
Yeah, and to be, I think it'sgood.
You know a good sort of warning.
Maybe it's too strong a word,but you know that it is
complicated and you will need toask questions and try to wrap
your head around it all.
Super, okay, my turn again, boy,we're covering the gamut here,
(18:28):
so I talked about blue lightphones, which are safety, and
now you've talked aboutarticulation agreements, which
is, you know, transferring andmoving the swirl that happens
with students from school toschool.
I want to talk about moneyEverybody's favorite topic,
because I want to talk about theFederal Work Study Program,
(18:49):
which is, I think, oftenmisunderstood.
I know with one of my daughtersI had three that went to
college and my first one, Ithink, did not receive federal
work study.
First one, I think, did notreceive federal work study and
(19:14):
my second one did.
But it took a while for us towrap our heads around what it
was and how it worked, and acouple of things took us by
surprise with that.
So the first thing is it's partof your financial aid package,
so you have to fill out theFAFSA and then this is the
federal work study program, soit's based on the FAFSA, and
when you get your financial aidpackage you know here's what the
(19:36):
tuition is and here's how muchfederal aid you're going to
receive, and here's maybe somemerit aid from the college.
And then you may see an itemthere that says federal work
study X amount of money, andit's great.
That's that much less that wehave to do.
There's something like 3,400colleges and universities in the
(19:58):
college use it.
So this is very, very commonthat you would see it.
It's based on financial needand it's federally funded.
Here's one of the keys it's nota guarantee of money.
It's not that they're going togive you.
I'm going to make up a totalnumber, I have no idea $6,000.
(20:20):
I may be so far off, I don'tknow, but it's not that they're
saying we're going to give you$6,000.
It's we're going to give yourstudent an opportunity to work
while they're on campus to earnup to X amount of money.
So it's not a gift of money,it's a gift of opportunity to
(20:44):
work on campus.
It's a reimbursement program.
So you still need to pay thetuition and then your student
gets reimbursed for working.
They have a job on campus andthey get paid money usually
monthly, could be weekly,depends on the college and then
(21:04):
that's to reimburse you for thetuition you've paid.
So if parents have paid thetuition, the student is getting
the money.
So it's important, if you havework-study, to talk early on.
Right when you get that packageof how that's going to work, do
(21:24):
you say to your student okay,you're going to have federal
work, study X amount of money,that's going to be your spending
money.
We're not going to give youspending money.
Or we expect you to use that tobuy your textbooks.
We're not going to do that.
Or that's your free money.
That's great, you know.
It's just, it's for you.
You can do whatever you wantwith it.
(21:44):
Or we expect you to pay usbecause we paid the tuition,
whatever you want with it, or weexpect you to pay us because we
paid the tuition.
There are all kinds of ways todo it, nothing right, nothing
wrong.
But do know that you have topay the money first and then
this is a reimbursement programto get it back and it goes
directly to the student.
Not every job on campus will bework study, but many, many are,
(22:05):
and there are all kinds ofthings.
It can be working in thelibrary, working in the
cafeteria, working, tutoring,doing office and clerical work,
working for buildings andgrounds, working in the
admissions office.
There are all kinds of jobs oncampus that are work-study, and
each school decides which jobsand how you apply.
(22:27):
So usually you would apply inthe fall you get a job on campus
and then you're, instead of itcoming.
Basically what it is is,instead of it coming out of the
college's pocket to pay you forworking on campus, it comes out
of the federal money pocket topay you for working on campus.
What else?
There's often a limit on thenumber of hours you can work,
(22:50):
and it's usually no more than 20hours a week and it's usually
at minimum wage, and you canonly have one work-study job at
a time on campus.
So you can't say, oh, I'm goingto have this one for 20 hours
and this one for 20 hours, I'mgoing to work 40 hours a week.
Students shouldn't be workingthat many hours anyway, but
(23:12):
there is a limit on what you cando.
First-year students usually getthe less interesting jobs.
You need to reapply every yearbecause you need to refill out
your FAFSA every year.
So the amount that you get inyour financial aid package would
be for a year.
I think one of the things andthis is where it took us a
(23:35):
little by surprise when mydaughter got work study is to
think about how realistic it isto be working that amount of
time so you get a certain amountof money.
Say, okay, they've given me andagain I'm making up numbers
$6,000 for the year.
That would be $3,000 eachsemester, although it could be
(23:57):
carried over mid-year if youdidn't use it all up the first
semester.
Once you reach the end of that,then you can't work anymore.
So, okay, it's this amount persemester.
Now find out what minimum wageis and then divide that how many
hours over the semester willyour student have to work?
(24:18):
And what took us by surprisewas when we said you know you're
going to have to work 20 hoursa week to get this.
It's not like, oh, I'll workfive or 10 hours a week, but in
order to get the full amountthat you've been allotted, this
is how many hours you have towork.
So you know, just to reallylook at it and do some math and
(24:40):
figure out how much they canwork, how much they want to work
, how much they can earn and Imentioned, you have to reapply
every year.
And the one last thing is thatmoney that you earn for federal
work-study is fully taxable asincome.
So many students don't earnenough that they have to pay
(25:02):
income tax anyway, but if theydo, they have to know that the
work study is also taxable.
So kind of like articulationagreement.
It's a little bit complicated,but just knowing.
And again financial aid, peopleare there to answer your
questions.
So if all of this you know, ifit makes sense to you, great.
(25:24):
And if it's a little confusingbut you're suddenly saying, wow,
that's more complicated than Ithought, take your questions.
And the financial aid peopleare happy to work, great.
And if it's a little confusingbut you're suddenly saying, wow,
that's more complicated than Ithought, take your questions.
And the financial aid peopleare happy to work with you.
It's a great program, as longas you understand how it works.
Lynn Abrahams (25:37):
You know.
I just want to add that one ofmy kids got a great job through
this program working for themuseum at his college, and so
some very sweet jobs, like thejobs that people really want,
are saved for this program,which can be wonderful.
He absolutely loved working atthe museum, so that was part of
(26:01):
his whole experience.
Vicki Nelson (26:05):
And something like that in particular would look
great on a resume.
Lynn Abrahams (26:09):
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (26:11):
You know, if you're working in the cafeteria
it's not bad because you'reshowing that you're responsible
and you show up and you do allof that.
But some of these really sweetjobs you're right, would look
pretty good in that way.
Look pretty good in that wayand they're also working on
(26:35):
campus is really a good thing todo because it connects you to
the campus.
It connects you to the peopleon campus you get to know some
of, depending on the job, theadministrators, the faculty, the
staff.
There are a lot of great thingsabout it besides the money.
Lynn Abrahams (26:50):
I have a number of students who didn't really
feel connected until they got ajob on campus and then, all of a
sudden, they were, like youknow, part of the community.
So it's a great opportunity,it's a bonus.
Okay, so I get to go next, andthe next term I'm going to talk
about is modifications, and soI'm a learning disability
(27:15):
specialist.
That's my world, and this topicof really accommodations versus
modifications is a topic thatI've brought up before.
I know that in the past, one ofour podcasts, I talked about
(27:36):
the word accommodations, becausethat is incredibly important.
When a student comes to acollege and they have a
documented learning disability,and they have a documented
learning disability, they areallowed certain accommodations,
and the point is that the wordsthat they use are the college
(27:56):
provides an equal opportunityfor the participation of
qualified students.
The point of accommodations isto prevent discrimination, to
level the playing field.
Accommodations might besomething like extended time on
tests or a distraction-freeenvironment for tests, or
(28:23):
text-to-speech or speech-to-textsoftware to speech or speech to
text software.
