The UnGuide is a place to find your footing in college—with tools to help navigate undergraduate school as a first generation student, a student of color, and/or undocumented students. Within the UnGuide online platform, students can share their experiences and resources, and relate with other students.
History
The UnGuide originated from the Student Summit hosted at the University of Minnesota during summer 2016. Undergraduates from the six participating institutions came together to envision and brainstorm ideas for an “UnGuide,” which inherits the qualities of a Guide without perpetuating the idea that there is only one way to do things.
The UnGuide process started with a mapping project where we created personal maps identifying the barriers, supports/facilitators, and our own creative strategies for getting through college. This inspired further discussion around students’ experiences navigating higher ed. as a first generation college student and/or student of color. It sounded like geographic location diversified some of the challenges and concerns students experienced.
Students were excited and passionate about sharing their experiences on the UnGuide website with the intention of helping others navigate the university (and providing some ideas to universities and associated institutions on how they can make useful changes).
The mapping project
The mapping project is an activity where we ask students to map out their journeys to and through college success. On paper, students section off four corners to do the activity. Students are asked to respond to various questions belonging to four succinct categories: Barriers, What you bring, What the institution offers and the resources available, and What can the institution do to better support you. Students then color code each category and write or illustrate them in their respective corners.
Barriers
- What kinds of barriers do you/have you encountered when accessing resources?
- What stereotypes and prejudices have you encountered/experienced?
- What barriers have you or your peers experienced when participating in those engaged activities?
What you bring
- What are the gifts (experience, knowledge, etc) that you bring to this campus?
- How has your university/college valued or not valued them?
- Do you think about your communities and the relation that your community has with your university/college? If so, how do you think about it? How often do you think about it?
What the U offers/resources
- What do you think about the opportunities that are offered to you, and/or accessible by you in higher education?
- Are they beneficial?
- What kinds of experiences and interactions have you had with your university/college and higher education in general?
- What do you think about your university/college? Your role as a student here.
What the U can do to help you/others like you?
- How have your institutions reacted to/addressed/proactively engaged issues of race and class on campus?
- Where have your voices been welcomed or silenced?
- If you oversaw the set-up programming for other students like yourself, how might you organize it?