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Running head: On-Site Observation

On-Site Observation Paper

Syd Emmanuel Arrojo
Seattle University
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Running head: On-Site Observation

Planned Observation
During my observation at Cascadia Community College, I had planned to observe

various locations within the one hour allotted time period. I had visited the college’s website and

had made a comprehensive list of the locations I would observe. However, my number one

priority was the Kodiak Center. This one center provides student support services which includes

Enrollment, Financial Aid, and Advising. In my initial planning, I thought it was important to

observe the admissions process at the college, as well as the physical layout of the center.

Another reason the Kodiak Center was main priority, was because of the counseling and advising

services utilized in the space. My experience working in the College Enrollment Process had me

focusing on the critical importance of this support which is vital for undocumented and veteran’s

students.

Expected Observation

My expected observation included the list of locations I had compiled for myself. The

first stop would be the Kodiak Center to observe admissions and enrollment. The second stop

planned was the Learning Center to observe the assistance given to students for their assignments

and other needs. The third stop I expected to visit was the North Creeks Events Center. I had

read there were full kitchen amenities there and I wondered if students utilized this. The last stop

I expected to visit if I still had time was the The Language Learning Center, which I almost

didn’t notice listed on the campus map.

Actual Observation

My actual observation ended up being completely different than what I had expected.

Upon arriving on to the campus it took me a while to find parking. It turned out I had to park my
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car at the UW Bothell South Lot. I mention this because I interacted with a student once I parked

for parking clarification purposes. I had told her about trying to park at the Cascadia parking lot,

and she told me “to not even bother most people park at the South end.” This comment was the

first signal I received of how intertwined UW Bothell and Cascadia campuses were, since

students from Cascadia often park in UW Bothell’s parking lot. As I began walking down the

campus way, I noticed how Cascadia and UW Bothell’s campuses were indistinguishable. The

only thing which could distinguish the difference of when one was at Cascadia rather than UW

Bothell were the college flags on the campus pathway or the names on the buildings.

I entered the CC3 building in search for a bathroom, and accidently found The Language

Learning Center. The center was in a hallway next to classrooms and a nearby designated

meditation room (which was an empty classroom). Instead of the center being a classroom, it

was turned into an open space with the same dimensions. On the left wall of the hallway when

passing the Language Learning Center there was a wall with different resources and art work

with different language references and appendixes. Behind that wall, there was another open

space with a table and an artistic billboard with an image of a tree. I sat by a bench right outside

the center and observed for my hour. During that time, I mostly listened to the interactions

between the student leaders of the space. The first interaction was a student leader who worked

at the center engaging with a Puerto Rican janitor named Carmen. She was helping her with

English and one of the comments she made was “It takes a few times reading before one really

starts to understand it.” I observed when Carmen left the space and continued with her work. As

she walked down the hallway, another student leader of the space was walking by and gave her a

smile. She said “Hola” and he said “Hola” back which triggered a conversation in Spanish

because she was surprise he knew how to speak her language. I continued to observe the small
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groups of students who inhabited the center and realized how many of them were Latinx and a

few were also queer identified. The way they all related to each other was very familial and

relational, reminding each other to eat and saying jokes in their native tongues. At one point they

were assisting each other by reading over essays they have written in other languages, and they

would often go back to speaking Spanish. Another person in the group was of the API

community and she began speaking another language at one point. I observed how the space was

entirely being run by the students.

The fliers nearby where I was sitting contained one which read “The Personal is

Political” from gender in everyday life and another which read “Real men don’t cry,” meant to

bring up topics of gender stereotypes. As I sat, the class in session located right next to the

Language Learning Center had some of their students step outside into the hallway. This group

was waiting for the remaining students in the classroom to finish an assignment. The students

were in the hallway, but it was extremely near to the open space where The Language Learning

Center was located.

Observational Themes

The first lesson I learned through my observation at the Language Learning Center was

the minimal amount of resources which was provided for the space. The center was not even in

its own facility, but rather an open space in a classroom hallway. This had me reflect to

Munsch’s Open Door Mission article where it states, how many community colleges will provide

access to a wide and diverse range of students to advance equity in higher education. However,

my observation at this site gave me a hands-on analysis about the challenges and advantages of

applying this access. “The challenge lies in the allocation of limited resources to create

opportunities for the students who come to community college with their wide range of needs”
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(Munsch, Velazquez, & Kowpak). Since the community college cannot afford to build a

separate building or site for the Language Learning Center, it has been designated a minimal

space in a classroom hallway. This was also observed with the meditation room lingering nearby

which was a regular classroom with a piece of paper labeling it so. Although, a diverse range of

students are being admitted into the college, a new challenge arises because with them comes a

variety of needs which higher education has never seen before. Munsch states “There is a clear

responsibility for community college faculty, staff, and administrators to provide additional

support services to students who may be at risk of academic failure” (36). However, the problem

is these professionals are given this responsibility with the challenge of providing these services

with limited funding. As discussed in class, community colleges do receive the least amount of

funding while having the greatest amount of admitted students due to the open-door mission.

