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Tuesday, April 12, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Personal commitment is key for Placement Center official
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By Mark McCormick
Special to the Kansan
Marsailh Jackson sinks into a dining room chair. His dark blue sweatsuit hangs on him comfortably, and he turns up the volume of the material clings a little lighter.
A tiny child peers around the corner from the kitchen and catches Jackson's attention. With a grin from Jackson, the child sweals excitedly and waddles away in the wobbly, uneasy gait of a toddler.
Jackson chuckles, shaking his head in detached amusement.
"My wife takes care of kids during the day," he said. "She really loves those kids, but I've been known to retreat upstairs to my work and TV sometimes. I like the older kids myself."
The older kids are the students in the Endowment Merit Award program, which Jackson initiated nine years ago to recruit talented minority students to the University of Kansas. Students who decide to attend KU through the program receive scholarships ranging from $250 to $1,000.
But Jackson won't be recruiting students anymore. He'll be helping them find jobs when they graduate from the University in his new position as assistant director of placement at the University Placement Center.
"I'm going to miss it a whole lot," Jackson said, "I'll be catching them
at the end of their careers here, and I won't get to see their progress year after year."
Since the first year in 1980 in which 20 students visited the University and 13 of those students decided to attend, the program has grown to recruit approximately 50 students annually.
"We needed to expand our program, so in the third year, we included Hispanic and American Indian students," Jackson said. "We also began ACT (American College Test) score and counsel recommendations to decide which students that we would offer scholarships to."
The endowment program originally was modeled after the Summerfield-Watkins program in which students who had performed well on National Merit and PSAT (Pre Scholastic Aptitude Test) were recruited by the University.
"It it took several years for the idea to catch hold," he said. "If there had been more voices in favor of attracting minority students, it wouldn't have as difficult to get off the ground."
Jackson said this policy of slow and minimal response to minority needs was still prevalent and a source of great frustration for him.
one University is not being responsive to the needs of blacks and other minorities," he said. "They feel alienated in most of the school. They feel alienated."
University to provide and cultivate cultural activities and help minority students adapt to campus life.
Jackson said that it was up to the
"It is their job to promote a conducive atmosphere and to promote learning, interaction, and identity," he said. "The University may recognize the problems, but no one is addressing them. There has to be an institutional thrust and an institutional commitment. Neither exists here."
Yet for Jackson, there has been a personal commitment.
"I've always referred to the students as my kids," he said. "I have a special relationship with them. I enjoy their enthusiasm, confidence, and the mentor relationship I share with them."
Jackson said he thought he represented a parental or family figure to students.
Vernell Spearman, director of minority affairs, said she thought Jackson had more than just an advisory interest in the students that he came in contact with.
"He felt like the program was his baby," she said. "But I think it goes beyond that. He has a special concern for all students."
reresa Small, Junction City senior, said that Jackson was energetic in his work.
"I see him explode at his work, putting a lot into it," Small said. He's quiet in a loud way, sort of an extroverted introvert."
Programs try to recruit minorities
Kansan staff writer
By Kathleen Faddis
Although KU still has a problem recruiting minority students, it is not for lack of effort.
year.
The University of Kansas's recruitment programs are coordinated by the University's professional schools, the office of admissions and the office of minority affairs.
RACISM AT KU
One of the most extensive and successful of these programs is the School of Engineering's Student Council for Recruiting, Motivating and Educating Minority Engineers, or SCoMREBE.
Florence Boldridge, director of minority engineering programs, heads SCOrMEBE, a program that is geared not only to recruit, but also retain minority students in engineering. Most of the financing for the program comes from private industry. Scholarships are usually $500 per
Since the program started in 1970, about 120 students have gone through the program and graduated, Boldridge said.
Boldridge said retention of students is one of the program's biggest successes. That's because the program provides not only academic but also emotional support for the students.
Boldridge said many minority students come to the University ill-prepared. So SCORMEBE pays for tutoring from Supportive Education Services for their first two years of school.
"Uppermost in our minds is to not only get the students here but to graduate them," Boldridge said.
Every summer, the KU campus is inundated with high school students attending camps and training programs.
Sam Adams, associate professor of journalism, operates an Urban Journalism Workshop at the School of Journalism each summer for two weeks for selected minority high school students.
Robert Sanders, professor of biochemistry, heads an eight-week research apprenticeship each summer for minority high school students interested in pursuing biomedical research and health professions. The College offers a recruitment drive to bring more minorities into the graduate schools.
Another successful program is the Endowment Scholarships program, which started in 1980.
Scholarship recipients, recruited on the basis of their grade point average, test scores, and counsel recommendations, are offered four-year renewable scholarships of $500 to $1,000 per year.
Racism
Continued from p. 1
Asian-American enrollment increased 179.8 percent, from 134 in 1977 to 375 in spring 1988.
Yet, as a percentage of the total population at KU, increases in minority enrollment still are dim. Total minority enrollment, as a percentage of the total student population, increased half a percentage point, from 5.3 in fall 1977 to 5.8 in spring 1988.
