College Life Cycle Joanne Medalie, Ed.D.

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College Life CycleJoanne Medalie, Ed.D.

• Identifying the developmental years of the
  undergraduate

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Developmental Tasks

• A particular phase of the college life cycle that
  a student is in, may provide an important clue to
  the conflict or stress that underlies a present
  problem

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• Underachievement
• Sub-standard performance for student in general
• E.g. Joan failed English 1010 and Biology 1010

4

• Underperformance
• Shortfall of the persons potential (or learning
  disability)
• E.g. John achieved a B in English 3040 and a D
  in English 1010

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• Lack of Intrinsic Motivation
• Intrinsic belonging to a thing by its very
  nature
• (may attend college for a specific reason like
  playing sports, here because parents want them to
  be)

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FRESHMAN First Year Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Divestment and Investment
• Separation from family and home for 1st time
• Homesickness is normal, loneliness
• Signals death of childhood
• Take on new responsibilities for decision making
• Caring for ones own physical needs
• The developmental tasks involve both divestment
  of the past and investment in a new life.

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FRESHMAN First Year Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Mourning (Divestment)
• To make a smooth transition student must mourn
  the losses in the process of growing up
• The family needs to mourn inevitable losses
  associated with it
• Frequently sad feelings become anger and conflict
• Depression
• Seen often after first long vacation (Christmas)
  new relationships have not yet been fully
  established to cushion the sense of loss
• Often when depressed make minimal effort to
  invest themselves in college life

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FRESHMAN First Year Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Making Attachments (Investment)
• Engage in the new world
• Reach out to form new relationships
• Find suitable interests
• Some make premature investments in the first
  available companion
• Loneliness for the first time
• Some students retreat from making relationships,
  especially if they live at home, by clinging to
  their peer group, or frequent visits home

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FRESHMAN First Year Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Relating to Work
• New standard of achievement
• Decreased guidance and supervision
• Discover they must meet deadlines
• Learn how to study
• Learn to budget their time
• Develop self discipline
• Anxiety may deal with challenge of academic work
  by avoidance and leaving school work till last
  minute
• Those with fragile self-esteem, the self is
  validated exclusively through academic performance

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SOPHOMORE Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Consolidation and Choice
• More independent
• Differentiating interests and forming some
  commitments to future goals
• Choose a major
• Sophomore Slump feelings of apathy,
  alienation, and unhappiness
• Slump can follow a successful freshman transition
• Think more seriously about the future
• If Freshman separation from home and family was
  not adequate, student will feel like an outsider
  to college (still trying to fit in)
• Common visitor to counseling services those
  distraught by loss of high school boy or
  girlfriend
• Consolidation of the separate task and choice of
  interests and goals.

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SOPHOMORE Challenges(Medalie, 1981)

• Academic Standing
• Common characteristics of this phase
• Acting out, poor grades, underachieving for
  attention
• Developmental arrest may be detected students
  who clinged to a preprofessional course when it
  is clear that their level of performance
  precludes their likely acceptance to medical or
  law schools
• Those in denial or avoidance in coping with
  academic pressures during freshman year poor
  grades and unfinished work usually results in
  some disciplinary procedure which forces the
  student to take stock of self.

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JUNIOR YEAR ISSUES(Medalie, 1981)

• Mastery and Commitment
• Expected to have necessary background and study
  skills
• Realistic assessment of their own abilities and
  talents
• Looking ahead in the adult world
• Personal relationships take on increased
  seriousness and selectiveness
• Begins to foresee the end of college years
• Occupational interest
• Explore the world through travel may decide to
  take time off
• Some students tests themselves and delay
  graduation before venturing forth into the adult
  world
• An increased seriousness to perform at their
  maximum ability.

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JUNIOR YEAR ISSUES(Medalie, 1981)

• Choosing a Major
• If serious conflicts about growing up academic
  performance may begin to decline during this
  period
• Falling off of quality and quantity of completed
  work indication of unresolved conflicts.
• As seen in those with 60 credits and still have
  not chosen a major

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SENIOR YEAR ISSUES(Medalie, 1981)

• Anticipating the World Beyond
• Unsettled feeling about the future normally
  expected
• Experience sadness leaving the secure college
  world
• Anticipated transition
• Sense of time running out
• Looking back with nostalgia
• For some more stressful than when entering
  college
• May delay graduation if feeling depressed
• Often mental health issues are not seen until the
  senior year
• Mobility often is a threat to existing family
  system

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SENIOR YEAR ISSUES(Medalie, 1981)

• Senioritis
• Turning away from work and toward pleasure
• OR make frantic efforts to accomplish tasks that
  have been delayed or avoided during college years
• Urgency about finding a mate

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ADVISING Students at Different Educational Levels

• What can we do as professionals?
• Be aware of developmental transitions
• Provide information
• Help students explore the possibilities
• Set goals
• Be able to send to appropriate resources
• Monitor student progress
• Look for potential in student
• Exhibit trust and confidence in students
• Listen
• Motivate the student to succeed

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• Academic advisors serve an important role in the
  transition to college. A positive connection can
  greatly increase the students likelihood of
  retention, satisfaction with the school, and
  overall success.
• Students will always sense the difference between
  an advising contact that is personal and caring
  and one that is hurried and impersonal
• Most important contributor to retention is a
  caring attitude of faculty and staff

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Prescriptive Learning

• Advisor has primary responsibility
• Focus is on limitations
• Effort is problem oriented
• Relationship is based on status
• Relationship is based on authority and the giving
  of advice
• Evaluation is done by advisor

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Developmental Teaching

• Advisor and student share responsibility
• Focus is on potentialities
• Effort is growth oriented
• Relationship is based on trust and respect
• Relationship is based on equal and shared problem
  solving
• Evaluation is a shared process

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• The mediocre teacher (advisor) tells. The good
  teacher (advisor) explains. The superior teacher
  (advisor) demonstrates. The great teacher
  (advisor) inspires.      
•  - William Arthur Ward