ASSET students will engage in various activities designed to enhance student goal orientation, social and academic integration, interaction with faculty, and resilience to external pressures that promote attrition.

Surveys. ASSET students will complete a fall/winter survey and a survey at the end of the spring semester. When they graduate, they will complete a two-month post-graduation survey and a one-year post-graduation survey.

Goal-Setting. ASSET students to engage in an extended writing task that will define a set of academic, work, and social goals, and to subsequently have a meeting with their academic advisor every semester when they will receive information on how to navigate the community college environment and utilize available opportunities and supports to reach these goals. Doing so is predicted to enhance student goal commitment (Halpin, 1990) and to allow students to benefit from more intensive academic advisement (Hatch & Garcia, 2017).

Learning-Self Assessment. ASSET students to perform a written self-assessment of their weaknesses and strengths in relation to the ASSET program. Also, students will meet with a faculty member or an internship mentor to discuss how the ASSET program can be improved to better support their success. This element has been documented to enhance community college success (Mertes, 2015).

Evaluation Interview and Self-Reflection. Select ASSET students to engage with an evaluation team member and complete at least one hour of interviews regarding their collegiate experiences each academic year. Interviews like these enhanced self-regulation, goal orientation, and retention in community college students (Mahlberg, 2015).

Evaluative Cohort Gathering. This gathering will allow students to discuss and provide opportunities for students to develop peer support networks and identify interpersonal resources and coping strategies that will promote persistence. Such peer interaction has been demonstrated to enhance learning and GPA in community college populations (Lundberg, 2014), thus indirectly promoting retention.

Social Event. This experience is designed to help students develop relationships with their peers at different points in the ASSET program, and network with college faculty and internship mentors. Supports like these have been documented for their efficacy in helping community college students succeed (see Mertes, 2015).

Financial Incentives. ASSET students can earn up to $350 per year for participation in these activities: $25 for the fall/winter survey; $25 for the end of the spring survey; $200 engagement fund; $100 to offset the price of consumable instructional materials.