Position Paper and

Cognitive Map
Ferris State University
Veronica Wilkerson Johnson
March 1, 2013
IDSL 885

Position Paper and Cognitive Map

Ferris State University

As I reflect on the new theories I have learned this

semester, aided by the timeless wisdom of Dr. Arthur
Chickering, Dr. Vincent Tinto and other brilliant
educators, I am more convinced of the crucial role that
community colleges play in enhancing the lives of citizens in our nation and our world.
The cognitive map I created that accompanies this paper depicts my understanding of
the theories of Tinto and Chickering, and it overlays their teachings with my seven
central ideas, thoughts I shared early in this course about how students best
encounter their first year in higher education. As the map is designed to show, I have
grown tremendously this semester in my understanding of the ways in which students
develop independence, a sense of purpose, autonomy, healthy relationships, a healthy
self-identity and a sense of integrity.

The seven Central Ideas or calls to action for first year college students that I suggested,
based upon the works of Chickering and Tinto, are as follows:

1. Decide to succeed as a college student on your own.

2. Set your goals. Affirm to achieve total success. Seek motivation.

3. Manage your time. Focus and commit. Attend classes, and do the homework.

4. Sharpen your mind and test taking skills. Use college resources to help.

5. Manage your anxiety and life happenings with healthy outlets, healthy diet,
exercise and time out with friends.

6. Decide your identity and the impression you hope to make in your academic and
professional career. What will be your legacy?

7. Plan to always do the right thing.

Succeeding on ones own as a college student is certainly a starting goal. While it would
seem logical that this is an obvious and achievable first step, the truth is that student
retention rates are not faring as well in our nation, or even our state, as we would hope
they would. Michigan, for instance, lags the nation in producing college graduates.

Indeed, onlyabout25%ofMichigansadultpopulationhasacollegedegree. MichiganState

UniversityeconomistCharlesBallard(2011)stated:Inmanyways,wearevictimsofour
successesinthe1950sand1960s.Michiganwasassuccessfulasanyplaceintheworldat
providingamiddleclassandevenuppermiddleclassstandardoflivingforfolkswithonlya
highschooleducation,orevenless.Buttheworldchangedinwaysthathaverewardedthose
withmoreskill,andpunishedthosewithlessskill,andwedidnotchangewithit.Heciteda
soberingstatistic,thatanaveragemanwhoworksfulltimeyearroundnowmakeslessthanin
1978,whenwagesareadjustedforinflation.About1.6millionMichiganadultshadbachelors
degreesorhigherin2009,accordingto2010censusfigures.Thatrepresentsjustunder25
percentofthepopulationage25andolder.Thestatewouldneedtoaddabout220,000additional
bachelorsdegreestoreachthenationalaverageof27.8percent.
We can therefore appreciate Dr. Arthur Chickerings compelling visual of individual
competence being depicted as a three-tined pitchfork, with the tines representing
intellectual competence, physical and manual skills, and interpersonal competence. The
handle further depicts the underlying rudder that steers the process and framework to
completion. This is so needed as we seek to retain and graduate more of the
population. Similarly, Dr. Vincent Tinto espoused a theory of building upon ones
family and social development and the skills and education accrued in order to develop
individual competence. And thus the ideas link in a common whole throughout the 7

Vectors of Chickering, and the theories of Tinto. I especially liked that Tintos work has
been described as gestalt learning from conceptual experiences, making the whole
greater than the sum of its parts. In practical terms, this relates to how all of the
experiences that shape students lives before they come to college mesh together to
create a tapestry upon which they shape their competence, purpose, definition of
autonomy, interpersonal relationship development, management of emotions, selfidentity, and sense of integrity. How excellently these two professors of educational
thought meld together. They are, in many ways, a gestalt of educational development.

Regarding retention, Vincent Tinto (1993) identifies three major sources of student
departure: academic difficulties, the inability of individuals to resolve their educational
and occupational goals, and their failure to become or remain incorporated in the
intellectual and social life of the institution. Tinto's "Model of Institutional Departure"
states that, to persist, students need integration into formal (academic performance) and
informal (faculty/staff interactions) academic systems and formal (extracurricular
activities) and informal (peer-group interactions) social systems.

Doing What Successful Students Do is how authors Janet Elder and Joe Cortino
described it when they offered that some students are more successful than others. One

good reason for this is that successful students know how to motivate themselves, set
goals for themselves, and manage their time. They quoted Aristotle who observed: We
are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit. We can surmise
that effective students are highly motivated due to having an inner drive, planning
ahead, and they focus on understanding. Effective students are highly selective, are
involved and are attentive.

