KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25. 2010 / NEWS
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CAMPUS
Task force reveals plan to boost grad rates
BY STEPHEN GRAY sgray@kansan.com
The University took major steps recently toward addressing low retention and graduation rates.
also recommended reducing the graduation requirement from 124 credit hours to 120.
advising warning system, updated general education requirements higher admission standards and increased student engagement.
In order to raise these rates, the task force is focusing on several areas, including an early
Information from National Center for Educational Statistics.
Graduation rates represent percentage of students who began their studies in Fall 2003.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little approved recommendations from the task force she formed on the issue last November. Additionally, she appointed Christopher Haufler, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, as special assistant to the provost so he could help implement changes.
Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success and task force member, said the establishment of an early warning system to detect struggling freshmen would allow instructors to provide feedback to students earlier in the semester.
"Every member of the task force was genuinely interested in trying to make a difference and that's why it was so successful," Hauffer said. "By breaking it down into subgroups to focus on particular initiatives, we got a lot accomplished."
For Haulfer and the task force, the University of Kansas' declining retention rate was very concerning. In 2008, 78 percent of first-year students returned for a second year, the lowest rate since 1997 and a rate well below many comparable institutions. In addition, 32 percent of KU students graduate in four years and 61 percent graduate in six years, which also ranks below both the Big 12 and national averages.
"Advisers can play a very important role in helping students that get the academic progress
Graphic by David Cawthon/KANSAN
alerts, she said. "Improved technology and the utilization of Blackboard could also facilitate this system."
"There are different ways to deliver general education and certainly benefits to having demanding standards, but the model we are following is a bit dated," Hauufl said. "That simply means that we need to re-examine that model and see if it's helping the needs of 21st century students."
Currently,
the University
requires 30
to 50 percent
While the Kansas Board of Regents sets the University's
"It's a group effort that includes not only KU but other institutions, students, faculty, parents ... "
CHRISTOPHER HAUFLER Special assistant to provost
more general education credit hours than comparable research universities. As a result, nearly one in five students who have met the goals of their majors fail to graduate on time because they have not satisfied general education coursework.
The task force intends to complete the first major update of the University's general education requirements in more than two decades to bring the University in line with other comparable institutions. It has
admission requirements to ensure a statewide standard the task force hopes that these qualifications will change in the future. At the
"Look at the California system," Hauffer said. "They have many institutions but have different admission standards. Maybe that's something we can look to do at Kansas."
moment, KU accepts 91 percent of applicants, one of the highest rates among Big 12 schools. Haufler said that bringing in more qualified students would only enhance retention and graduation rates.
Finally, the task force is looking at ways to create more
engaged learning environments for students. Some of its recommendations include establishing an Office of Undergraduate Research to allow students to participate in research projects and promoting course redesigns to generate more opportunities for discussion and problem solving.
Kim McNeley, assistant dean of student academic services and task force member, said she thought facilitating early exploration and helping students find academic interests would keep them on the right path.
"One of the task force's initiatives is to help students find the things that intrigue them," McNeyle said. "If they see value in what they are doing, they will want to come back and see what the next step is as a sophomore. Creating this kind of environment,
though, is really a joint effort with give-and-take on both sides"
In the end, a university-wide commitment to improving retention and timely graduation will require changing campus culture. Haufler said there needed to be a cultural shift both in terms of the faculty and how they helped students, but also a shift in student and parent culture, which she said had become more accepting of longer stays at college.
"We can only set the stage for what we want to see as improvement," Hauffer said. "It's a group effort that includes not only KU but other institutions, students, faculty, parents, advisers and support staff that are a part of helping our students accomplish what they need to do."
— Edited by Dana Meredith
ROCK (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Judy said if he could gain both stamina and strength from using lighter weights, however, he would be willing to vary his schedule when he visited the gym.
Student trainer Ashley Sevigny said regardless of a person's goals, safety is something people should take seriously every time they lift.
"Advice I would give to people would be to be cautious when determining the weight they are lifting," Sevigny said. "Lifting a weight that is too heavy for the individual can lead to injury."
She advised that exercisers lift a weight that they could complete eight reps with while still maintaining good form.
Edited by Dana Meredith
CAMPUS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
the world without any kind of glue or adhesive so they are the closest thing to the human body," Willis said. "It protects the hair from getting damaged."
Willis said the most rewarding part of her job was watching the emotional transformation that the new hairstyles bring about.
"When they leave, you can just tell by the way they walk, by the way they talk, by everything that their confidence — it's like an immediate fix."
MONEY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Edited by Emily McCoy
found that the average financial literacy score for KU students was 3.26 on a scale of 1-6, with one representing no understanding and six representing complete understanding.
Chris Neal/KANSAN
More than 80 percent of students in the study said it was important to learn more about money management, credit card and debt management, savings and investing.
The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee meets with U.S. Representative Dennis Moore Tuesday afternoon at the Robert J. Dole institute of Politics. The meeting was held to determine if financial literacy education can prevent another financial crisis.
"I think up until this time we haven't paid as much attention as we should to students becoming independent about financial manners," Tuttle said.
Despite Monday's hearing and the emerging financial literacy programs discussed at it, many students still struggle to manage their personal finances. High costs and low incomes remain facts of life for college students, which make financial loans and credit cards all the more appealing.
A report by the National Center for Education Statistics show that the combined cost of tuition, room and board has nearly doubled during the past decade. To help cover these rising costs, students increasingly rely on student loans and easily acquired credit cards to fit the bill.
The rate at which many students are willing to incur debt far exceeds their understanding of what they're getting into when
A study by Sallie Mae, the nation's biggest student lender, found that 30 percent of college students pay for tuition with their credit card. On average, students have 4.6 credit cards with a median debt of $1,645.
they sign up for that new credit card or a student loan. Witnesses at Monday's hearing said they hoped that would soon change.
"We all have to make financial decisions sooner or later, especially in college," said Taylor Petty, a recent KU graduate who testified at the hearing. "The whole point of financial literacy is that it's something we'll use throughout our lives."
- Edited by Kelsey Nill