Family Outreach
Understanding Career Opportunities:
Our goal of enhancing the academic success of our students can be attained by helping families understand how they can support the success of their students. This is particularly needed in the arts and humanities where families may not understand the career opportunities available in these disciplines, perhaps compared to STEM or business disciplines. This activity will deliver materials, workshops, and/or orientation sessions for family members focused on career opportunities available in the arts and humanities and on strategies families can employ to encourage the academic success of their students. Educational attainment and retention to degree in the context of careers is of particular interest for families of first-generation college students.
Family Engagement:
Research suggests that “family engagement is one of the strongest predictors of school success.” Family engagement can be particularly challenging in culturally diverse communities because of cross-cultural communication barriers. Based on research and promising practices, we will implement components that account for cross-cultural communication and effective two-way communication. We plan to implement a family outreach program that accounts for the influence of a cultural lens on communication tools and acknowledges cultural differences in our service community. We are partnering with CSUSB’s Enrolment Management division in utilizing their tools for family engagement.