CAP Models: Nontraditional

Several CAP teams have focused on helping nontraditional students - who are typically defined as 25 years of age or older and often need to balance work and/or family obligations with school - or female students who want to enter nontraditional career fields. The following are a few examples of these programs.

Project Linking Lives by Tennessee Technological University, 2007
Many nontraditional students attend Tennessee Technology University yet there were no specific resources for them on campus, so the campus group Linking Lives used their CAP grant to address this need. They designed, initiated, and implemented several campus initiatives for nontraditional students. For example, they created a Nontraditional Student Mentoring Center and produced an unofficial nontraditional student handbook. 

The CAP team held several workshops on topics relevant to nontraditional students throughout the semester. They also held a Transitions Conference to educate women from around the region about how they could begin or continue their college education and thus gain more economic security. Topics covered at the conference included "resources for the college mom," "first generation students," and "why women need to further their education." The conference attracted 35 potential nontraditional female students and directly resulted in several enrollments. View the program from the Transitions Conference (PDF).

What are You Worth? by Rogers State University, 2007
Informing and empowering female students about earning their true worth was the primary goal of the CAP team from Rogers State University. Through events like a fair market bake sale, "What are you worth?" poster contest, and career fair, the CAP team worked to increase students' awareness of equity issues, hindrances to job and pay equity, and what resources are available to them.
The career fair was specifically for students who were considering entering a nontraditional field for women. The fair was free and open to the public and allowed students to participate in workshops on topics like financial planning and interview skills. Participants had the opportunity to meet women who work in fields like engineering, banking, and medicine to find out how they entered those fields and what it is like to work in them.

Podcast Mentoring by Purdue University-Calumet, 2008
The Purdue University-Calumet CAP team produced a series of mentoring podcasts on the gender wage gap and remedies women can use to increase their earnings. The podcasts include instructional content on the causes and consequences of the wage gap and motivational narratives by successful professional women, especially Latinas. The podcasts address the direct need of the students, many of whom juggle classes with parenting and work responsibilities and cannot participate in traditional mentoring programs on campus. Additionally, the project places special emphasis on engaging and supporting Latinas who, on average, earn the lowest wages that region of northwest Indiana.