Examining a UNL College Success Program Through the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model

Higher education institutions have faced difficulties in providing environments designed to promote positive success outcomes among diverse student populations, especially first-generation students. While literature has focused on college success programs’ practices as a solution, there is a noticeable gap in what these programs do that integrate first-generation students’ cultures. This ethnographic-inspired study sought to identify what cultural practices within a college success program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Trenchard Foundation Institute of Excellence (TFIOE), contributed to creating culturally engaging campus environments for first-generation college students. Using Museus’s (2014) culturally engaging campus environments model (CECE) as a framework, I conducted observations and reviewed program documents to analyze aspects of the TFIOE program. Findings revealed several common practices found within the TFIOE program, each one drawing connections to the culturally relevant and responsive indicators found within the CECE model to promote positive success outcomes. Understanding the findings led to a better understanding of what institutions and professionals can do to integrate and validate students’ diverse cultures and experiences. Recommendations for practice and research were discussed. Advisor: Stephanie Bondi