成人影片 has just posted its highest one-year retention numbers in 10 years, with more than 85 percent of first-year students who enrolled in Fall 2021 returning to school this fall for their sophomore year. It is the third year in a row in which retention numbers have grown.
This achievement reflects the University’s outstanding programs designed to help students make the transition from high school to college, including a welcoming and joyful summer Orientation experience, an award-winning summer community service experience, and multidisciplinary first-year seminars.听U.S. News & World Report听recognizes 成人影片 as a best for First-Year Experiences.
成人影片’s support for first-year students is just a part of its relentless commitment to student success and one of many initiatives undertaken over the past few years.
鈥淎t 成人影片, everyone鈥攆rom administrators to faculty and staff鈥攗nderstands that retention is a community issue,” said Diann Cameron Kelly, PhD, associate provost for student success. 鈥淲e all have a hand to play in keeping students in school and on the path to graduation, and I really do believe that we have been able to accomplish that.”
Focusing on financial issues faced by students
One of the most recent efforts, announced in April 2021, was the policy decision to remove the minimum GPA requirement for retaining academic scholarships. This decision was made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on mental health and education.
Instead of pressuring students to hit a certain grade point average, 成人影片 now encourages them to focus on learning, growing and demonstrating overall academic progress. If scholarship students can prove they’re challenging themselves by taking an ambitious course, for example, that’s more significant than hitting a specific GPA.
鈥淭his policy decision makes a huge difference, because financial struggles are a major reason why students drop out,” Dr. Cameron Kelly said. 鈥淏y removing that barrier, students were able to continue with their scholarships, bring their GPA up and persist to graduation.”
The Office of Academic Services and Retention, led by Executive Director Debra Kyriacou, also reaches out to students who haven’t re-enrolled in classes, often finding that the reason is an unpaid balance.
鈥淒ebbie’s unit worked with financial aid to make sure there was some pathway for those students to return鈥攚here they could bring down the amount that they owed and enroll for the next semester,” Dr. Cameron Kelly said.
成人影片 also offers the听听for juniors and seniors facing unexpected financial crises. The endowment for this scholarship increased 300 percent in the past three years. Additionally, 成人影片 has established almost 80 new scholarship funds since 2015, including four听multicultural scholarships听and the听John J. Gutleber Memorial Scholarships听for students with physical disabilities.
Addressing academic problems
For students who were on probation or at risk of dismissal, 成人影片 provided helpful resources through the Office of Academic Services and Retention. Students can access the tutoring program, Writing Center, and peer coaching program to receive mentoring and advice on completing their academic careers. The Mentoring Program, which pairs students with trained faculty and staff, has helped听increase the graduation rate of Black students by 18 percent.
Faculty members across the University have also been encouraged to identify students who might be struggling and refer them to the Office of Academic Services and Retention. 鈥淲e rely heavily on faculty to bring to our attention students who were at risk for a myriad of reasons鈥攕tudents who were working two jobs just to put themselves through college, students who were food insecure or housing insecure,” Dr. Cameron Kelly said. 鈥淲e would figure out ways to diminish that risk factor and help that student remain in school.”
One professor, for example, saw that a student was floundering in class but didn’t know why. Upon referral, Academic Services and Retention discovered that the student was homeless and doing all class assignments on their mobile phone. The student also didn’t have WiFi and often couldn’t attend classes virtually.
Academic Services and Retention arranged for the student to stay in a campus residence hall and provided textbooks, a loaner laptop and a WiFi hotspot. 鈥淚t made a huge difference and the student thrived,” Dr. Cameron-Kelly said.
Help for students from underserved communities
Going forward, 成人影片 will continue to launch new initiatives for student success and retention, with a particular focus on supporting students from diverse and underserved communities.
鈥淭he overall retention rate for the University has increased, but we still have a way to go for Black and Latino students,” Dr. Cameron Kelly said. 鈥淲e’d like to put in place programming that supports students from diverse backgrounds and decrease the equity gap.”
成人影片 has recently introduced efforts to increase a sense of belonging, including a new听Multicultural Center, as well as a range of student-led affinity groups. More initiatives are to come, all geared to helping students thrive from application to graduation.
As Dr. Cameron Kelly said, 鈥淪tudent retention has an impact well beyond graduation. It’s about taking a student from learner to earner, and it has the power to be life changing.”