Higher Education ESP --
Building a Quality Workforce

Higher Ed ESP and "Adult Learners"

Students in a higher education institution span a broad variety of ages and life stages. Often the student body consists of people ranging in age from recent high school graduates to senior citizens. Some "adult learner" issues are: emphasis on rape counseling and domestic violence, diverse and sometimes non-defined career goals, placement and supervision of student workers in jobs throughout the campus, need for child care, problems due to alcohol and substance abuse, make-or-break financial aid issues, adults who are physically challenged and their particular set of needs, more intense intruder security issues due to more "adults" on campus, more serious confidentiality issues that relate to adult students, dealing with adult health and medical problems, tutoring and mentoring advice, and more mundane things like not enough sleep, too much coffee, and jammed computers! These broad and varied challenges are met by Higher Ed ESP with compassion, competence, and professionalism.

Higher Ed ESP face another special challenge when a large proportion of the student body is in the military, as is the case at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, New York, which has many students from nearby Fort Drum. Troop deployments and term interruptions are on the increase in colleges and universities nationwide with the current rise in military activity. These stressful and life-altering situations require Higher Ed ESP to be flexible and imaginative to help military students continue their educations and eventually achieve their career goals.

To next section: 21st Century Challenges for Higher Ed ESP