Three Credits Earned by 26 Incoming Students during Summer TAP Program

The Transitions and Academic Prep (TAP) program is an intensive, 10-day residential program for Transitions students. This year, the TAP program ran July 18-27.

The 2019 cohort experienced an even more focused academic curriculum than previous cohorts with 26 students enrolled in two credits of WRIT 1000 Basic Writing Workshop and one credit of EDUC 1500 Webster 101, marking three credits for successful completion of the program.

TAP’s academic curriculum focused on writing, academic integrity, and research, while integrating sessions, workshops, and appointments that support each student’s overall academic development. This year’s program also added a focus on understanding campus resources to help each participant develop individualized student success plans.

TAP 2019 Experience

The 2019 cohort added new engagement experiences. During a faculty panel, Emmanuel Balogun, Jong Bum (JB) Kwon and Craig Skinner discussed communication strategies, advising and myths of the classroom. In a separate panel, students were able to spend time discussing navigation skills and gain advice from Connection Leaders and TAP Assistants. In addition to meetings with their Financial Aid Counselors, a new workshop with the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis was added in bolster the importance of budgeting and understanding financial aid ramifications.

The program concluded with remarks by President Stroble and Transitions Coordinator, Corey Hawkins, during the closing dinner. Two participants provided reflections on their TAP experiences and how they felt better prepared for the school year as a result of participating.

Feedback from Parents

Many participants’ parents also expressed a great amount of gratitude for the experiences, structure, and resources TAP provides.

“Thank you for taking time to work with my kid! My daughter feels so much better about the school year, and she couldn't have felt that without TAP. I'm so glad a program like this exists, and I'm also glad to know someone will be looking out for my daughter and hold her accountable! Thank you for making these 10 days possible!” - 2019 TAP Parent

Team Effort = Success!

A variety of University contributions help make TAP successful. Among them:

• Academic Affairs — Funded program costs and tuition for three academic credits.
• Academic Advising — Assisted with student registration and marketing of the program at Gorlok Registration and Orientation Workshops (GROW).
• Career Planning and Development — Facilitated a workshop regarding early career planning and services provided by the department.
• Counseling and Life Development — Led an interactive session centered on emotional balance.
• Emerson Library — Introduced students to the library and its available resources.
• Faculty — Met with students to discuss their majors, outline expectations and answer questions during the faculty panel. The Department of English coordinated the curriculum and provided instructors for WRIT 1000 - Basic Writing Workshop.
• First-Year Experience and Undergraduate Persistence — Lead the EDUC 1500 - Webster 101 curriculum and facilitated time management and first-year navigation sessions.
• Housing and Residential Life — Granted use of two floors of student housing space in Maria Hall, use of residential facilities and student staff support.
• Office of Admission — Recruited conditionally-admitted students for participation in TAP.
• Office of Diversity and Inclusion — Facilitated a session focused on confronting issues through dialogue.
• Office of Financial Aid — Held one-on-one meetings with students to help them understand their financial aid awards.
• Student Employment — Explained the job-seeking process, including the Handshake system, and the types of campus jobs.
• Title IX — Provided information and resources related to the University Title IX office.

About Transitions and Academic Prep (TAP)

TAP was first instituted as part of the larger Transitions program in 2011. Many of the students in the Transitions program, designed for freshmen and transfer students with fewer than 30 credit hours who are conditionally admitted to Webster, are first-generation college students. However, the program has recently included, and targeted, fully-accepted students. The overall goal of the program is to assist these students in helping them navigate college and persist to graduation. TAP enhances this success, raising the persistence rates of these students even further and often above first time, full time freshman cohort rates as the students are better equipped to start fall courses and have targeted supports throughout their first semesters.