Extratraditionals Unrecognized

Mission Statement
The mission of this group is to create a supportive space for non-traditional students (students age 24 or over, students with dependents, staff who are also students, etc.) who attend Hampshire College, and to work to improve our experience here. While Smith, Mount Holyoke and UMass have entire programs for older and returning students, Hampshire (so far) has no infrastructure specific to that population. From our experiences, and from listening to the concerns and experiences of other older students, we realized that having an organized group would benefit us greatly. For one thing, it can be difficult for us to even find each other, since we often blend in with the rest of the student body. Just having the chance to spend time with other people who are having similar experiences has been very helpful, and by continuing that presence in an official capacity, we plan to be a resource for incoming nontraditional students.

Through the group, we also plan to share our experiences at Hampshire and use that information to come up with ideas for how that experience could be improved, ideas which we will then share with the administration and the new assistant dean, who will apparently be working with nontraditional students and working on bringing more of us into the college.

(A note on our definition of “Nontraditional.” For the purposes of the group, we consider a nontraditional student anyone who is 24 or older, who has dependents, who is a veteran, and/or is a staff member of the college who is also a student. Beyond this, we are willing to let people self-identify. If there are other students who feel they are at a different phase of life than the 18-22 year olds the college primarily serves, and are looking for a place for support in the Hampshire community, then we will certainly be open to including them.)