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The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051A Dole Human Development
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RETENTION FROM PAGE 1
Retention rates have hovered around 80 percent for the decade, and improving on that will require a mix of strategies the University is working on, including a hike in the admissions requirements for incoming freshmen. The goal is to keep nine out of 10 freshmen at the University.
Why do students leave?
Students leave the University for many reasons, but two issues dominate the conversation: finances and poor grades, according to administrators. Katie Treadlain, associate director for the Office of First-Year Experience, said finances are the largest contributor to dropout rates. She deals primarily with those students who drop out near the beginning of the school year.
Finances are often a large concern for students, but Matt Melvin, vice provost for enrollment management, said he thinks grades are a larger issue for those who drop out further into their college careers. He said students may cite finances as a reason for dropping, but the data his office collects indicates a correlation between grades and attrition.
Finances could lead to grade struggles, though. A number of factors, including health or even feeling like they don't belong, can cause students to be unsuccessful in their classes. Correlations between race,
ethnicity, income and ACT score and retention rates are easily identifiable. Melvin said, but the struggles those students face can be more difficult to pinpoint.
Ann Cudd, former vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies, who left in August to become the dean of Boston University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said a sense of belonging can affect a student's success rate.
"If they feel like they're the only one or if they feel like there aren't people who really understand their challenges, then I think it's harder for them to be motivated, to have the kind of motivation that's needed to overcome academic challenges." Cudd said.
Finances can lead straight into grade problems for low-income students. That struggle can come in the form of feeling like they're alone or the sheer difficulty of working and taking classes, Cudd said.
"They have to work to make enough money to pay tuition and room and board and keep themselves going," she said. "If students work more than say 10 hours a week, I think that gets pretty challenging, especially when they're first learning how to make it in the academic realm and the University."
Treadwell stresses the importance of advisors helping their students get into smaller classes so they can have the opportunity to build relationships with teachers and make connections with their peers.
What can the University do?
The University has invested resources into raising retention rates, including an emphasis on the first-year experience, which includes smaller classes, freshman seminars and an Office of First-Year Experience, where Treadwell works.
Melvin, whose office looks at progression and retention data each semester, said he thought retention rates would rise with the higher admissions standards for the fall 2016 freshman class because higher achieving students are significantly more likely to be retained than those with lower grades or high school GPAs. But he said the goal isn't to eliminate the bottom of the incoming classes. He said the admissions team will look at essays and motivation when considering students who don't make the minimum requirements.
For every student who drops out before the 20th day of classes, she said she sends a personal email hoping to find out why.
"A quarter of them never respond, which is expected," she said. "For most it is finances, for some they found better classes somewhere else or had* a better offer."
"We want to make sure that we're also meeting the needs of those students who don't have the benefit of — that are first generation, that are from lower incomes, that are students of color, historically underrepresented." Melvin said.
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | MONDAY, OCT. 5, 2015
For the University, it's a matter of balancing high academic profile with accessibility, Melvin said. He said Kansas would struggle to have the retention rates of more selective schools because the goal of a state university is to be open to all students. Being able to track students who are in trouble might help drive both the retention and graduation rates.
Students have to maintain a 2.0 GPA to be in good standing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the largest section of the University. Policies can vary for professional schools, though. Students who are not in academic good standing risk being dismissed. But Melvin said he thinks progression rates are a good early indicator if a student is struggling. A student with a 2.5 GPA who tried to take 12 hours but only completed six is one the University should worry about, he said.
"That student's not going to be on anybody's radar from a probationary standpoint because of their GPA," he said. "But it impacts their progression. It's a kind of signaling behavior that we're not generating some academic momentum."
Will the University make it to 90 percent retention?
The University should see a bump in retention rates from the higher admissions standards, Melvin said. But reaching 90 percent - a figure Melvin described as "aspirational"
— will be difficult.