So these are ways to supportthe student, to make it an equal
experience for these studentsalong with all the other
students in a course.
A modification is different andit is literally modifying
(28:47):
something in the class.
So modifications are changes inthe requirements for students.
When you're in high school andyou have an IEP, there are often
modifications very specificallystated in the IEP, changes that
(29:09):
teachers have to provide forstudents.
It might be something likereading less than other students
or something very concrete, butin high school that could be
part of the IEP, but that IEP isnot legal in college.
(29:34):
That's really important thatparents understand that, Because
if students have receivedcertain modifications and
they're used to it, once theyget to college it's a different
world Again.
The laws shift and the goal isto prevent discrimination, but
it's not necessarily to create asuccessful college experience
(29:57):
for the student.
So modifications are different.
I found a really good exampleof this that made it so clear to
me, and it was actually byElizabeth Hamlet in her book the
Seven Steps to College Success,and Elizabeth Hamlet is one of
(30:17):
our co-podcasters.
She's one of our team.
She's one of the team, but shetalks in her book about a
student who's in a publicspeaking class.
Now, Vicki has taught publicspeaking classes, You're a
(30:39):
communication professor, so youhave been in this situation or a
language-based learningdisability.
And they go up to the professorand they say I would like to be
exempted from speaking in classbecause I can't do it, Excuse
me.
So what Elizabeth Hamlet saysin her book is An accommodation
(31:07):
for that.
Well, first of all, to allowthe student not to do it is a
modification that changes whatis required for students, so
that is not required by thecollege to do.
An accommodation might besomething like allowing the
(31:31):
student to speak to a smallergroup instead of the full class,
or even speak alone to theprofessor.
But here's the point it's theprofessor's call on whether
that's a modification or not.
That was going to be one of myquestions.
(31:58):
And if the professor feels thatthis is changing the course
objective, then they are allowedto say no, that's a
modification.
The way this made sense to mewas there are certain skills
that students are required toget through their courses.
There might be requirements intheir field of study.
Public speaking might be one ofthose.
You might have to know how tospeak in public in order to do a
(32:20):
certain major political scienceor something, and so that's
required.
There might be somerequirements in medical classes
that are required to go tomedical school because it's part
of the actual job.
The student will be required todo that.
(32:45):
If they need the course to bemodified in order to do it, then
they ought to stop and thinkabout whether this is what they
want to be doing.
Okay, Because there are so manychoices.
I mean also, if you want to bein the medical world, there's so
many choices.
There are ways to provideaccommodations to level the
(33:13):
playing field.
If it doesn't interfere withthe course's goal.
Okay, and it's a harddistinction.
I know a number of studentscome from high schools and they
really feel that they should getcertain accommodations that the
college is not required to give.
(33:33):
It's all about the goal of thecourse, the objectives of the
course, and whether you'rechanging that.
Vicki Nelson (33:42):
You're not really supposed to be modifying a
course in the college level tobe modifying a course in the
college level, so it sounds asthough if you have a student
who's had an IEP as they'regoing to college, it's important
for parents to understand thisfirst of all and then to talk to
their student and talk aboutwhat this is such an important
(34:06):
distinction.
Let's look at your IEP and saywhat on that IEP has been an
accommodation and what on thatIEP has been a modification, has
been a modification, and knowthat the modifications are not
going.
There's no guarantee ofanything, but the chances are
better that the college willgrant you either the same or
(34:31):
similar accommodations, but notthe modifications.
So to understand that, Right.
Lynn Abrahams (34:38):
I have worked with students on the college
level who have come in withtheir past IEP limited the
amount of work they wererequired to do.
That's just not going to happenon the college level.
That's a modification.
That's a change.
Vicki Nelson (34:56):
And it strikes me that I like your example of what
some of the modifications mightbe for that student in terms of
speaking that student in termsof speaking Another modification
.
That might be something.
Again, it depends on you knowwhat are the outcomes of this
(35:24):
course and what is the barrier.
Why do you think you needmodifications?
But a modification in somecases might be, will allow you
to take that course instead ofthis course.
Sometimes you know, if wereally think about it and it
would put the department, Iwould think, in that position of
really saying, okay, what arethe outcomes of this course?
That's the barrier for you, andare there any other courses
(35:47):
that we offer that would achievethose same outcomes for this
student but would not have thatbarrier?
Lynn Abrahams (35:57):
So here's a key difference between high school
and college, though Okay, incollege it's the student's
responsibility to find that, notthe college's responsibility.
In high school.
It's the high school'sresponsibility to find another
course to substitute.
In college a student may dotheir own research and say and
(36:19):
bring it up to the departmentand request it.
Announcer (36:22):
Right.
Lynn Abrahams (36:23):
But it's not the department's job to find that
substitution.
Vicki Nelson (36:28):
That's really.
That's good, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lynn Abrahams (36:33):
Responsibility is on students, on the student,
yeah, and understanding that anaccommodation levels the playing
field and it's good for parentsto have these discussions with
students because at this pointyou know parents can be a really
good support, you know, ifstudents, you know parents can
(36:55):
help students understand whatsome of these shifts are, if
they understand it themselves.
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (37:01):
And if you know if a student has an IEP, has had
an IEP all through and there are.
I think like one of mydaughters is a SPED teacher, so
I you know, I know that she hasIEP meetings with families and
by high school, making sure thatyour student is part of that
(37:24):
IEP meeting so that they reallyare taking ownership, Absolutely
yeah really important.
Okay, I want to do another onewhich has to do with studying
and classes and courses.
This is a little more on theother end of the spectrum
because it's in terms of, it'ssomething more for, probably,
(37:48):
junior and senior year, not somuch for this, you know,
beginning of college.
So it may be down the road forsome people.
Or if you have a student incollege, it, you know, it helps
to start thinking early on andthey may come home talking about
it.
And that's an independent study, which is really, you know,
(38:09):
essentially what it says it'sdoing some work independently,
by yourself rather than in acourse.
So an independent study is fora student who is interested in a
particular subject or aparticular course or really
wants to pursue something, butthe school doesn't offer that
(38:30):
course or that topic in theircurriculum.
They look and they say I reallywant to do something with this
because it's related to myprofession and I just want to
dig into this.
They look through all thecourses that are offered and say
they don't have anything on it.
So then what that student cando is go to a faculty member
(38:52):
with a proposal, you know, oreven just an idea, and then the
student and the faculty memberwork together on a proposal to
create a course that thisstudent will do independently.
It's independent study and itusually is maybe junior year or,
more likely, senior year, andthe student needs to be, they
(39:17):
need to understand themselveswell enough to know whether
they're going to be able to workindependently.
You know, without a class thatyou have to go to all the time
and deadlines and all of that Imean you still may have
deadlines, but you have to bemore self time and deadlines and
all of that.
I mean you still may havedeadlines, but you have to be
more self-motivated and all that.
So then the student takes thistopic, this idea, to a professor
(39:40):
, find someone who's willing tosponsor them and then together
they create this course.
Sometimes you're required tohave a certain GPA in order to
do it.
If your GPA is low, there maybe some question about your
ability to do it on your own.
And you've got to know you'vegot good study habits and all of
(40:04):
that.
So what to do?
You start early, plan early,because it takes time.
It's not something that youknow.
The first day of classes you goand say I need another course,
I'm going to do an independentstudy Work with the professor
who's going to sponsor it, andyou usually need to write a
proposal and there may be a form.
(40:27):
You know colleges love forms.
Lynn Abrahams (40:30):
Lots of forms.
