Nontraditional students get highlighted through events on campus
UW-Eau Claire professor receives OWL award, recognition for working with nontrads
David Taintor
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Campus News
About 18 years after she graduated high school, junior Melissa Gullickson received an acceptance letter from UW-Eau Claire on the day of her daughter's first birthday.
"It was probably the best birthday present she could have ever gotten," Gullickson said.
A few years before that, a friend of Gullickson's enrolled in college, and she saw the transformation it caused in that person's life. Still, Gullickson said she didn't think the university was a community that she could be a part of.
"I was just convinced I would never be able to make it here, that I would never even get in," she said.
Then, a friend gave Gullickson Bonnie Isaacson's number, an adviser in Nontraditional Student Services. Gullickson submitted an essay along with her application to UW-Eau Claire, and she was received her acceptance letter Nov. 15, 2006.
"It was a huge, scary step," she said.
About one-tenth of students at UW-Eau Claire are nontraditional students, meaning they are either 24 or older, have military experience, are married or have families, according to Issacson and the Nontraditional Student Services Web site.
In celebration of Nontraditional Student Week, UW-Eau Claire hosted events throughout the week, including guest speakers and a reception to honor faculty who have worked with nontraditional students.
"Those populations have unique situations with families and jobs," Isaacson said, "They're balancing lots of things with their lives."
Isaacson said the week's events are to recognize those who remain excellent students despite having some unique challenges.
"You don't know who you're sitting next to in class and what's going on in their lives," she said.
Gullickson, who serves on the Student Life and Diversity board, said she is trying to form a committee of nontraditional students that would take over the planning on Nontraditional Student Week next year, in hopes of getting nontraditional and traditional students to interact more with each other. She said the events have traditionally been tailored toward nontraditional student attendance.
"It was probably the best birthday present she could have ever gotten," Gullickson said.
A few years before that, a friend of Gullickson's enrolled in college, and she saw the transformation it caused in that person's life. Still, Gullickson said she didn't think the university was a community that she could be a part of.
"I was just convinced I would never be able to make it here, that I would never even get in," she said.
Then, a friend gave Gullickson Bonnie Isaacson's number, an adviser in Nontraditional Student Services. Gullickson submitted an essay along with her application to UW-Eau Claire, and she was received her acceptance letter Nov. 15, 2006.
"It was a huge, scary step," she said.
About one-tenth of students at UW-Eau Claire are nontraditional students, meaning they are either 24 or older, have military experience, are married or have families, according to Issacson and the Nontraditional Student Services Web site.
In celebration of Nontraditional Student Week, UW-Eau Claire hosted events throughout the week, including guest speakers and a reception to honor faculty who have worked with nontraditional students.
"Those populations have unique situations with families and jobs," Isaacson said, "They're balancing lots of things with their lives."
Isaacson said the week's events are to recognize those who remain excellent students despite having some unique challenges.
"You don't know who you're sitting next to in class and what's going on in their lives," she said.
Gullickson, who serves on the Student Life and Diversity board, said she is trying to form a committee of nontraditional students that would take over the planning on Nontraditional Student Week next year, in hopes of getting nontraditional and traditional students to interact more with each other. She said the events have traditionally been tailored toward nontraditional student attendance.
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