SHREVEPORT – Working the front desk in the LSUS Student Success Center, senior Louise Linh Tran helps connect students with valuable academic resources.
But Tran wanted to do more than just help individual LSUS students.
The psychology major was accepted into a Postsecondary Policy and Advocacy Fellowship with Complete College America, a national advocate for dramatically increasing college completion rates and closing institutional performance gaps.
Tran is one of 12 student fellows across the nation who participate in weekly research sessions and discussions on different higher education topics, such as obstacles to education, the impact of artificial intelligence and how policies affect people from different socioeconomic statuses.
“We have meetings or online classes nearly every week where we learn about issues like equity in higher education,” said Tran, whose fellowship started in April and runs into August. “We’ll do research and complete writing assignments with a big capstone project at the end of the fellowship.
“I’m thinking about a curriculum capstone project centered around how curriculum can be more personalized and flexible. Each student has a different approach to learning.”
Tran is considering how gateway courses – general education requirements students take regardless of their major – could include a pass/no credit option as opposed to a strictly A-F grading scale.
“It was an option during the (COVID-19) pandemic, and I thought it was tremendously helpful,” Tran said. “Maybe a particular subject isn’t a student’s strength, and that course doesn’t relate to the student’s desired career.
“Instead of earning a letter grade that might not be great, a pass/no credit option could remove an obstacle for that student.”
Tran was encouraged to apply for the CCA fellowship after speaking with Dr. Akilah Martin, a CCA strategy director who is assisting LSUS evaluate its first two years of the college student experience. LSUS is part of the inaugural cohort founded by the John Gardner Institute that selected 11 universities across the nation to collaborate on successful strategies to combat college dropout rates.
“The goal is to have people actually complete college, not leave or drop out,” Tran said. “That inspired me to pursue the fellowship.
“I was once a freshman and am an international student, so it’s easier for me to identify a student’s needs and to guide people to the help they need. This fellowship has allowed me to study policy making and learn about ways we can introduce better practices for students.”
Tran is on track to complete her psychology degree this fall, but educational policymaking isn’t the only item on her agenda.
Tran became enamored with the United States through movies and television and has dreams of becoming an actress.
The Vietnam native came to the United States at age 14 through an international exchange program, living one year in Provo, Utah, before completing her final two years of high school at Shreveport’s Evangel Christian Academy.
“My sister worked at a movie theater for a while, and she took me to the movies a lot,” Tran said. “The first movie that made me realize I want to pursue this was ‘Alice in Wonderland.’
“I learned English watching the TV show ‘Phineas and Ferb’ and studied in English at the international school I attended.”
Tran aspires to move to New Orleans and aim for the silver screen in addition to developing in a more mainstream career.
“Movies and television shaped what I wanted to be because it’s drawn me to creating a story for entertainment,” said Tran, who eventually would like to write and direct later in her entertainment career. “This experience in America has been a lot, and I’ve loved learning about all the cultures here and making friends.
“I think I’ve adapted pretty well in this culture I’m living in, and it’s been a positive experience.”
Even if her own story doesn’t include the motion pictures, her academic activities have illuminated certain commonalities.
“I think the one common thing about the fellowship and psychology field is both find the roots of the challenges that people face,” Tran said. “You identify the problems so that you can implement better practices.
“I subscribe to the belief that college is not meant for everyone, and to some degree, I don’t necessarily think I’m meant for it. But being on this academic journey makes me appreciate the value of it.”