Vicki Nelson (40:31):
And it's probably online these days and you
usually the things you need tothink about and work with the
professor.
You need to have a purpose or arationale for why you want to
do this thing, that the correctwhat, why you can't just take a
course that's already there?
How does it fit in with youracademic goals?
Why is this the right thing foryou?
(40:53):
What is going to be the contentof the course?
What books are you going toread?
What articles are you going toread?
What are the outcomes andobjectives?
This is language thatprofessors use, but the outcomes
are what do I want the studentto have accomplished by the end
of this course?
Every course I teach, I have tosay here.
But the outcomes are what do Iwant the student to have
accomplished by the end of thiscourse?
Every course I teach, I have tosay here are the outcomes.
(41:15):
Here's what the student shouldbe able to do at the end of, or
know or understand or produce bythe end of the course.
So you would need to work withyour professor.
What are the outcomes andobjectives?
What are the assignments goingto be?
What are the due dates going tobe for those assignments?
Is there going to be just onepaper due at the end.
Are there going to be thingsalong the line?
(41:36):
When are they going to be?
How is it going to be assessedor graded?
Are assignments going to begraded?
Is it one grade at the end?
What is the weighting ofassignments?
All of those things you wouldnormally find on a syllabus
you're working out together withthe professor.
(41:58):
And then what is going to bethe schedule of meetings?
Sometimes the professor may say, based on all this other stuff
we've thought about, if we meetonce a month we're going to be
fine and depending on someoneelse, it might be.
I want to meet with you once aweek and we're going to talk
about what you've learned thatweek and where you are and how
it's progressing and all that.
You and the professor work thatout.
(42:19):
So essentially, you're planninga course and then you're going
to do that course on your own,together with that professor,
and then you submit that formand you have to get approval.
So the registrar or sometimesthere's a committee or the
department somebody needs to say, yep, we've looked at this, it
(42:40):
looks good, it makes sense.
Make sure you, when you'replanning your schedule, it's a
course, it's not a class, thatthat's listed in the same way.
But you have to make sure youhave enough time in your week,
every week, to do this thing.
It's a real course that you'redoing.
(43:01):
You're just doing it on yourown and being sure that you
think you can stay organized andmotivated and disciplined.
So you know, there are allkinds of things that could be.
If you're a creative person andyou're in a theater program,
perhaps, and you're a writer, itmight be I'm going to write a
play by the end of the semesterand then you know you work with
(43:22):
the professor in terms of whatresearch do you have to do about
playwriting?
And maybe you have to dohistorical research because
you're setting it in a certaintime writing and maybe you have
to do historical researchbecause you're setting it in a
certain time.
Maybe you want to write a novel.
Maybe you're an education majorand you want to design an
entire curriculum aroundsomething and you want to do
that.
Maybe you want to produce afilm.
(43:42):
Maybe you have done a projector a paper in a class and you
want to take it to the nextlevel because it really inspired
you.
Or you're a science major andyou're a researcher and you want
to research something,particularly in the lab, so all
kinds of things can be done andit's a great opportunity to
(44:05):
tailor-make something just foryou.
Lynn Abrahams (44:08):
You know, it sounds like the first step is
finding a faculty member.
That's key, you know.
Actually, that's the secondstep.
Vicki Nelson (44:18):
The first step is to have an idea of what you
think you want to do or what youwant to study, and it could be
very concrete or it could bevague, but you have something,
you have an idea, and that'sgoing to determine who do you
approach.
Sure, you know who are yougoing to ask to work with, right
(44:38):
, but yeah, and if you getsomebody to work with you, then
You're good to go.
Lynn Abrahams (44:42):
You're probably good to go, but who knows?
But it's a great opportunity toknow about.
You know, the last thing I'mgoing to talk about are just
three terms that I've heardthrown around and you know, I
wasn't sure I understood whatthey were.
The three terms are microdegree, certificate programs and
(45:06):
certification and certification, and the reason I'm picking
these three things are that manystudents choose not to do the
sort of typical four-year routein college.
They might choose a shorter,more abbreviated program, and at
(45:26):
least a micro degree and acertificate program are those
kinds of programs.
So a micro degree is anabbreviated educational program
and it usually supports somekind of job training or
specialized training.
It usually consists of three tofive classes and takes less
(45:52):
than a year to complete.
So there are more and more ofthese programs popping up.
Colleges will offer these littlechunks, basically, and they're
calling them micro degrees.
It's a quicker process.
It's a quicker process.
(46:24):
Now, a certificate program isvery, very similar to that.
It sort of is a program thatverifies that a year or they can
be even longer, these can be alittle bit longer and they're
usually offered both online orin person.
One of my sons, after hisfour-year college degree, went
and did a certificate program insoftware design, and so it
(46:50):
really helped him because itgave him real hands-on work in
that particular subject.
Not to be confused with acertification Now, certification
shows that the student haspassed some kind of test that
usually demonstrates you know,sometimes it's job related, in
(47:15):
that there are industrystandards for certain jobs and
students have to prove that theyhave passed that, you know,
either some test or somehands-on performance that shows
that they are ready to go.
So a certification could be aquicker thing, that could be an
assessment, a test.
But micro-degree andcertificate programs are
(47:40):
becoming more and more popular,certainly less expensive.
They're more focused on jobtraining and there are more and
more of them around.
Vicki Nelson (47:53):
It's really interesting.
And it's interesting todifferentiate and you know so.
You know certification, I'mthinking.
You know our education majorshave to pass the MTEL, which is
the Massachusetts I don't knowteaching something or other
teacher of elementary educationor something like that.
(48:15):
And that's the big thing.
A lot of their work throughtheir curriculum is preparing
them to take this test that theyhave to pass and get that
certification in order to teachin the public schools.
The nurses have thatcertification.
I used to know what it wasbecause I have one of my
(48:37):
daughters is a nurse, but it's abig deal.
It's a big deal that they haveto take in order to become a
registered nurse.
So they've been around, yeah,and it can be a quick thing, but
it also can be, you know, acapstone thing of a program that
the whole program is workingtoward being able to get this
(48:57):
certification to work in thefield.
Or it could be in the middle ofa first year need to take one
phase of that in order tocontinue in the program, which
(49:18):
can be a really good thing,because if you can't pass that,
you don't want to spend fouryears and then not be able to
pass the end one.
So, yeah, and these microdegrees, um, so the yeah, and
these micro degrees, and do youknow?
Um, and you know, maybe wedon't know, but it would be
something for somebody to ask ifyou have a, if you do a cup,
for instance, a couple of microdegrees somewhere, can they then
(49:42):
be sort of combined and puttoward, if you, if you do a
micro degree in this and microdegree in that, and then maybe
you in that, and then maybe yousay you know, I think I want the
full Bachelor of Arts orBachelor of Science.
The micro degree could counttoward that.
Lynn Abrahams (49:58):
So that's the question you ask every college.
And every college that offersthis kind of degree?
You want to ask them you knowthat particular question.
Vicki Nelson (50:09):
We don't have to know all the answers.
We just have to know what arethe important questions to ask.
Well, really, that's very true.
What we want to do is armparents to have conversations
with students, to be able to askthe questions you need to ask
and to know the terminology whenyou hear it thrown around you
(50:30):
need to ask and to know theterminology when you hear it
thrown around and in education,for some reason there are they
people love this fancyterminology and a lot of
acronyms too, you know.
Lynn Abrahams (50:41):
So you want to.
Don't feel bad about asking.
Maybe sometime we'll do anepisode just on acronyms,
acronyms, just do all of theseacronyms Well you know, one of
the reason we started doing thiswas that you and I were in
education episode just onacronyms, Acronyms, Just do all
of these acronyms.
