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Tuesday, December 5, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Retention
Continued from p. 1
at KU, said he was not sure anyone knew the answers to problems about the retention of minority students.
"Part of it may have to do with the quality of education from where
some students came from before they came to KU," Shulenburger said.
The quality of a student's previous education is reflected in ACT scores. The ACT is not a measure of ability, but rather of competence. The student has previously learned, he said.
less able, they often start with an educational disadvantage," Shulen-burger said.
Another possible reason for poor retention rates could be that many Hispanic and Black students come from families with lower educational levels, Shulenburger said. For many, a higher education is expected. But
"It's not that minority students are
Shulenburger said a third possible reason for poor retention rates could be KU's open admissions policy for Kansas residents. At Oklahoma, students must meet one of the following requirements: a cumulative grade point average of 3.1; score of 17 on their ACT; a composite of 760 on their SAT; or a ranking in the top 50 percent of their high school graduating class.
some minority students may be the first from their families to go to college and may not have role models to follow.
Not all students who are admitted to KU would meet Oklahoma's requirements.
"We have to take every high school graduate who applies from the state of Kansas." Stubenburger said.
A fourth possible reason for poor retention rates may be the environment at the University, he said.
Students in difficult courses tend to form study groups of people with whom they are comfortable. When a particular minority group is small, the student may not easily find other minority students who are taking the same course.
Jackson said some of the retention problems may have to do with campus climate at a school where there are mostly non-minority students.
"It's a reality," Jackson said. "It's a culture shock to a lot of kids."
James Jenkins, Kansas City, Mo. senior, said, "Minority students probably have a harder time adjusting - without a doubt."
Jenkins said it could be tough for a student who was not accustomed to interacting with white students to do so. Some of his friends had a difficult
time trying to cope at KU because they weren't comfortable and didn't think they fit in.
Those students have since trans ferred to other schools, he said.
Norris Williams, director of minority student services at Oklahoma, said the key to retention was a combination of meeting a student's academic and environmental needs.
Academic preparation plays a big part in retention of minority students, he said. Often, once students get to a university, they need to learn time-management skills.
"Some new Black students have a tendency not to ask for help, especially if they don't see someone who looks like them," Williams said.
He said American Indian students had the highest drop-out rate because many went to college after being educated on reservations.
"A lot of times Indian students going to a university may not have the same type of support from home as most other students," Williams said.
Asian students have a lower dropout rate because many come from families who put a high priority on education.
"Within their families, academic success is part of the measure stick." Williams said. "That network is stronger."
Part of retention is having an atmosphere with positive support services, he said. New students also need a place to belong.
Jackson said, "If students would get involved and take advantage of their resources, the student should feel like he belongs."
Business
Continued from p. 1
of the applicants to the school are
"The average GPA in the School of Business is a 3.0," Lowery said. "Minorities aren't even in the running with a GPA like that. They just don't make it through the prerequisites.
"By the time they realize how important their GPA is in relation to their ACT score, it's too late. There are people who strive to raise their GPA and make it in after the first or second year studying, but most just aren't admitted."
Even though national statistics show that minorities have lower average ACT scores than whites, David Shulenburger, associate vice
chancellor for academic affairs, said he did not think that minority students were disproportionately affected when admissions standards for the school were raised.
Shulenburger said the relationship between GPA and ACT scores for minority students was different than for whites. Although minority students usually have lower average ACT scores, their GPAs are usually higher than other students at that same ACT level. Also, the school considers several factors when deciding whether to admit students, he said.
Program recruits minorities
Barb Walters, admissions coordinator, said the school had one minority recruiting program. Inroads is a national summer program for 20 students from the greater Kansas City area who have completed their junior year in high school.
"This year, three Inroads students who have declared themselves pre-business have made it a point to see what we are here and want to do business."
"I'd have to say that is our main recruiting tool," Walters said. "I think it's improving. We're starting to attract more of those students back to KU. The problem is that the majority of them are from Missouri and have to pay out-of-state tuition.
Marshall Jackson, interim director
of the Office of Minority Affairs, agreed with Walters.
"We've had good success with getting Inroads students to the campus, and some of them have gone on to work at the business school." Jacket said.
But, he said, an even more successful program is the SCoRMEBE program in the school of engineering. ScoRMEBE, which stands for Student Council for Recruiting, Motivating and Educating Minority Engineers, is a student organization involved in recruitment and retention of minority engineering students.
model programs similiar to SCoRMEBE, where someone really has responsibility for recruiting students' Jackson said. "That seems to be the most workable solution."
"I really think the professional schools, to be successful, have to
Troy Frank, Topela graduate student, taught the Inroads students during Summer 1989. Although the program was beneficial, he said, he wasn't aware of any program to help the students once they decided to attend the University.
Frank said he had talked to several minority students who wanted to be business majors but had dropped out.
He said the school was missing a support group.
Congress asks for military spending cuts
hear about the renovation plans for Hoch because his department really would be there only temporarily.
Hoch
When the Parking Department moved from Hoch, housekeeping moved in temporarily.
restroom to get a file and vice versa," he said.
said Hoch had served the needs of his department but that there just was not enough room.
Phil Endacott, associate director of housekeeping, said he was glad to
Although the building is still used for music department performances, the Lied Center for the Performing Arts, scheduled to open in two or
"We had stuff stored in closets, in the restrooms and under stairwalls. It would be pretty embarrassing for a male to have to go into the women's
three years, will replace Hoch in that cannity, he said.
Earlier this semester, the Parking Department moved from its offices in Hoch to the new Parking Facility, where there is more room.
WASHINGTON — Despite a declaration yesterday by President Bush that he doesn't expect a "peace dividend" to result from reduced East-West tensions, many members of Congress are urging heftier spending on domestic programs as the military budget is reduced.
Don Kearns, director of parking,
The Associated Press
Continued from p. 1
"We'd try to have one large lecture hall space and maybe several small lecture halls," Modig said.
"We have a lot of demands at home, and there's no question about that." Bush said at a news conference in Brussels after ending the summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. "But I think it is premature to speak as some are at home about a peace dividend—take a lot of money out of defense and put it into other worthy causes."
The president said the reason there could be no such windfall was that the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law required that he produce a budget for fiscal 1991 containing a shortfall of no more than $64 billion.
The deficit for this budget year, which ends Sept. 30, is projected to be about $110 billion. Bush will present the closed budget to Congress on Jan. 22.
Although members of Congress are split on the question, many believe it is time to impose deep cuts on the nearly $290 billion defense budget, which is about one-fourth of the government's $1.2 trillion annual spending.
"The more you cut from the military, the less damage you do to domestic programs to meet Gramm-Rudman targets," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
Frank has been a leader of a group of liberals pressing congressional leaders to slash about $20 billion from the Pentagon's budget and redistribute most of it among health, housing, education and other domestic programs.
But it is not just liberals who want to reduce the Defense Department's coffers.
Conservative Rep. Sonny Montgomery, D-Miss., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told reporters yesterday that he would like to see next year's defense spending frozen and savings set by eventually bringing some U.S. troops home from Europe.
"If we do have these extra monies, I would like for them to go into the national debt and take about half the money and use it for domestic programs in the United States," Montgomery said.
Since Frank's group made its proposals, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has begun considering plans to reduce military spending rates.
The KU Bookstores are pleased to announce that all register receipts from cash or check purchases during period #85 (Jan. 1, through June 30, 1989) may now be redeemed for a 7% cash rebate through the end of December at customer service counters at either the
Kansas Union or the Burge Union stores. KU student ID is required
Some purchases such as computer hardware may not be eligible for the student dividend program. Please ask the customer service representative should you have any questions.
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