As we explore Chickerings six remaining vectors and Tintos theories and cognitive
map we gain an even greater appreciation of the singular vision and wholeness of their
missions. It is as though they each wrote parts of the learning continuum and creatively
melded them together to produce a unified completion. It is inspiring, if not uncanny,
how well the adage great minds think alike fits in this discussion and scenario. My
cognitive map that accompanies this paper further depicts the close parallels between
their approaches in student development, from first year to college completion. The
ultimate realization of higher student success rates and retention toward college degrees
cannot be overstated, and indeed if all educators taught the theories of Chickering and
Tinto rigorously, these pinnacles of widespread success might be more broadly realized.
It should be our hope as educational leaders, that we effectively inspire all students to
pursue the building blocks that lead to success. Also, clearly these ideas are a useful

primer for all who strive to reach higher goals the students, and also the educators,
professionals, and policy makers in our society.

Both Chickering and Tinto have a logical approach to explaining the human dynamics
of learning, and they provide us a platform upon which to establish our teaching and
leadership practices. It is also excellent to observe how well Chickering and Tinto
describe and suggests ways of overcoming the ongoing challenges of managing
emotions: conflict resolution, developing healthy relationships and a positive self-image,
managing stress and anger, and learning appropriate expressions for one's ideas,
thoughts and frustrations in life. Just as all students are different, Chickering's vectors
and Tintos theories elicit different ways of approaching lifes challenges so that students
learn balance and emotional independence, and maximize their positive experiences.

We also encounter, along this continuum of thought the importance of moving to

interdependence as a part of establishing a successful college/career continuum. This
encourages the development of mutually supportive, healthy relationships which are so
vital in this time of serious communication breakdowns and a societal decline that
undermines a healthy humanity. We as educators will be depended upon to help stem
the tide in this regard, for students, faculty and staff will spend a good amount of time

and develop relationships in the environments we oversee. As Tinto described, much in

our society is ethnocentric, focusing on similarities and differences, yet we would be
wise to guide students to an appreciation of the engagement of differences, and in so
doing create a setting of adaptation.

Furthermore, the importance of positive self-identity in all phases of life is tantamount

to positive and healthy choices that lead to the development of human potential. And,
as Chickering and Tinto stated or inferred throughout their work, integrity is an
underpinning of all successful outcomes. Students must learn the importance of doing
the right thing at all times, so that they can rise to their highest potential with a sense of
grace and gratitude. Good teachers can help make that happen by doing their part in
preparing, steering and coaching students, and being the right role models themselves.

The Leadership Academy, in a study on maximizing college leadership development

through action learning, stated Action learning is a process that involves a small group
working on real problems, taking action, and learning from those actions. To fully
engage in action learning, action-learning teams are encouraged to practice reflective
inquiry and continuous learning. The teams focus on the questions first, rather than the
solutions in order to gain a common understanding of the problem, gain a sense of

potential strategies for solving the problem, and indeed achieve innovative and
breakthrough solutions.

Furthermore, retention is not the only concern in this discussion, degree completion is
also a factor we must address. According to a recent media report: The leaders of
Michigans community colleges estimate that the state has thousands of students with
enough college credits for an associate degree, just not the degree itself. The vast
majority of students who transfer from the states community colleges to its public
universities do so without a two-year degree in hand. Typically, said Jack Bergeron
(2013), interim provost at Lansing Community College, they dont look back.
However, these days, they might have reason to.

With a bit of prodding from the state legislature, Michigans community colleges and
public universities have signed dozens of agreements over the past two years that allow
students to apply credits theyve earned at a university back toward an associate degree
from a community college they no longer attend.

Known as reverse transfer agreements, they present students with a new option, and
we dont know for sure who is going to take advantage of it, said Chris Baldwin (2013),
executive director of Michigan Center for Student Success. But he added that its an

option that could be attractive to those looking to boost their employment prospects
while still in school or as a kind of an insurance policy for those who dont make it
through to a bachelors degree.

Michigan lags the nation in the percentage of its population with college degrees. The
economic implications of that arent lost on the legislature, which made entering into
reverse transfer agreements a condition for community colleges and public universities
to receive performance funding this year.

Art Chickering and Vincent Tinto have taught us richly,and laid a framework upon
which we can build. Now the fusing of their work into a tapestry of educational
excellence is up to us. We much choose, as Tinto stated, academic integration.

Bibliography
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Tinto, V. (1997). Classrooms as Communities: Exploring the Educational Character of
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