SIUC administrators had hoped students living on academic emphasis floors in the residence halls would experience higher grade point averages, but numbers from the fall 1997 semester indicate mixed results.

Steve Kirk, assistant director of Residence Life, said he doesn’t make too much of the first semester’s numbers in terms of students’ GPAs.

Because it’s just a start-up program right now, I certainly wouldn’t want to draw any conclusions, he said. It’s just too early to say.

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The program at SIUC has been in effect one semester, so it is difficult for administrators to determine if grade point averages have significantly improved.

Of the four existing academic emphasis floors, students on two of the floors had average GPAs that were higher than the building average, and students on the remaining two floors had average GPAs that were lower than the building average during the fall 1997 semester.

According to numbers released by University Housing, the results are mixed.

The architectural studies emphasis floor in Mae Smith at Brush Towers had a grade point average of 2.82 while the hall average was 2.34.

The engineering emphasis floor in Schneider Hall at Brush Towers had a grade point average of 2.17. The hall had a grade point average of 2.33.

The engineering emphasis floor in Pierce Hall at Thompson Point had a grade point average of 2.57 while hall’s average was 2.62.

The engineering emphasis floor in Wright III at University Park had a grade point average of 2.16 while the entire residence hall had a grade point average of 2.04.

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Emphasis floors were originated to give students living in residence halls the opportunity to be in a more supportive academic environment by residing on floors with students of the same major.

One factor that skews the results of the averages is that some floors have a diverse mix of majors because the floors did not completely fill with students in the designated major.

Although Kirk did not have exact percentages, he said the emphasis floors at Mae Smith and Thompson Point had high concentrations of students in the designated majors. Less than half the students on the engineering floors at Schneider and Wright III were actually engineering majors.

Kirk said University Housing tracks students’ GPAs because they hope students will do better academically, more likely stay in their major and enjoy the major they are in.

What we thought all along was we’re going to have to work at this for two or three years to see what’s really going to make a difference, he said.

Kirk said one idea University Housing has considered is implementing more programmatic activities to help students on emphasis floors achieve higher GPAs.

We think it’s more than just putting them together on the floor, he said. We would like to get the faculty more involved, have tutoring provided by the department on the floors, have programs put on by my staff on study skills and how to take tests basically how to make the most of the floors.

Kirk said students are encouraged to live on emphasis floors because they have the potential to do better academically.

What we promote to students is that if you’re on a floor with people who are in the same major, then you can support each other and help each other out and you’re going to do better academically, he said.

Ryan Jacobs, a freshman in architectural studies from Divernon, lives on the 10th floor at Mae Smith. He said he thinks living on an emphasis floor has helped boost his GPA.

I think it’s helped having people with the same majors to ask questions with and to compare projects and drawings, he said.

It’s a big help to have people you can study with. I’ve got to ask for help and people have come to ask for help. It’s a comfort, I guess.

Kirk said University Housing intends to talk to the academic departments to determine how they can attract more students to these floors.

We know the engineering majors are out there. The question is how do we get new and returning students to go to these floors, he said. We want to see positive outcomes. We want to know what we can do in addition that will make those kinds of positive outcomes happen.