It would be helpful.
One of the reasons we starteddoing this was that you and I
were in education in higher edand we had so many questions
(51:02):
about some of this terminology.
Vicki Nelson (51:03):
When our kids went to school, when our kids went
to college.
Lynn Abrahams (51:04):
Yeah, and every college is different, so you
know so you know.
Vicki Nelson (51:07):
I think the important thing for parents is,
if you're hearing a lot of thesethings that don't make sense,
don't feel overwhelmed and justsort of you know, throw up your
hands, ask, ask your student ifthey know and if your student
doesn't know, together see ifyou can find out.
Stand about this terminologythat we all use, the better
(51:33):
you're going to be in a positionto be able to advocate and get
what you need and understand asyou move through and there are
lots of terms.
So we hope these six helped.
We'll list them in the shownotes for this episode and we'll
also list those earlier threeepisodes and then also on the
College Parent Central website,collegeparentcentralcom.
(51:56):
If you go to resources, the tabat the top, there is a glossary
and there are over 100 termsthere of just about anything you
could possibly think of to wantto know, although I keep
thinking of new terms and wekeep building that list.
Some of the ones we talked abouttoday are there and some aren't
(52:17):
yet, but you start to learn thelanguage, learn to talk, the
talk and it will help.
So thanks for sticking with usthrough all the way to the end.
We hope it was helpful.
If you know anyone else thatyou think would find any of our
podcasts or all of the articleson the website helpful, whether
(52:42):
they're at the beginning of theprocess, in the middle of the
process or thinking about nextsteps after college.
Please share our informationwith them and we invite them to
join along.
So thanks a lot and we'll seeyou next time.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the College Parent Central podcast.
Whether your child is justbeginning the college admission
process or is already in college, this podcast is for you.
You'll find food for thoughtand information about college
and about navigating thatdelicate balance of guidance,
involvement and knowing when toget out of the way.
(00:31):
Join your hosts, vicki Nelsonand Lynn Abrahams, as they share
support and a celebration ofthe amazing child in college.
Lynn Abrahams (00:47):
Welcome to the College Parent Central podcast.
This is the place where we talkabout all things related to our
changing roles as our kids gooff to college.
As parents, we're still prettyimportant, but our roles do
change.
My name is Lynn Abrahams and Iam coming at this from two ways.
(01:11):
One as a parent.
I have two sons who have beenin and out and through and
around college, and I also am aprofessional in the field.
Vicki Nelson (01:36):
I'm a learning disability specialist and I work
with college students who havelearning differences, and I am
here with my friend and collegestudents.
I have three daughters.
Lynn has the boys, I have thegirls and they have been to
college and been through collegeand they're on the other side
and we've all survived.
So I have come to the podcastas a parent, but I am also a
(01:59):
college professor, so I workwith students every day and I
(02:26):
learn a lot from what I see andwhat I hear from them.
So we both bring are in collegeand sometimes students who are
just stepping out of college and, more importantly, we love
talking to their parents and, asLynn said, talking about how
our role changes as we do that.
So we are today doing what Ithink is one of our favorite
kinds of episodes.
This is the fourth episodewe've done that has to do with
(02:49):
college lingo.
You know, college has its ownsort of language and we're
hearing a lot these days forstudents and for parents and
especially for first-generationstudents and parents, but not
exclusively about what's calledthe hidden curriculum and that
is just the idea that there's alot of things you have to know
(03:14):
to get through college andsometimes it's hidden, it's
assumed, it's not hiddenintentionally to keep it secret,
it's just an assumption thateverybody understands this and
understands that.
So these episodes it's thefourth one that we've done have
to do with college lingo.
What are some of the terms thatget thrown around and, as a
(03:36):
parent, it would be helpful foryou to understand.
So we have six things that wewant to talk about today.
Lynn has picked three termsthat she encounters and I've
picked three.
And if you're interested inmore than just these six, uh, we
have done three previousepisodes, so you can go back and
listen to episode 47, episode57, and episode 98.
(04:03):
And we'll list those in theshow notes, but those are also
talk, the talk lingo episodes.
So there's lots, lots of terms,but today we want to talk about
blue light phones.
We're going to talk aboutarticulation agreements, we're
going to talk about federal work, study modifications for
(04:26):
students with learningdisabilities, independent
studies and micro degrees andcertificates.
So it's a wide range covers alittle bit of everything, and if
those things didn't all soundfamiliar to you, then stick with
us, and hopefully they will.
Before we finish.
Lynn Abrahams (04:46):
Okay, okay.
Vicki Nelson (04:46):
You start, vicki, I'm going first.
All right, I wanted to talkabout blue light phones and if
you're in the admissions process, chances are, if you've been
doing college tours, you've seenthem and maybe you've heard
about them.
So really, it starts bythinking about campus safety,
and campus safety is really athree-way partnership.
(05:08):
We like to talk about thistripod all the time in all kinds
of contexts, but parents needto talk to their students before
they go to college aboutstaying safe and thinking about
safety on campus.
And then students need toexercise awareness as they are
moving around about campus andto behave responsibly, because
(05:33):
those are the ways that they'regoing to stay safe.
And then the college has aresponsibility to take
precautions to keep students assafe as possible.
So between parents, studentsand the college, that's going to
be how to help keep studentsstay safe.
So blue light phones are one ofthe things that colleges do to
(05:57):
provide a safe environment, andwhat they are are emergency
phones, or sometimes they'recall boxes on a building.
Sometimes they're freestandingthat has a blue light above it,
so it's easily spotted,especially at night, that this
is an emergency phone, andactually over 90% of colleges
(06:18):
and universities that getfederal aid have blue light
phone system.
So almost anywhere that you goyou should hear about and see
that and these are specialphones.
It's not the old fashionedphone booth that we used to have
.
These are special phones,freestanding or on a building
(06:39):
with the blue light that you cansee, and you don't dial the
phone.
It's just got a red button andif you activate that red button
it connects directly to eithercampus safety or, in some cases,
depending on the school, tolocal police directly.
You don't have to dial anything, you just press the button and
(07:00):
you connect with campus safety.
And the good thing is that thedispatcher who receives the
incoming call can tell where thecall is coming from, because
part of the technology is thatthere's a locator thing so they
can tell where on campus thecall is coming from.
(07:21):
Even if you can't speak, evenif something has happened and
you can't say anything or you'retrying to be quiet or something
, they can see where the call iscoming from and they will send
help.
They'll send officers or policeofficers or campus safety,
depending on the setup.
Sometimes the blue light mightflash, which serves as a
(07:45):
deterrent.
If there's somebody you know,if you're uncomfortable because
you feel like someone'sfollowing you and this blue
light starts to flash, thatoften might mean the person is
going to run away and studentscan use it to report a crime, to
report, if they feel unsafe, amedical emergency, a fire, an
(08:06):
accident, suspicious activity.
They feel unsafe and they wantan escort.
So any of those things arereasons to push that red button
and connect with the caller.
So it's really important toencourage your student to locate
(08:27):
those blue phones on campus asyou walk around campus or take a
special walk and just kind ofnotice where they are.
So in an emergency you couldnotice where they are.
And I think the last couple ofthings to say and I think the
last couple of things to say,these blue light phones started
in about 1990 after the CleryAct, the Safety Act, went in on
(08:52):
campuses and that was allpre-cell phone, and a lot of
students and parents now, Ithink, may think well, what's
the point of this?
Everybody has their cell phone.
But a couple of things thesingle button, where you don't
have to have the presence ofmind to dial, is important.
