Homeless College Students: Exploring Organizational Dynamics in Meeting the Needs of Students by Rachel Montgomery

News coverage over the last year by the Chronicle of Higher Education has highlighted the specific struggles of homeless college students in the United States. This topic has received growing national attention in recent years. Determinations on the topic of financial aid for unaccompanied homeless youth were the focus of a “Dear Colleague Letter” released by the U. S. Department of Education in July 2015. Beyond the cost aspect, homeless students and the colleges and universities they attend are both faced with multiple challenges in navigating the additional areas of access and quality of experience.

At a small liberal arts college where I formerly worked, an issue was raised by a residential student regarding the difficulties that homeless college students faced in potentially being displaced when classes were not in session. The student made a targeted request for the institution to change its policy regarding on-campus housing over winter break (which was the only break for which the college completely closed during the year). The student successfully created external pressure on the institution by using a combination of social media, a change.org petition, and the support of local non-profit organizations to spread the word about the issue. The change.org petition received almost 127,000 electronic signatures, and the situation was covered as part of a piece done by CNN (Ellis 2013). In this case, the student and institution were able to reach a compromise and determine a solution.

This example reflects the constant challenges faced by colleges and universities trying to meet the diverse needs of their student populations. While the situation I encountered focused on housing for students during breaks, there are numerous additional concerns and situations that homeless students encounter on a daily basis (Field 2015a; Field 2015b). For example, a recent study by Goldrick-Rab, Broton, and Eisenberg (2015) found substantial student concerns related to housing security and/or hunger through a survey of several thousand undergraduate students attending community colleges. Employees of colleges and universities are often encouraged to consider the resource limits and financial capabilities of the institution when assessing how to provide general assistance and equitable opportunities to students. It can be complicated for an institution with limited financial and personnel resources to address the needs of every student sub-population.

Beyond the cost aspect, homeless students and the colleges and universities they attend are both faced with multiple challenges in navigating the additional areas of access and quality of experience.

It is particularly difficult to meet the needs of self-identifying populations, and to help students succeed when individuals do not self-identify until there is an issue. Under those circumstances, institutions may find themselves reacting to a situation rather than taking a proactive approach. To increase the likelihood that students will self-identify sooner, it is important to consider the potential stigmatization of certain situations or demographic characteristics that can discourage community members from self-identifying and take steps to minimize them. It is also valuable to consider how the situation described above would have progressed if the student had attempted to advocate for this change by following internal channels instead of attracting external scrutiny and pressure. In cases like this, does the responsibility for advocating for change reside with the students or the institution? Should institutions be more probing in gathering information on student needs, or should students be encouraged to be more vocal? It seems that the source and method by which pressure to act is applied to colleges and universities can have implications for the degree of advocacy success and speed of issue resolution.

In reflecting on this situation, the following statement comes to mind: “Not every student’s goals can be met at every institution, but given the diversity of institutions in the United States, students should be able to find a good match” (Renn & Reason 2013, 88). This statement references the ability of students to assess “fit” with an institution before becoming a member of that environment. The implication is that certain personal characteristics create a “fit” with a specific existing institutional environment. Admissions standards and acceptance criteria could be considered preliminary tools for both students and institutions to determine personal attributes that contribute to student success at a specific institution. However, using these entry processes as indicators for student/institution compatibility assumes that colleges and universities clearly communicate their available resources and opportunities in a manner that all students recognize and know how to access. Certain student characteristics or categorizations seem to correspond to specific needs, may require specific institutional resources or support, and may influence an individual to respond in predictable ways to specific environments or life events.

Educational leaders are simultaneously faced with both the opportunity and challenge of navigating existing organizational dynamics to advocate for additional awareness of student needs, collaborative effort, and tailored support services. The positive news is that colleges and universities do not face this task alone; there have been a number of resources and research studies emerging on this topic over the past few years from national organizations. A general “toolkit” for educators created by Dukes, Lee, and Bowman (2013) on identifying and aiding struggling homeless college students was made publically available by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY). Additionally, the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) recently released a brief that examined the practices of three universities in supporting the needs of homeless college students (2015).

Educators can potentially have a significant impact on the educational experiences of homeless college students and aid in both student retention and degree completion by becoming more knowledgeable, aware, and proactive. As long as homeless college students are required to self-identify in order to access specific institutional support, major challenges remain for both students and the colleges and universities that serve them. While de-stigmatizing homelessness remains a crucial first step in solving this issue, institutions are now more equipped than ever to make significant strides in addressing the needs of college students experiencing homelessness.

References

Dukes, Christina, Cyekeia Lee, and Diana Bowman. (2013). “College Access and Success for Students Experiencing Homelessness: A Toolkit for Educators and Service Providers.” The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. http://www.naehcy.org/sites/default/files/dl/toolkit.pdf

Ellis, Blake. (2013). “Homeless College Students Seek Shelter During Breaks.” CNN Money. http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/10/pf/college/homeless-college-students

Field, Kelly. (2015a). “How to Help the Students with No Homes?” The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://m.chronicle.com/article/How-to-Help-the-Students-With/232549

Field, Kelly. (2015b). “Through Care and Camaraderie, a University Tries to Keep Homeless Students on Track.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/232577/

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, Katharine Broton, & Daniel Eisenberg. (2015). “Hungry to Learn: Addressing Food & Housing Insecurity among Undergraduates.” Wisconsin Hope Lab. http://wihopelab.com/publications/Wisconsin_hope_lab_hungry_to_learn.pdf

National Center for Homeless Education (2015). “Supporting College Completion for Students Experiencing Homelessness.” Best Practices in Homeless Education Brief Series. http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/he-success.pdf

Renn, Kristen A, and Robert D Reason. (2013). College Students in the United States: Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

U.S. Department of Education (2015). Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determinations. Washington, DC: Office of Postsecondary Education. Retrieved from: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1516Attach.pdf