The University’s focus on enrollment has begun shifting toward retention with the development of a University retention plan that incorporates individual college’s methods for retaining their best students.

John Jackson, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and provost, said the dean of each college has submitted their retention plans to his office.

Out of that I am going to synthesize a single set of some sort of overall plan for the University based on what these colleges are doing, he said. This whole year we’ve been trying to up the ante on retention, and this is one way of accomplishing that.

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Jackson said each colleges’ retention efforts should be compiled into a University plan within 10 days.

James McGuire, dean of the College of Agriculture, said the plan will help coordinate University retention efforts.

We’ve always had a good retention percentage in the College of Agriculture because of the attention we pay to students, but overall this plan will help us do an even better job of retaining students.

McGuire said the College of Agriculture’s retention plan includes personally inviting students to a reception that helps them acclimate to University life. The college also provides employment possibilities, and makes tutoring available to any students who need help academically.

The College of Business’ plan states that course restructuring is one way of retaining students. The plan cites the college’s restructuring of the Principles of Accounting course which in fall 1995 retained only 45 percent of students.

The course was restructured into three segments, which permits students to take more time to finish the course and to retake areas in which they have difficulty. In the first semester since the restructuring, the course retained 70 percent of its students.

Anita Hutton, coordinator of recruitment and retention for the College of Liberal Arts, said her college’s primary retention tool is a course for students readmitted after academic suspension.

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She said the course started in fall 1997 with 14 students. She said that four students dropped the course.

The class is not conditional, yet, she said. But we are hoping to move in that direction so that it becomes a condition of readmission.

Hutton said a University retention plan should encourage students to ask questions.

No one on this campus is a mind reader, and we don’t always know that students have problems because they do the work and assignments but then suddenly don’t come back. she said. Students need to be encouraged to see us if they need help or need questions answered.

Hutton also cited the faculty mentoring program, specifically the Theater Department, which has a mandatory mentoring program for their majors.

Sarah Blackstone, chairwoman of the Theater Department, said the mentoring program is mandatory so that students learn to sequence themselves in classes and can subsequently graduate on time. It also allows faculty members to coach students about improving their grades and which career paths to pursue.

The mentoring occurs once each semester, and all theater classes are canceled that day so that mentoring can occur. Blackstone said students must attend the mentoring sessions.

The enforcement mechanism is an advisor in COLA, She said. Theater majors are not allowed to register without the signature of their mentor on a form.

Overall we think this is beginning to have a real impact on students and students are beginning to pick up on this. For the first couple times we had to drag people in there by the ear, but now they know it is useful to them.

Jackson said the comprehensive University plan, though not including all college’s retention efforts, will create guidelines for the whole University.

He said the plan will be geared towards academically-minded students, and that some students will always flunk.

I have basically made it plain from the start that you always lose some students from academic difficulties that are justified, Jackson said. We are not trying to absolutely prevent anybody from flunking out because inevitably some are going to flunk and should flunk, but we have lost good students that were not in academic difficulty when they left.

I take no pleasure in throwing students out of here on academic grounds but sometimes it’s justified.