And if you have your cell phoneand you dial 911, even if
(09:16):
you're driving and you have aflat tire and you dial 911, that
often goes to the state policeand then they have to try to
locate where you are before theycan send help.
So the difference with the bluelight phone is it goes directly
to the closest public safetyrather than going to the state.
(09:37):
And then they have to figureout where you are and and they
can figure out where the systemcan locate where you are.
And then again, you know,thinking about cell phones,
sometimes you have no signal.
Maybe what you want to report isthat someone just stole your
cell phone and then you know youcan't, or or you know the
battery dies, whatever.
But this is a backup plan thatcan work, so not falling into
(10:03):
that, you know, lull of well, weall have cell phones.
Why should I worry about this?
It's a wonderful backup systemand, you know, even if it's used
less, they found that justknowing that these are there is
a lot of peace of mind forstudents and for parents.
Lynn Abrahams (10:22):
You know I'm thinking as a parent.
This is very reassuring to methat this is happening, and if
I'm around looking at colleges,I might take a look at what
colleges and universities havemore than others you know of
these blue phones.
Vicki Nelson (10:36):
Yeah, yeah, and so many colleges have them.
But it might be an interestingquestion to ask and say how many
do you have?
Where on campus are theylocated?
So you know, that's importantin the ambitions piece.
And then, as you're thinkingabout safety, and then you know,
once students are on campus,just making sure they have some
(10:58):
idea of where you know ifthey're in this area of campus,
where's the closest one, ifthey're in that area, where's
the closest one?
And to be aware, so those areblue light phones in this area
of campus.
Where's the closest one?
If they're in that area,where's the closest one?
Lynn Abrahams (11:13):
And to be aware.
So those are blue light phones.
Thank you, that gave me someextra information.
Your turn, my turn.
My term is wow, it's a littledifferent than blue lights.
I'd like to talk aboutarticulation agreements and
that's something you may notknow much about, but what it is
is a formal arrangement between,usually between community
(11:37):
colleges and four-year collegesto help transfer, when students
transfer from one to the other.
It's a partnership betweencolleges.
Hopefully you know it allowsfor a smooth transition.
You know the goal of thesearticulation agreements is to
(12:00):
protect students frombacktracking and repeating or
overlapping courses.
I spent some time at thecollege that we work at working
with transfer students and thatcould be really complicated.
You don't want to repeatcourses.
This articulation agreementscan be also sort of a map
(12:21):
outlining requirements and andfor some places it could make
things more affordable.
I did some looking atMassachusetts and we actually
have this is our state,massachusetts and we have a
program called the CommonwealthCommitment Program and it
(12:42):
actually offers a 10% rebate oftuition and mandatory fees to
make this.
You know from when you make thistransition, this shift from
community college to colleges,to four-year colleges, so you
(13:03):
want to do some research andthis is the key point I want to
make.
Different states have differentsituations, different colleges
have different situations.
You could find articulationagreements between community
college and four-year privateuniversities.
(13:23):
I know Cornell has a particularprogram that they have where
they have an arrangement withcommunity colleges.
So you really want to do someresearch.
Some schools may require acertain GPA in order to make the
(13:44):
transition easier and get thissupport rebate gets.
You know, support Rebate, Iguess, is what I'm talking about
.
The articulation agreement canbe complicated.
That's the other point I wantto make.
Sometimes it's between coursesand courses equivalency.
(14:09):
I know at our school we have adatabase where students can get
on and see courses from otherschools and whether they
transfer over to our school.
So it could be course to course.
It could be program to program,like a particular criminal
(14:45):
justice program shifting over toa four a part of me that
wonders.
Gosh, they make it so difficultto find these.
You know these programs andthese benefits for students, but
what it means is we need to doour homework, students need to
do their research, parents needto do their research, but these
articulation agreements can beincredibly helpful and smooth a
(15:09):
transition from a two-yearcollege to a four-year.
Vicki Nelson (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, they really are a bonus for a lot of
students.
So if a student is deciding, Imean anybody can transfer
anything.
Lynn Abrahams (15:25):
You don't need an articulation agreement.
Vicki Nelson (15:27):
But if a student decides I want to start out at a
community college, and somejust go to a community college
for, say, a year, take a fewcourses and then move on to a
four-year.
But is there also and maybe yousaid it, I'm trying to it is
complicated, so I think there'sa guarantee of acceptance.
(15:47):
If a student completes anassociate's degree at that
college, probably with a certainGPA, they're guaranteed
(16:14):
acceptance to the college.
So it means you can be assuredthat if you complete this
program and you get yourassociate's degree and you have
a solid GPA, you know you'regoing to get in and then you
know that your courses are goingto transfer.
Lynn Abrahams (16:34):
So the key here is if you're in a community
college or if you're looking atcommunity colleges, ask them do
they have articulationagreements with any particular
colleges or universities?
Ask those questions.
I think more and more studentsare starting in community
(16:56):
college.
It's less expensive.
They feel they're getting someof their basic requirements done
before they move on and so whenyou choose that community
college, that's a key questionto ask Do you have these
agreements and please explain tome how it works?
Announcer (17:13):
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (17:14):
And you know, it occurs to me it could be the
opposite.
You might have your sights on acertain four-year college and
it would not be inappropriate togo to an admissions office at a
four-year college and say, arethere any community colleges
with which you have anarticulation agreement?
And then that might help youchoose what community college to
(17:36):
go to, because you know you'vegot a path going forward and I
think the people at communitycolleges and the people at
four-year colleges all want tohelp make this path work for
students.
So they're not.
You know it's not inappropriateto just ask lots of questions
on either and they're.
(17:58):
They're there to to help, andthe reason I have these is to
make it work for students.
Yep, Yep.
Announcer (18:04):
It's really ask a lot of questions.
Vicki Nelson (18:06):
Yeah, and to be, I think it's good you know good
sort of questions.
Yeah, and to be, I think it'sgood.
You know a good sort of warning.
Maybe it's too strong a word,but you know that it is
complicated and you will need toask questions and try to wrap
your head around it all.
Super, okay, my turn again, boy,we're covering the gamut here,
(18:28):
so I talked about blue lightphones, which are safety, and
now you've talked aboutarticulation agreements, which
is, you know, transferring andmoving the swirl that happens
with students from school toschool.
I want to talk about moneyEverybody's favorite topic,
because I want to talk about theFederal Work Study Program,
(18:49):
which is, I think, oftenmisunderstood.
I know with one of my daughtersI had three that went to
college and my first one, Ithink, did not receive federal
work study.
First one, I think, did notreceive federal work study and
(19:14):
my second one did.
But it took a while for us towrap our heads around what it
was and how it worked, and acouple of things took us by
surprise with that.
So the first thing is it's partof your financial aid package,
so you have to fill out theFAFSA and then this is the
federal work study program, soit's based on the FAFSA, and
when you get your financial aidpackage you know here's what the
(19:36):
tuition is and here's how muchfederal aid you're going to
receive, and here's maybe somemerit aid from the college.
And then you may see an itemthere that says federal work
study X amount of money, andit's great.
That's that much less that wehave to do.
There's something like 3,400colleges and universities in the
(19:58):
college use it.
So this is very, very commonthat you would see it.
It's based on financial needand it's federally funded.
Here's one of the keys it's nota guarantee of money.
It's not that they're going togive you.
I'm going to make up a totalnumber, I have no idea $6,000.
(20:20):
I may be so far off, I don'tknow, but it's not that they're
saying we're going to give you$6,000.
It's we're going to give yourstudent an opportunity to work
while they're on campus to earnup to X amount of money.
