Many NIU students are among the first generation in their family to attend a four-year college. Since first-generation students may have received limited college preparation guidance, they may need extra support to succeed as a Huskie. NIU is dedicated to providing first-gen students with the services and information they need.
One way NIU is reaching out to first-generation students is through Breaking Barriers, a support group for first-gen students. Initiatives like Student Financial Advising Services are another way NIU supports first-gen students. If you work on an NIU website, you can join the university’s efforts to promote first-generation student success.
Use Plain Language
Making complicated information easy to understand is helpful to all students, but can be especially so to first-gen students, who may not have background knowledge in an area. One of the simplest things you can do to facilitate first-gen student success is to avoid using acronyms in your content. To a small internal audience, an acronym might be a helpful shortcut. But to someone new to campus, acronyms can be perplexing and overwhelming.
Similarly, the use of specialized terms can cause confusion. The students in your audience might not understand who a provost is or what disbursement means. Review the content you create from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the topic. Explain or simplify words and phrases that aren’t easily understood.
Normalize Seeking Support
NIU offers many support services to students, and we want students to use them. However, if we only present support services as for students who are having trouble, we could alienate the people we want to help. We should strive to normalize seeking support in our website content. By framing tutoring and other services as beneficial to all students, we reduce the stigma first-gen students may feel about using them.
