Vol. 5, No. 1: Spring/Summer 2009
Once a Groups Student, Always a Groups Student
by Jennifer Piurek
A Groups Student Support Services advisor shares his history with the program, and success stories about current students
As a high school senior in Richmond, Indiana, Vincent Isom had one post-graduation goal: entering the military. In his mind, it was his only alternative to working in a factory.
Then an advisor at his high school recommended Isom for Indiana University’s Groups Student Support Services program, which has served nearly 10,000 Bloomington undergraduates from under-represented populations over the past 40 years.
“I didn’t think my family could afford college, so I had never even considered it,” Isom says. When his Groups application was accepted, though, Isom says he “jumped in with both feet.” He started taking classes at IU in the summer of 1986, earning a bachelor’s degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1991 and a master’s degree in college personnel administration from IU’s School of Education in 1993.
Today, Isom is entering his eighth year as an advisor for IU’s Groups program, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. At the anniversary celebration in October 2008, Isom noticed that regardless of age or graduation date, Groups alumni greeted each other by the year of their first affiliation with the program. “You’ll hear people say ‘Hey, Groups ’99,’ or ‘Groups ’82’ when they see each other,” he says. “You’re not a ‘former Groups student,’ you’re Groups alumni.”
Isom offers his advisees the same support he received as a new Groups student, when he bonded with peers in the summer program prior to fall classes; learned new study techniques; joined Kappa Alpha Psi, a fraternity that was founded at IU in 1911; and worked with Groups advisor Gordon Hershey, who remains an advisor for the program today.
Instructors of freshman Groups students are asked to fill out progress reports so advisors know how students are doing before exam time. Advisors also meet with their students after midterms and finals to discuss the results and to help them choose classes for the following semester.
Each of the eight Groups advisors has his or her own area of expertise. Isom is the director of the Thomas I. Atkins Living Learning Center within the Forest Residence Center, and is also an advisor to Chi Alpha Epsilon Honor Society, a group whose members mentor and tutor younger students. Students are invited to join Chi Alpha Epsilon after earning a 3.0 for two consecutive semesters.
Isom typically works with up to 35 new freshmen per semester, while sophomores, juniors, and seniors continue to meet with him about classes and future plans throughout their college careers, even after they matriculate and are assigned advisors within their chosen fields.
In addition to offering information about scholarships, internships, and overseas study opportunities, Isom and his fellow advisors pass on news about relevant speakers coming to campus, opportunities to work with professors or at the career center, and ways to develop partnerships with various departments and programs on campus.
But just being around to talk casually with students and help them through their inevitable homesickness is nearly as important as the other kinds of support Groups advisors provide their advisees, says Isom.
“One of my offices is in Atkins, where most of my advisees live,” he says. “I can knock on their door, see them in the hallway, they can stop by just to chat. The other day, a girl who had been attending a sociology study group came by to tell me ‘I got an A on my exam!’ We’re very involved with these students’ lives.”
Isom recalls a student who wanted to fit in socially at IU—at the expense of her studies. “She was very social with a clique of students she identified with, and for her it took away from her academics and manifested itself in poor grades,” he says.
“If you were just a regular advisor, advising her on classes but not really talking to her and getting at the issues that were going on in her life and the background she came from, it would have been easy to just say ‘she’s not college material.’ But knowing her—she’s college material.” Isom supported the student as she went through her rocky transition to college, reminding her of why she was really there.
“It took her maybe a year and a half to go through that adjustment and develop her own identity. Once that hit, things clicked. Her grades skyrocketed.” Isom says the student recently earned a 3.0 GPA and is looking at graduate schools in hopes of becoming a physical therapist. “We’ve talked about the deficit she created and what it will take for her to realize that vision. She’s worked very hard and now she’s doing an outstanding job.”
Tutors are always available in commonly required courses such as Spanish, business, math, French, and chemistry, says Isom, as is tutoring in more specialized courses.
“Our job is just to provide them the best information possible academically. If you look at what we do, it really feeds back on itself to improve the experience for students.”
Sometimes, students challenge themselves in ways that inspire their advisors. Isom tells the story of a young man who entered the Groups program with an unimpressive C average from high school.
“Now, if we were just to look at him on paper, some would say he doesn’t meet the admission standards of Indiana University, but he’s received nothing but a 3.0 or higher as a student here,” says Isom.
When the young man recommended his younger brother for the program, Groups Director Janice Wiggins took a chance and admitted him as well, despite his unimpressive high school GPA. “His brother came, and he has been nothing but honors since he’s been here. It’s been a challenge and a victory for them. Both brothers navigated the system, both had a vision for what they wanted to do, and both have followed through,” says Isom.
As for Isom—a.k.a. “Groups class of ’86”—he’ll be a Groups student for the rest of his life.
“Once a Groups student, always a Groups student,” he says.
Jennifer Piurek is a Web content specialist at Indiana University and a freelance writer in Bloomington.
