MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – One year after WVU joined the First Scholars Network, the school was earned a national award, First Gen Forward for their commitment to the success of first-generation students, according to assistant provost Dr. Evan Widders. First-generation students are the first members of a family to attend a post-secondary institution.
“Recently these efforts were recognized and WVU received a status of a “FirstGen Forward” institution,” Dr. Widders said. “Institutions that are specifically noted for making these efforts to increase the success rate of first-generation students.”
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Dr. Widders said their association with the group has provided a sharper focus on what first-generation students need to succeed. The designation also gives WVU has access to additional professional development opportunities, community-building experiences, research and resources to improve the first-gen programm
“It’s really helped us become more intentional and scale-up resources for FirstGen students,” Dr. Widders said. “Increase our program offerings for these students and services to them.”
Over the year of the program, as the Academic Transformation initiative continues, the university will also collaborate with peer institutions to close the first-gen student achievement gap. Widders hopes the efforts will increase retention rates for all students.
“We’ve made some progress- about a seven percent increase of our FirstGen retention rate, the number of students that stay after the first year,” Dr. Widders said.
Last year, the Office of the Provost and Office of Student Success implemented a diagnostic self-assessment test to help students understand their stengths and weaknesses. Also, a steering committee of first-gen student advocates has been formed to advance institutional projects and priorities.
“Going to college is often more complicated than we would like,” Dr. Widders said. “So, everything from financial aid to how to register for courses and how you can drop a course because you can’t do that in high school.”
WVU now joins over 275 participating institutions that have received the First-gen Forward designation and will take part in the 2022-2023 cohort of 53 higher education institutions