ROSCOE Educators Program | School of Education

The Resources, Opportunities, Supports, and Community for Equity (ROSCOE) Educators Program is a free program for first-generation college students in the School of Education. This program aims to:

Create community and connections for first-generation college students in the School of Education.
Nurture leadership and research opportunities for first-generation college students through relationship-based faculty mentoring and peer mentoring.
Uplift and celebrate the talents, perspectives, and experiences of first-generation college students entering educational professions.

The ROSCOE Educators Program is free and open to any first- or second-year student (including Transfer students) majoring in any area of Education.

ROSCOE Educators

ROSCOE Educators are first-generation undergraduate college students majoring in any area of Education. The first-generation college student’s identity can be fluid. For the purpose of this program, first-generation college students are students with parents (in whatever way they define parent) who did not complete a four-year college education.

First-generation college students may also include:

Students whose parents completed a four-year college education in another country besides the United States.
Students whose parents completed a four-year college education later in life.
Students with siblings or cousins who complete (or are completing) a four-year college education.
Students who self-identify as having minimal prior exposure to or knowledge of four-year college experiences like those at TCNJ.

The Need for the ROSCOE Educators Program

Nationally, Schools of Education do not reflect the diversity of public schools, with far more White, middle-class, female students graduating from teacher preparation programs than is reflected in the classrooms in which they will work (Taylor et al., 2017).

In the School of Education, first-generation college students play a critical role in increasing representation in the teacher workforce and related school personnel.
First-generation college students bring diverse perspectives that enrich classroom dialogues, content engagement, and school communities.
Children, families, and communities need first-generation college students to become Educators.

This program builds on existing efforts to broadly support first-generation college students by specifically supporting the recruitment, retention, leadership, and opportunities for first-generation college students pursuing majors in Education.

The Components of the ROSCOE Educators Program

Group Cohort Meetings

ROSCOE Educators are enrolled in a 0 credit, pass/fail, no cost seminar, EDU 094, which transcripts their participation in the program. EDUC 094 meets twice a month for an hour. Meetings are informal and relaxed. There are no papers or outside reading; Passing the course is based on attendance/participation.

EDU 94 meets every other Wednesday at 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. for First-year students and 1:30-2:30 p.m. for Sophomore students.

Topics from ROSCOE cohort meetings have included:

Building community – Identifying formal and informal networks
Get to know the Financial Aid Office
Study abroad opportunities
Resume workshopping
Look towards Summer opportunities
Planning and preparing for exams and benchmarks in your Education major
Thriving in your second major
Research opportunities in the SOE
Advanced degree/certification opportunities in the SOE
Clinical practice – Meet with former student teachers
Finding your voice – public speaking
Time management
Strategies to support mental health and wellness
Involvement in student groups
Preparing for effective advising and registration
Balancing academics, home, and social life
Strong study habits for finals

The full ROSCOE Community meets three times each semester for community meetings:

Kickoff
Study break
End of the semester party

We also collaborate with other groups within and outside of the SOE to support equity-related conversations and opportunities for first-generation college students.

Peer Mentoring

Each ROSCOE Educator is paired with a ROSCOE peer leader who is also a first-generation college student majoring in Education. Educators meet with their peer leader once a month in either one-to-one or small group meetings.

Peer leaders receive a scholarship in recognition of their role in the ROSCOE Educators Program. Peer leaders also help with all aspects of leading this program including attending recruitment events. ROSCOE Educators have the opportunity to apply to be a peer leader during their Junior, Senior years.

Faculty Mentoring

Each ROSCOE Educator is also paired with a ROSCOE faculty leader. Educators meet with their faculty leader once a month.

While using a bit more formal than peer mentoring, ROSCOE faculty mentoring is relationship-based and not the same as advising. In faculty mentoring, ROSCOE Educators may talk about their upcoming classes, but often also talk about their goals and dreams, opportunities for leadership and research, areas of concern in their classes or programs, questions about TCNJ, the SOE, their programs and/or their classes and much more.

One of the benefits of faculty mentoring is that it helps ROSCOE Educators to feel more comfortable talking with faculty and to understand all of the support roles that faculty can play in students’ educational journeys.

Opportunity Guides

Download PDF Guides

Learn More About the ROSCOE Educators Program

Email Dr. Nadya Pancsofar, ROSCOE Educators Program coordinator, (pancsofa@tcnj.edu) to ask questions or learn more.

Become a ROSCOE Educator

You can email roscoe@tcnj.edu or Dr. Pancsofar, ROSCOE Educators Program coordinator at pancsofa@tcnj.edu. You can just say “I’d like to become a ROSCOE Educator” and we will get you started!

You can join the ROSCOE Educators at any time, but to get the most out of the program, you should reach out in either the summer months or in January before a new semester begins.