Adjusting and adapting in the middle of a pandemic

A cornerstone of the university’s programming for GEAR UP students was the Summer Bridge Program, originally designed to provide students with an on-campus experience over a weekend in June before their start at Iowa. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to pivot. They responded by creating an innovative series of online modules that helped students learn about goal setting and time management, sit in on mock lectures, workshop their note-taking skills, and even submit a resume for a campus job.

Students were incentivized to complete the modules by the opportunity to earn up to $100 in credit to purchase textbooks.

Yamam Hussien, a fourth-year neuroscience and pre-medicine student from Des Moines, Iowa, said Iowa’s GEAR UP programming helped her transition to the university as a first-generation college student.

As Hussien prepares to graduate from Iowa, she looks back on her accomplishments with pride. She was one of seven UI students to receive a prestigious Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in 2023, supporting an internship over the summer in Jordan at the SIT Refugees, Health, and Humanitarian Action program.

Building a community

Students who feel a sense of belonging at college have higher rates of retention and persistence through graduation. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic removed some of the typical interactions and engagements that help first-year students make friends and feel at home on campus.

This made community-building efforts for the GEAR UP 2.0 cohort particularly important. The university created special learning communities, which included rhetoric sections with other first-year GEAR UP students and peer mentoring from older students who had successfully completed the course. During the spring 2021 semester, GEAR UP students were enrolled into two half-semester courses, Life Design and Learning about Learning. In addition to providing familiar faces in the classroom, these courses encouraged students to explore campus resources while helping build their academic and life skills.

The university also offered programs on everything from financial literacy to resilience and grit. Modules like the online University of Iowa scavenger hunt provided students with helpful information about campus while also fostering a sense of belonging to the university community.

All GEAR UP students also were assigned an academic coach, with students in the GEAR UP rhetoric class completing both group and individual coaching sessions.

Sydney Maxa, a fourth-year interdisciplinary studies major from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, credits the GEAR UP program and the personal support it provided with helping her successfully transition to college.

Maxa was a Homecoming Royalty Honoree in 2023 and a Hawkeye Spirit scholarship recipient in 2022. After graduating from Iowa in spring 2024 she plans to pursue a master’s degree in higher education administration.

The legacy of GEAR UP Iowa

Despite the challenges raised by the pandemic, 85.5% of the GEAR UP students who started at Iowa in fall 2020 returned for a second year. That represented a significant increase over the 10-year average retention rate of 74% for students from the 12 partner school districts who had enrolled at Iowa prior to that 2020 class. 

As this cohort looks ahead to graduation, they carry with them not just the knowledge they've gained but also the resilience they've developed.

With graduation on the horizon, these students stand as a testament to what can be achieved with determination and the right support. Their success stories, individually and collectively, embody the University of Iowa’s commitment to excellence, creativity, and community.