Overcoming First Generation Challenges, One Student at a Time
The Gen-1 Theme House, which opened in 2008, will celebrate a milestone in 2013.
Date: 11/15/2012
By: Tim Russell
Like many faculty and staff around the University of Cincinnati, Judy Mause doesn’t have regular hours. But it’s unlikely you’ll hear her, or any of her colleagues who work in the Gen-1 Theme House, complain about long days.By: Tim Russell
That’s because helping first-generation college students (those who are the first in their families to attend college) make the successful leap into higher education is right where Mause wants to be – late nights, weekends and all.
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“Everyone involved in the Gen-1 Theme House – (program director) Bob Suess, (program specialist) Christina Black, our resident graduate assistant and of course, the students themselves, work together to make it a success,” she says. “There are many more people both on the Gen-1 side and in the university who make this partnership operate, and that in turn motivates me to work just as hard.”
To make your impact, click here to support the Gen-1 Theme House.
Mause’s passion for the Gen-1 project grew from UC’s realization of this national epidemic – and a desire to find a real solution.
“Nationally, nearly nine out of ten first-generation college students were walking away without the skills and education they needed to have a better life, yet most of them had debt from student loans and feelings of failure as well,” says Mause.
“Education is the single most important step an individual can take to change their quality of life,” she continues. “What we’re doing is addressing an incredibly complex problem the best way we know how – one student at a time.”
The team’s research-based knowledge of what helped students succeed in college – increased structure like weekday curfews, and access to resources like advisors and tutors – soon began turning heads at UC and around the country.