The low numbers perpetuate a cycle that discourages potential minority students, officials say.
"Smaller numbers do make the problem harder to resolve," Ambler said. "It is important to create a culture that promotes loyalty students more comfortable."
Financial incentives
Money is the root of the problem, according to many KU officials.
Marshall Jackson, assistant director of placement, attributes much of KU's difficulties to cutbacks in federal funding for education. Less money is available, and students are finding it harder to qualify for financing.
Jerry Rogers, director of student financial aid, said that students who were really needly had the same aid programs available. But students who are on the lower end of the middle income group often fall through the cracks because the cutoff point has been raised, and such students can no longer qualify.
Although the largest population of minority students is found in the urban areas such as St. Louis, Denver and Chicago, KU is not able to reach these students because so scant are students outside Kansas and the Kansas City area, Jackson said.
Jackson said he occasionally had gone to these areas to recruit top quality minority students, but without out-of-state scholarships, it was difficult to attract these students to KU. If you are competitive, need to provide a kind of incentive," Jackson said.
Ambler said he thought KU was making a strong effort to attract more minority students, given the University's limited resources.
passed, KU will get two more full time recruiters, including one who will concentrate on minorities, Ambler said.
Campaign Kansas, KU's capital fund drive, also should generate more money for scholarships, Amber said. He said many of these scholarships would be earmarked to be used for minorities.
Many minority students often find KU too uncomfortable and either drop out or transfer to other schools.
Ru currently has seven people working full-time in the admissions office who do all the recruiting. If the Margin of Excellence is
Of 174 black freshmen who enrolled at KU in 1981, only 30, or 17 percent of those students, graduated after five years. Of 2,756 white students who entered the same year, 1,256, or 45.5 percent, graduated. Of the black group, 69.4 percent left KU, compared with 43.6 percent of white students who enrolled at the same time.
Recruiting is only half the problem. Jackson says that one of the things that troubles him most is that once a minority student is recruited, little effort is made to encourage him to stay in school.
High dropout rates
"We have to do a much better job of retention," Jackson said. "If we're not keeping them here, we're not meeting the objective of education."
Remedial classes
Since 1969, KU has attempted to meet the extra educational needs of students who are underprepared for college curriculums with Supportive Educational Services.
Richard Lee, director of the program, said that the strengthening of academic requirements and tough grading systems also had hastened the exit of minority students from large urban school districts that have not provided adequate preparation.
The University has abolished "B-Z" status for students. That status allowed students who had been dismissed for poor academic performance to continue to enroll in courses. They would not, however, receive credit until they were reinstated.
Mandatory enrollment in math and English in the first year also had created a problem for disadvantaged students, Lee said. With
the removal of remedial classes in math and English, students who may be unprepared are forced in regular first-level classes.
"We fail more students in math and English than any other classes," Lee said.
"Any time you have open admissions, you need to have the courses that allow students to develop their skill levels." Lee said.
Remedial classes were abolished in the spring of 1986 because of budget cuts. Faced with a decrease in funds and an increase in enrollment, KU officials decided it was more important to preserve college-level courses.
Support programs
Deborah Owens, who is planning to leave KU for Spelman College, said that students at KU often have asked her such questions as "Why is your hair like that?" or "Can I touch your hair?" Owens finds that rude and demeaning.
Minority students say that another reason for the dismal retention rates is the sense of isolation that many of them feel on campus.
"I don't want to deal with that any more," she said.
Owens said she had several friends who also were leaving KU for similar reasons.
Many officials say that the University has a responsibility to make a comfortable situation for minority students by providing more in the way of support, including student organizations and mentoring by minority faculty and staff.
but they say that the office of minority affairs, set up to provide support for these students, does not have adequate staff or resources to meet the needs of all minority students.
Rosita Dorsey, director of minority affairs, said she thought that the office would need at least two more full time staff in the Lawrence campus office to better meet the needs of the students.
Lee said. "The University needs to take more responsibility to assure students there are organizations or individuals within the University they can relate to or be supported by who are sensitive to their needs and concerns."
COMMENCEMENT The University of Kansas
Degree Candidates and Faculty:
Order caps, gowns & hoods Now (starting March 28)
All participants, including faculty doctorate, law, Master's, and Bachelor's candidates, wear traditional regalia during the commencement ceremonies.
Candidates and faculty members may order caps, gowns, and/or hoods by visiting the concessions stand at gates 22 and 23 at the north end of Memorial Stadium between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on any weekday until Friday, April 29, or by mailing the order form from the graduation mailing. To ensure proper fit, participants are encouraged to order caps, gowns, and/or hoods at Memorial Stadium.
SOAF PRESENTS A DEBATE:
Candidates for Student Body Offices University of Kansas Student Senate
A Round Table Discussion.. Tuesday, April 12 8:00 p.m.
Aldersen Auditorium Kansas Union
An opportunity to hear and question representatives of the Focus, Integrity, and Top Priority Coalitions.
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