"Schools that are at 90 percent retention are typically highly selective," Melvin said. "They tend to be fewer Pell eligible. They tend to be wealthier — a lot wealthier. So I think you could get there, but what's the impact on the mix in terms of making sure that we have the quantity of the class, the quality of the class, the diversity of the class?"
Cuddd said she thinks the 90 percent goal is achievable with the higher admissions standards and targeted help for those students who are at risk.
"I think it's achievable with a combination of strategies," she said. "One is that the admissions requirements are going to have to be a little more stringent. The other thing that's required is really a lot of help, one-on-one help for students who are in those groups that are more likely to struggle, whether that's students who haven't done particularly well in high school, or students who are minorities where there aren't very many like them, or it's low income students."
Unable to afford tuition after failing to qualify for aid this year, Larson now works as a manager at Jimmy John's in his hometown, Overland Park. He pays $600 a month on the loan he took out to cover last year's college expenses. He still owes $5,600, but he hopes to return to the University as soon as next fall.
Edited by Leah Sitz
Retention rates hover around 80 percent
Graphic represents the percentage of first-time freshmen from each year who continued to the following year Source: Office of Institutional Research and Planning Kansan Graphic by Allison Kite
Retention rates by race, ethnicity
Graphic represents the retention rate by race and ethnicity for students who entered in the fall of 2013.
Visit Kansan.com for interactive graphics
SCHOLARSHIP FROM
ing it with Jessica is also a huge honor," Stern said. "The fact the ASF puts aside money and that KU also contributes to sustained leadership in science is really meaningful, but being the inaugural recipient makes it even more of an honor."
"This award is intended to support top future scientists in our country and keep us competitive at the national level. I view Jenny as a very top researcher, one of the best coming out in biology," Ward said. "This just enhances my opinion that we have top students here nationally at the University of Kansas." Van Loben Sels, the other inaugural winner, was not interested in research when she came to the University, and she originally wanted to major in clinical laboratory sciences. Since then, she has decided she wants to be a research professor.
Davido and Robert Ward, an
Joy Ward, a biology professor, nominated Stern for the scholarship along with assistant biology professor William Leo Smith. Ward said she was impressed with Stern's contributions to the "intellectual climate" of her lab and her passion for finding solutions to problems in both her research and class work. She said she had no doubt Stern would become a leader in the future of the environmental scientific arena.
The turnaround came at the beginning of her sophomore year when she joined David Davido's research lab about the development of the herpes simplex virus. Since she joined Davido's lab, she has tutored students and done some undergraduate teaching, a feature she wants to incorporate into her future career.
"I want to become a researching professor and study diseases in a context where you would be able to identify targets for therapies," she said. "I've been tutoring for several years now, so I wanted the teaching to be an aspect of whatever job I ended up wanting. Being a researching professor kind of merged both of those."
associate biology professor, nominated van Loben Sels for the scholarship. She said her professors have been instrumental not only in applying for the scholarship, but throughout her college experience. They have helped her with research papers, interviews and presenting and publishing her research. They've also written reference letters for her.
"They have been very helpful in pushing me to present my research at conferences and publish my research," she said. "I actually taught with Dr. Ward and he has been very encouraging and written me letters as well. All of these professors have been really helpful not only in giving me the scientific foundation, but the tools I'll need to be able to present it and get other people involved in research as well."
Van Loben Sels pointed to her enthusiasm as a reason she won the scholarship. She said she would encourage other students to take advantage of similar opportunities.
"If someone presents you with
an opportunity and says, 'Do you want to apply for this?' the answer is always yes," she said. "That is honestly the whole reason I got any of these scholarships. As long as you have a stable foundation with your lab director and your professors, all it takes is you taking the time to present yourself as someone who wants to make a better future for other people."
Stern and van Loben Sels will
speak and be recognized in an event on Monday commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope at Spooner Hall at 5 p.m. Steven Hawley will also give a presentation about the telescope following the recognition.
Editor's note: Jenny Stern is a science columnist for The Kansan.
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