Adjusting to college isn't so hard when you have your posse with you
Tom Hundley - Chicago TribuneIssue date: 8/7/08 Section: News
But the most significant measure of Bial's success is the 90 percent graduation rate of Posse Foundation scholars - far higher than the national rate of about 50 percent for all freshman entering four-year institutions.
"Historically, a lot of programs that aim to help these students are looking at what's wrong with them - they are poor kids, they are at-risk kids, they are kids from urban high schools. We take a different approach. We're looking at what's right with them. We are a strength-based program," Bial explains.
She also stresses that Posse is a not minority program or an affirmative action program, but rather a diversity program that enables small liberal arts colleges "to represent the true demographics of the U.S."
The organization takes a non-traditional approach to recruitment, scouring inner-city high schools for youngsters who show leadership qualities and group interactive skills that would not necessarily be reflected in their grade-point average or SAT scores.
"In the first round (of the selection process), we don't even look at grades or transcripts," says Chastity Lord, the program director of Posse Chicago.
Once the candidates have been identified, they are placed in group situations where their interpersonal skills can be evaluated by Posse staff members. A rigorous winnowing process follows.
"We put them into dynamic settings - large groups, small groups - and observe them as they interact with their peers. We are looking for noncognitive traits that we think can predict success: leadership skills, the ability to resolve conflict. It's the same thing you would be looking for if you were hiring someone in the corporate world," Bial says.
At the end of the process, college admissions offices are presented with a group of 20 or so candidates from which a posse of 10 or 12 is chosen.
The participating colleges love it.
"It affords us the opportunity to recruit from areas we would not normally recruit from, and to see students we would not normally see," says Lisa Scott, director of equity and diversity at Denison.
"Historically, a lot of programs that aim to help these students are looking at what's wrong with them - they are poor kids, they are at-risk kids, they are kids from urban high schools. We take a different approach. We're looking at what's right with them. We are a strength-based program," Bial explains.
She also stresses that Posse is a not minority program or an affirmative action program, but rather a diversity program that enables small liberal arts colleges "to represent the true demographics of the U.S."
The organization takes a non-traditional approach to recruitment, scouring inner-city high schools for youngsters who show leadership qualities and group interactive skills that would not necessarily be reflected in their grade-point average or SAT scores.
"In the first round (of the selection process), we don't even look at grades or transcripts," says Chastity Lord, the program director of Posse Chicago.
Once the candidates have been identified, they are placed in group situations where their interpersonal skills can be evaluated by Posse staff members. A rigorous winnowing process follows.
"We put them into dynamic settings - large groups, small groups - and observe them as they interact with their peers. We are looking for noncognitive traits that we think can predict success: leadership skills, the ability to resolve conflict. It's the same thing you would be looking for if you were hiring someone in the corporate world," Bial says.
At the end of the process, college admissions offices are presented with a group of 20 or so candidates from which a posse of 10 or 12 is chosen.
The participating colleges love it.
"It affords us the opportunity to recruit from areas we would not normally recruit from, and to see students we would not normally see," says Lisa Scott, director of equity and diversity at Denison.
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