`It takes a campus to graduate a student: a look at seven academic retention programs and what makes them effective - Special Report: Recruitment & Retention - Statistical Data Included

Black Issues in Higher Education, Oct 25, 2001 by Phaedra Brotherton

Examples of improvements made by the work groups include adding a focus on experiential learning to classroom instruction; creating a university-wide advising council; establishing a collaborative approach to career counseling and tutoring including peer mentoring; enhancing women's, ethnic and environmental studies; and getting students involved in service-learning opportunities.

Of particular interest is the focus on developing new traditions for freshman students to create a class identity. These included a freshman convocation and class picture, and social activities such as freshman night at the symphony.

Since the campus-wide initiative has been in place, the university's retention rate for freshman to sophomore year increased from 74.2 percent in the fall of 1995 to 84.8 percent for fall 2000. The four-year graduation rate is at its highest level, and recruitment and enrollment statistics also have been rising.

Voigt says having a clear vision and understanding of what "student success" and "quality" would look like, having measurable goals, and creating a structure and process to make the effort work is what made the comprehensive effort a success.

OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

RETENTION PROGRAM: OAKLAND UNIVERSITY TRUSTEE ACADEMIC SUCCESS (OUTAS)

There are many examples of programs designed to support at-risk students of color. But what about those students of color who did well in high school and meet the university's requirements but need support adjusting to campus life and encouraging leadership development?

To develop campus leaders of color, Oakland University, based in Rochester, Mich., established the OUTAS Scholarship Program to provide partial scholarships to students of color with 3.0 high school grade-point averages. The program includes a cross-cultural mentoring component, in which students are paired with those in their major, but not necessarily from the same ethnic or racial group.

"It's really a paradigm shift from placing students in their traditional peer groups and expecting them to succeed," says Gloria Sosa, director of the Office of Equity. "The program's purpose is to help students develop effective cross-cultural functioning skills to transfer to our global workplace and society. If we keep them tied to their racial or ethnic peer group, we are not necessarily giving them any tools to succeed in a different environment."

Students are paired with peer mentors who are upper classmen and campus leaders. Peer mentors go through a thorough hiring process and participate in an extensive training program in team building, conflict resolution, counseling and listening skills. Students in the program also are required to take a freshman seminar course, a 12-week experiential course that familiarizes them with the campus and its services. Students are required to submit an e-mail journal about their experiences in the class. Peer mentors also help students identify campus leadership opportunities and community service projects of interest.

OUTAS scholarships range from $1,000 to $3,000 for each year. The scholarship is renewed if students maintain full-time status of 12 credit hours, a 2.5 GPA and meet biweekly with a counselor and a trained peer mentor. Up to 40 students are admitted into the program each year.