So it's not a gift of money,it's a gift of opportunity to
(20:44):
work on campus.
It's a reimbursement program.
So you still need to pay thetuition and then your student
gets reimbursed for working.
They have a job on campus andthey get paid money usually
monthly, could be weekly,depends on the college and then
(21:04):
that's to reimburse you for thetuition you've paid.
So if parents have paid thetuition, the student is getting
the money.
So it's important, if you havework-study, to talk early on.
Right when you get that packageof how that's going to work, do
(21:24):
you say to your student okay,you're going to have federal
work, study X amount of money,that's going to be your spending
money.
We're not going to give youspending money.
Or we expect you to use that tobuy your textbooks.
We're not going to do that.
Or that's your free money.
That's great, you know.
It's just, it's for you.
You can do whatever you wantwith it.
(21:44):
Or we expect you to pay usbecause we paid the tuition,
whatever you want with it, or weexpect you to pay us because we
paid the tuition.
There are all kinds of ways todo it, nothing right, nothing
wrong.
But do know that you have topay the money first and then
this is a reimbursement programto get it back and it goes
directly to the student.
Not every job on campus will bework study, but many, many are,
(22:05):
and there are all kinds ofthings.
It can be working in thelibrary, working in the
cafeteria, working, tutoring,doing office and clerical work,
working for buildings andgrounds, working in the
admissions office.
There are all kinds of jobs oncampus that are work-study, and
each school decides which jobsand how you apply.
(22:27):
So usually you would apply inthe fall you get a job on campus
and then you're, instead of itcoming.
Basically what it is is,instead of it coming out of the
college's pocket to pay you forworking on campus, it comes out
of the federal money pocket topay you for working on campus.
What else?
There's often a limit on thenumber of hours you can work,
(22:50):
and it's usually no more than 20hours a week and it's usually
at minimum wage, and you canonly have one work-study job at
a time on campus.
So you can't say, oh, I'm goingto have this one for 20 hours
and this one for 20 hours, I'mgoing to work 40 hours a week.
Students shouldn't be workingthat many hours anyway, but
(23:12):
there is a limit on what you cando.
First-year students usually getthe less interesting jobs.
You need to reapply every yearbecause you need to refill out
your FAFSA every year.
So the amount that you get inyour financial aid package would
be for a year.
I think one of the things andthis is where it took us a
(23:35):
little by surprise when mydaughter got work study is to
think about how realistic it isto be working that amount of
time so you get a certain amountof money.
Say, okay, they've given me andagain I'm making up numbers
$6,000 for the year.
That would be $3,000 eachsemester, although it could be
(23:57):
carried over mid-year if youdidn't use it all up the first
semester.
Once you reach the end of that,then you can't work anymore.
So, okay, it's this amount persemester.
Now find out what minimum wageis and then divide that how many
hours over the semester willyour student have to work?
(24:18):
And what took us by surprisewas when we said you know you're
going to have to work 20 hoursa week to get this.
It's not like, oh, I'll workfive or 10 hours a week, but in
order to get the full amountthat you've been allotted, this
is how many hours you have towork.
So you know, just to reallylook at it and do some math and
(24:40):
figure out how much they canwork, how much they want to work
, how much they can earn and Imentioned, you have to reapply
every year.
And the one last thing is thatmoney that you earn for federal
work-study is fully taxable asincome.
So many students don't earnenough that they have to pay
(25:02):
income tax anyway, but if theydo, they have to know that the
work study is also taxable.
So kind of like articulationagreement.
It's a little bit complicated,but just knowing.
And again financial aid, peopleare there to answer your
questions.
So if all of this you know, ifit makes sense to you, great.
(25:24):
And if it's a little confusingbut you're suddenly saying, wow,
that's more complicated than Ithought, take your questions.
And the financial aid peopleare happy to work, great.
And if it's a little confusingbut you're suddenly saying, wow,
that's more complicated than Ithought, take your questions.
And the financial aid peopleare happy to work with you.
It's a great program, as longas you understand how it works.
Lynn Abrahams (25:37):
You know.
I just want to add that one ofmy kids got a great job through
this program working for themuseum at his college, and so
some very sweet jobs, like thejobs that people really want,
are saved for this program,which can be wonderful.
He absolutely loved working atthe museum, so that was part of
(26:01):
his whole experience.
Vicki Nelson (26:05):
And something like that in particular would look
great on a resume.
Lynn Abrahams (26:09):
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (26:11):
You know, if you're working in the cafeteria
it's not bad because you'reshowing that you're responsible
and you show up and you do allof that.
But some of these really sweetjobs you're right, would look
pretty good in that way.
Look pretty good in that wayand they're also working on
(26:35):
campus is really a good thing todo because it connects you to
the campus.
It connects you to the peopleon campus you get to know some
of, depending on the job, theadministrators, the faculty, the
staff.
There are a lot of great thingsabout it besides the money.
Lynn Abrahams (26:50):
I have a number of students who didn't really
feel connected until they got ajob on campus and then, all of a
sudden, they were, like youknow, part of the community.
So it's a great opportunity,it's a bonus.
Okay, so I get to go next, andthe next term I'm going to talk
about is modifications, and soI'm a learning disability
(27:15):
specialist.
That's my world, and this topicof really accommodations versus
modifications is a topic thatI've brought up before.
I know that in the past, one ofour podcasts, I talked about
(27:36):
the word accommodations, becausethat is incredibly important.
When a student comes to acollege and they have a
documented learning disability,and they have a documented
learning disability, they areallowed certain accommodations,
and the point is that the wordsthat they use are the college
(27:56):
provides an equal opportunityfor the participation of
qualified students.
The point of accommodations isto prevent discrimination, to
level the playing field.
Accommodations might besomething like extended time on
tests or a distraction-freeenvironment for tests, or
(28:23):
text-to-speech or speech-to-textsoftware to speech or speech to
text software.
So these are ways to supportthe student, to make it an equal
experience for these studentsalong with all the other
students in a course.
A modification is different andit is literally modifying
(28:47):
something in the class.
So modifications are changes inthe requirements for students.
When you're in high school andyou have an IEP, there are often
modifications very specificallystated in the IEP, changes that
(29:09):
teachers have to provide forstudents.
It might be something likereading less than other students
or something very concrete, butin high school that could be
part of the IEP, but that IEP isnot legal in college.
(29:34):
That's really important thatparents understand that, Because
if students have receivedcertain modifications and
they're used to it, once theyget to college it's a different
world Again.
The laws shift and the goal isto prevent discrimination, but
it's not necessarily to create asuccessful college experience
(29:57):
for the student.
So modifications are different.
I found a really good exampleof this that made it so clear to
me, and it was actually byElizabeth Hamlet in her book the
Seven Steps to College Success,and Elizabeth Hamlet is one of
(30:17):
our co-podcasters.
She's one of our team.
She's one of the team, but shetalks in her book about a
student who's in a publicspeaking class.
Now, Vicki has taught publicspeaking classes, You're a
(30:39):
communication professor, so youhave been in this situation or a
language-based learningdisability.
And they go up to the professorand they say I would like to be
exempted from speaking in classbecause I can't do it, Excuse
me.
So what Elizabeth Hamlet saysin her book is An accommodation
(31:07):
for that.
Well, first of all, to allowthe student not to do it is a
modification that changes whatis required for students, so
that is not required by thecollege to do.
An accommodation might besomething like allowing the
(31:31):
student to speak to a smallergroup instead of the full class,
or even speak alone to theprofessor.
But here's the point it's theprofessor's call on whether
that's a modification or not.
