Community College: When Traditional Students and Non-traditional Students Collide

The culture on the community college campus has been changing over the past few years. Community Colleges, which have traditionally been populated by non-traditional students have witnessed their numbers of traditional students rise exponentially. This is a very exciting trend, but it also brings new challenges to the community college system. The needs of non-traditional students versus traditional students causes some interesting challenges.

On the student services side, there are some issues. First, many of the traditional students expect to be able to register online. They want to have that access 24/7. They want immediate gratification. Colleges struggle to keep up with the technology. Plus there are other things to consider. Not all of the college's (even the traditional students) will have access to that technology. Some students may even be afraid of it. Younger students who have grown up with in the age of the internet are more apt to adapt than non-traditional students. One of the challenges of working in Student Services, is being able to discern which students are ready to tackle the technology.

Another struggle is in the classroom. Non-traditional students sometimes complain that the traditional students are too loud. They say that they talk too much and make it into social time rather than learning time. As an instructor, I can see how this perception would come to be. More times than not, the non-traditional student is quieter. They are friendly with other students, but they tend to be more focused on the education only side. Younger students are more apt to be more social. They want to make friends with people in their classes. These students watched their parents put their careers first, and they want more for themselves. They want things to be less formal. Lets face it years of Sesame Street have conditioned our youth to believe that education should be face paced and entertaining. They have been raised in a culture where computers have always been a part of their lives. MTV and video games have helped decrease their attention span.

The challenge with this is finding a balance between the two sets of needs. You need to make an environment that is suitable for the traditional students, but still remain in control. You need to make sure that your non-traditional students still feel comfortable in your classroom. A way to do this is to use the technology you have access to, be sure to discuss how it works in class. This way you give the traditional students the information in a format they enjoy. Walking through it in class helps the non-traditional better understand it. Instead of just throwing it at them and expecting them to "just get it," you are helping them. Also do not completely abandon old stand bys. Good old fashioned hand outs and more lecture based lessons may be more clear for them.