The second lesson I learned was how Cascadia College may benefit from sharing the

same campus as UW Bothell. When it comes to fiscal matters, “One should note that community

colleges suffer more from state budget cuts than four-year colleges and universities because

community colleges rely more on state appropriations than their four-year counterparts (Shannon

& Smith 2006). Most of the spaces in Cascadia and UW Bothell were indistinguishable and

students from either institution could inhabit each other’s space. An example is how many

students who attend Cascadia College will access UW Bothell’s parking services since there is

more space. As I observed the Language Learning Center’s space I could see the creativity being

utilized to provide spaces needed by students attending the institution, while working within the

limited budget constraints of a community college. However, I could observe the advantage

these students had with having UW Bothell on the same campus and being able to access spaces

which may not be provided for them in their respective campus buildings.
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The third lesson I learned during my observation was that spaces like the Language

Learning Center were essential to provide communal space for students with marginalized

identities. As stated in my actual observation, most of the small group of students in the center

were of color, and a majority I assume were Latinx. They were speaking Spanish from the

moment I arrive, but also switched back to the English language. Although it was an open space,

these students felt safe enough to congregate and be themselves. They also met in this space to

assist each other with homework and widespread support. In Casey and Larsen’s reading they

state, “Students from a wide variety of races and ethnicities are creating a cultural transformation

and changing the fabric of the community college environment” (256). A huge challenge which

is faced in community colleges with the emerging diversity is how to keep these students on the

track to success and retention rate high. Administrators and professionals are encouraged to find

new ways of teaching and paths to lead these students to success. I believe a huge way this is

being done is creating spaces where students with similar identities can gather and build

communities to support each other through their college experience.

Critical Reflection on the Overall Experience

My overall visit gave me a clearer understanding about the limitations of certain

community colleges due to the amount of funding received. Personally, I was reflecting on my

own college experience as well as my experience interning at South Seattle College. In South

Seattle College, I found that there seemed to be more designated areas for different centers and

support services. At Rutgers University, there were multiple various locations for marginalized

students ranging from the Center for Latino Arts, Culture to Asian Pacific Islander Center, and

the Social Justice and LGBT Communities Center, to name a few. One major difference I

recognized in the Learning Language Center was the lack of a professional(s) working with the
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students. Whether this is connected to funding purposes is unclear to me, but there were no full

time professional staff on-site the entire time I observed. In one qualitative research study,

“Students emphasized the quality of the relationship with their counselors, including the benefits

of interacting more with counselors and peers in small learning communities and feeling

accepted with respect to their history and past experiences” (Orozco, Alvarez, & Gutkin 2010).

Although the community of students in the space had the support of each other the presence of a

mentor seemed to be missing. There is a correlation of higher success rates with supportive

advisees and counselors. However, it is important to consider who is being placed in the role of

the mentee for these students with various intersecting marginalized identities. The same study

also states that, “Although interviewees stated that they received helpful information from

general counselors, students did not appear to build strong relationships with those counselors”

(Orozco et al., 2010). Similar, to how the students created a culture intimately integrating their

ethnic identities, I believe it is important to be intentional about the professionals placed in

support roles for community college and transfer students.

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Running head: On-Site Observation

Works Cited

Casey, D., & Larson, D. (n.d.). Serving Diverse and Emerging Populations in the Community

College. Student Affairs Programs and Services.

Munsch, P., Velazquez, T., & Kowpak, C. (n.d.). College Readiness and the Open-Door Mission.

Shannon, H. D., & Smith, R. C. (2006). A case for the community colleges open access

mission. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2006(136), 15-21. doi:10.1002/cc.255

Orozco, Graciela L., Alvarez, Alvin N. and Gutkin, Terry (2010) 'Effective Advising of Diverse

Students in Community Colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 34: 9,

717 — 737. doi: 10.1080/10668920701831571

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Running head: On-Site Observation