That was going to be one of myquestions.
(31:58):
And if the professor feels thatthis is changing the course
objective, then they are allowedto say no, that's a
modification.
The way this made sense to mewas there are certain skills
that students are required toget through their courses.
There might be requirements intheir field of study.
Public speaking might be one ofthose.
You might have to know how tospeak in public in order to do a
(32:20):
certain major political scienceor something, and so that's
required.
There might be somerequirements in medical classes
that are required to go tomedical school because it's part
of the actual job.
The student will be required todo that.
(32:45):
If they need the course to bemodified in order to do it, then
they ought to stop and thinkabout whether this is what they
want to be doing.
Okay, Because there are so manychoices.
I mean also, if you want to bein the medical world, there's so
many choices.
There are ways to provideaccommodations to level the
(33:13):
playing field.
If it doesn't interfere withthe course's goal.
Okay, and it's a harddistinction.
I know a number of studentscome from high schools and they
really feel that they should getcertain accommodations that the
college is not required to give.
(33:33):
It's all about the goal of thecourse, the objectives of the
course, and whether you'rechanging that.
Vicki Nelson (33:42):
You're not really supposed to be modifying a
course in the college level tobe modifying a course in the
college level, so it sounds asthough if you have a student
who's had an IEP as they'regoing to college, it's important
for parents to understand thisfirst of all and then to talk to
their student and talk aboutwhat this is such an important
(34:06):
distinction.
Let's look at your IEP and saywhat on that IEP has been an
accommodation and what on thatIEP has been a modification, has
been a modification, and knowthat the modifications are not
going.
There's no guarantee ofanything, but the chances are
better that the college willgrant you either the same or
(34:31):
similar accommodations, but notthe modifications.
So to understand that, Right.
Lynn Abrahams (34:38):
I have worked with students on the college
level who have come in withtheir past IEP limited the
amount of work they wererequired to do.
That's just not going to happenon the college level.
That's a modification.
That's a change.
Vicki Nelson (34:56):
And it strikes me that I like your example of what
some of the modifications mightbe for that student in terms of
speaking that student in termsof speaking Another modification
.
That might be something.
Again, it depends on you knowwhat are the outcomes of this
(35:24):
course and what is the barrier.
Why do you think you needmodifications?
But a modification in somecases might be, will allow you
to take that course instead ofthis course.
Sometimes you know, if wereally think about it and it
would put the department, Iwould think, in that position of
really saying, okay, what arethe outcomes of this course?
That's the barrier for you, andare there any other courses
(35:47):
that we offer that would achievethose same outcomes for this
student but would not have thatbarrier?
Lynn Abrahams (35:57):
So here's a key difference between high school
and college, though Okay, incollege it's the student's
responsibility to find that, notthe college's responsibility.
In high school.
It's the high school'sresponsibility to find another
course to substitute.
In college a student may dotheir own research and say and
(36:19):
bring it up to the departmentand request it.
Announcer (36:22):
Right.
Lynn Abrahams (36:23):
But it's not the department's job to find that
substitution.
Vicki Nelson (36:28):
That's really.
That's good, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lynn Abrahams (36:33):
Responsibility is on students, on the student,
yeah, and understanding that anaccommodation levels the playing
field and it's good for parentsto have these discussions with
students because at this pointyou know parents can be a really
good support, you know, ifstudents, you know parents can
(36:55):
help students understand whatsome of these shifts are, if
they understand it themselves.
Yeah.
Vicki Nelson (37:01):
And if you know if a student has an IEP, has had
an IEP all through and there are.
I think like one of mydaughters is a SPED teacher, so
I you know, I know that she hasIEP meetings with families and
by high school, making sure thatyour student is part of that
(37:24):
IEP meeting so that they reallyare taking ownership, Absolutely
yeah really important.
Okay, I want to do another onewhich has to do with studying
and classes and courses.
This is a little more on theother end of the spectrum
because it's in terms of, it'ssomething more for, probably,
(37:48):
junior and senior year, not somuch for this, you know,
beginning of college.
So it may be down the road forsome people.
Or if you have a student incollege, it, you know, it helps
to start thinking early on andthey may come home talking about
it.
And that's an independent study, which is really, you know,
(38:09):
essentially what it says it'sdoing some work independently,
by yourself rather than in acourse.
So an independent study is fora student who is interested in a
particular subject or aparticular course or really
wants to pursue something, butthe school doesn't offer that
(38:30):
course or that topic in theircurriculum.
They look and they say I reallywant to do something with this
because it's related to myprofession and I just want to
dig into this.
They look through all thecourses that are offered and say
they don't have anything on it.
So then what that student cando is go to a faculty member
(38:52):
with a proposal, you know, oreven just an idea, and then the
student and the faculty memberwork together on a proposal to
create a course that thisstudent will do independently.
It's independent study and itusually is maybe junior year or,
more likely, senior year, andthe student needs to be, they
(39:17):
need to understand themselveswell enough to know whether
they're going to be able to workindependently.
You know, without a class thatyou have to go to all the time
and deadlines and all of that Imean you still may have
deadlines, but you have to bemore self time and deadlines and
all of that.
I mean you still may havedeadlines, but you have to be
more self-motivated and all that.
So then the student takes thistopic, this idea, to a professor
(39:40):
, find someone who's willing tosponsor them and then together
they create this course.
Sometimes you're required tohave a certain GPA in order to
do it.
If your GPA is low, there maybe some question about your
ability to do it on your own.
And you've got to know you'vegot good study habits and all of
(40:04):
that.
So what to do?
You start early, plan early,because it takes time.
It's not something that youknow.
The first day of classes you goand say I need another course,
I'm going to do an independentstudy Work with the professor
who's going to sponsor it, andyou usually need to write a
proposal and there may be a form.
(40:27):
You know colleges love forms.
Lynn Abrahams (40:30):
Lots of forms.
Vicki Nelson (40:31):
And it's probably online these days and you
usually the things you need tothink about and work with the
professor.
You need to have a purpose or arationale for why you want to
do this thing, that the correctwhat, why you can't just take a
course that's already there?
How does it fit in with youracademic goals?
Why is this the right thing foryou?
(40:53):
What is going to be the contentof the course?
What books are you going toread?
What articles are you going toread?
What are the outcomes andobjectives?
This is language thatprofessors use, but the outcomes
are what do I want the studentto have accomplished by the end
of this course?
Every course I teach, I have tosay here.
But the outcomes are what do Iwant the student to have
accomplished by the end of thiscourse?
Every course I teach, I have tosay here are the outcomes.
(41:15):
Here's what the student shouldbe able to do at the end of, or
know or understand or produce bythe end of the course.
So you would need to work withyour professor.
What are the outcomes andobjectives?
What are the assignments goingto be?
What are the due dates going tobe for those assignments?
Is there going to be just onepaper due at the end.
Are there going to be thingsalong the line?
(41:36):
When are they going to be?
How is it going to be assessedor graded?
Are assignments going to begraded?
Is it one grade at the end?
What is the weighting ofassignments?
All of those things you wouldnormally find on a syllabus
you're working out together withthe professor.
(41:58):
And then what is going to bethe schedule of meetings?
Sometimes the professor may say, based on all this other stuff
we've thought about, if we meetonce a month we're going to be
fine and depending on someoneelse, it might be.
I want to meet with you once aweek and we're going to talk
about what you've learned thatweek and where you are and how
it's progressing and all that.
You and the professor work thatout.
(42:19):
So essentially, you're planninga course and then you're going
to do that course on your own,together with that professor,
and then you submit that formand you have to get approval.
