Two very good ideas were born in the random faculty focus groups conducted by Chancellor Don Beggs and other administrators in November.

The ideas are designed to help potential students get used to the University setting, and to place probationary students on the right track for academic success both of which are inventive measures with the potential to retain a number of students.

These ideas deserve some looking into for a number of reasons. One strong reason is that they are evidence of some SIUC faculty members’ desire to help students succeed instead of just a desire to boost enrollment and earn steady paychecks. Emphasis on boosting enrollment and retention often can miss the true value of a University educating and preparing students for careers. Sometimes it is easy to caught up in the numbers and devise ideas that are only short-term fixes to deeper problems. Some students may opt for the party scene at other universities while other students may opt transfer to programs at other universities.

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Some students simply cannot remain at universities like SIUC if they are unaware of what it takes to succeed at the undergraduate level.

Following that idea, 190 members of the randomly chosen faculty focus groups recommended that the University develop a bridge program from high school to college classes. As Chancellor Beggs stated, The purpose would be to help students acclimate to the university setting, become familiar with the campus, and in some cases, find out what it is like to be at a University.

A bridge program should be just that experience it would snatch away the wool that covers many students’ eyes before their first real semester. Some students have no idea what college is really like. Senior year visits to college campuses to consult with myriad advisers and departments do not adequately prepare students for such a big transition. Attending college is a big step up in responsibility.

A summer bridge program should offer students the rigorous college courses and demands that typically will be expected of them in the subsequent fall semester. Students have the precious chance to learn responsibility while cementing a favorable beginning to their college careers.

An existing summer bridge program at University of Illinois helps potentially marginal students in this way, but a similar program at SIUC would be helpful for all incoming freshmen, and would work well with the potential University 101 mandatory course planned by Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and provost John Jackson.

Administrators are considering implementing a bridge program by the summer of 1999, and this move illustrates a desire to listen to faculty concerns while assisting students at the same time.

The second plausible recommendation touted by members of the faculty focus groups would improve SIUC’s present aid to students in academic trouble.

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Currently, students with cumulative grade point averages of less than 2.0 are placed on academic probation. Then those students register for classes as if under normal circumstances and are required to pull their cumulative averages above the required C average. This process can sometimes take a more than one semester to accomplish.

But if a student fails to earn a 2.0 the next semester, they are automatically suspended.

At U of I, some probationary students are assigned academic mentors. These mentors serve as quasi-advisers, and students make appointments with them often during the semester. SIUC’s solution, though different than options at other schools, is feasible as well.

Beggs says that based on faculty recommendations from the focus groups, administrators also are planning to begin a program that would require students on probation to take a mandatory class on learning good study habits and other necessary skills. This also is similar to the planned University 101 course, in that both courses will stress building important academic building blocks. But maintaining this idea for the students who especially need this help is a good idea.

This year’s faculty focus group meetings were successful, because they garnered important faculty input that shows concern for students. These groups and the innovative ideas that can result from them should become a staple at this University, as Chancellor Beggs has sought to ensure.

Candidates to become the SIUC chancellor should make a note of this success.