So the registrar or sometimesthere's a committee or the
department somebody needs to say, yep, we've looked at this, it
(42:40):
looks good, it makes sense.
Make sure you, when you'replanning your schedule, it's a
course, it's not a class, thatthat's listed in the same way.
But you have to make sure youhave enough time in your week,
every week, to do this thing.
It's a real course that you'redoing.
(43:01):
You're just doing it on yourown and being sure that you
think you can stay organized andmotivated and disciplined.
So you know, there are allkinds of things that could be.
If you're a creative person andyou're in a theater program,
perhaps, and you're a writer, itmight be I'm going to write a
play by the end of the semesterand then you know you work with
(43:22):
the professor in terms of whatresearch do you have to do about
playwriting?
And maybe you have to dohistorical research because
you're setting it in a certaintime writing and maybe you have
to do historical researchbecause you're setting it in a
certain time.
Maybe you want to write a novel.
Maybe you're an education majorand you want to design an
entire curriculum aroundsomething and you want to do
that.
Maybe you want to produce afilm.
(43:42):
Maybe you have done a projector a paper in a class and you
want to take it to the nextlevel because it really inspired
you.
Or you're a science major andyou're a researcher and you want
to research something,particularly in the lab, so all
kinds of things can be done andit's a great opportunity to
(44:05):
tailor-make something just foryou.
Lynn Abrahams (44:08):
You know, it sounds like the first step is
finding a faculty member.
That's key, you know.
Actually, that's the secondstep.
Vicki Nelson (44:18):
The first step is to have an idea of what you
think you want to do or what youwant to study, and it could be
very concrete or it could bevague, but you have something,
you have an idea, and that'sgoing to determine who do you
approach.
Sure, you know who are yougoing to ask to work with, right
(44:38):
, but yeah, and if you getsomebody to work with you, then
You're good to go.
Lynn Abrahams (44:42):
You're probably good to go, but who knows?
But it's a great opportunity toknow about.
You know, the last thing I'mgoing to talk about are just
three terms that I've heardthrown around and you know, I
wasn't sure I understood whatthey were.
The three terms are microdegree, certificate programs and
(45:06):
certification and certification, and the reason I'm picking
these three things are that manystudents choose not to do the
sort of typical four-year routein college.
They might choose a shorter,more abbreviated program, and at
(45:26):
least a micro degree and acertificate program are those
kinds of programs.
So a micro degree is anabbreviated educational program
and it usually supports somekind of job training or
specialized training.
It usually consists of three tofive classes and takes less
(45:52):
than a year to complete.
So there are more and more ofthese programs popping up.
Colleges will offer these littlechunks, basically, and they're
calling them micro degrees.
It's a quicker process.
It's a quicker process.
(46:24):
Now, a certificate program isvery, very similar to that.
It sort of is a program thatverifies that a year or they can
be even longer, these can be alittle bit longer and they're
usually offered both online orin person.
One of my sons, after hisfour-year college degree, went
and did a certificate program insoftware design, and so it
(46:50):
really helped him because itgave him real hands-on work in
that particular subject.
Not to be confused with acertification Now, certification
shows that the student haspassed some kind of test that
usually demonstrates you know,sometimes it's job related, in
(47:15):
that there are industrystandards for certain jobs and
students have to prove that theyhave passed that, you know,
either some test or somehands-on performance that shows
that they are ready to go.
So a certification could be aquicker thing, that could be an
assessment, a test.
But micro-degree andcertificate programs are
(47:40):
becoming more and more popular,certainly less expensive.
They're more focused on jobtraining and there are more and
more of them around.
Vicki Nelson (47:53):
It's really interesting.
And it's interesting todifferentiate and you know so.
You know certification, I'mthinking.
You know our education majorshave to pass the MTEL, which is
the Massachusetts I don't knowteaching something or other
teacher of elementary educationor something like that.
(48:15):
And that's the big thing.
A lot of their work throughtheir curriculum is preparing
them to take this test that theyhave to pass and get that
certification in order to teachin the public schools.
The nurses have thatcertification.
I used to know what it wasbecause I have one of my
(48:37):
daughters is a nurse, but it's abig deal.
It's a big deal that they haveto take in order to become a
registered nurse.
So they've been around, yeah,and it can be a quick thing, but
it also can be, you know, acapstone thing of a program that
the whole program is workingtoward being able to get this
(48:57):
certification to work in thefield.
Or it could be in the middle ofa first year need to take one
phase of that in order tocontinue in the program, which
(49:18):
can be a really good thing,because if you can't pass that,
you don't want to spend fouryears and then not be able to
pass the end one.
So, yeah, and these microdegrees, um, so the yeah, and
these micro degrees, and do youknow?
Um, and you know, maybe wedon't know, but it would be
something for somebody to ask ifyou have a, if you do a cup,
for instance, a couple of microdegrees somewhere, can they then
(49:42):
be sort of combined and puttoward, if you, if you do a
micro degree in this and microdegree in that, and then maybe
you in that, and then maybe yousay you know, I think I want the
full Bachelor of Arts orBachelor of Science.
The micro degree could counttoward that.
Lynn Abrahams (49:58):
So that's the question you ask every college.
And every college that offersthis kind of degree?
You want to ask them you knowthat particular question.
Vicki Nelson (50:09):
We don't have to know all the answers.
We just have to know what arethe important questions to ask.
Well, really, that's very true.
What we want to do is armparents to have conversations
with students, to be able to askthe questions you need to ask
and to know the terminology whenyou hear it thrown around you
(50:30):
need to ask and to know theterminology when you hear it
thrown around and in education,for some reason there are they
people love this fancyterminology and a lot of
acronyms too, you know.
Lynn Abrahams (50:41):
So you want to.
Don't feel bad about asking.
Maybe sometime we'll do anepisode just on acronyms,
acronyms, just do all of theseacronyms Well you know, one of
the reason we started doing thiswas that you and I were in
education episode just onacronyms, Acronyms, Just do all
of these acronyms.
It would be helpful.
One of the reasons we starteddoing this was that you and I
were in education in higher edand we had so many questions
(51:02):
about some of this terminology.
Vicki Nelson (51:03):
When our kids went to school, when our kids went
to college.
Lynn Abrahams (51:04):
Yeah, and every college is different, so you
know so you know.
Vicki Nelson (51:07):
I think the important thing for parents is,
if you're hearing a lot of thesethings that don't make sense,
don't feel overwhelmed and justsort of you know, throw up your
hands, ask, ask your student ifthey know and if your student
doesn't know, together see ifyou can find out.
Stand about this terminologythat we all use, the better
(51:33):
you're going to be in a positionto be able to advocate and get
what you need and understand asyou move through and there are
lots of terms.
So we hope these six helped.
We'll list them in the shownotes for this episode and we'll
also list those earlier threeepisodes and then also on the
College Parent Central website,collegeparentcentralcom.
(51:56):
If you go to resources, the tabat the top, there is a glossary
and there are over 100 termsthere of just about anything you
could possibly think of to wantto know, although I keep
thinking of new terms and wekeep building that list.
Some of the ones we talked abouttoday are there and some aren't
(52:17):
yet, but you start to learn thelanguage, learn to talk, the
talk and it will help.
So thanks for sticking with usthrough all the way to the end.
We hope it was helpful.
If you know anyone else thatyou think would find any of our
podcasts or all of the articleson the website helpful, whether
(52:42):
they're at the beginning of theprocess, in the middle of the
process or thinking about nextsteps after college.
Please share our informationwith them and we invite them to
join along.
So thanks a lot and we'll seeyou next time.
Bye-bye.
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