By
Anastasia Ching
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Freshman Year Center, cultural resource centers aid in improving first-year retention
While the dropout rate at the University of Arizona ranks among the highest compared to peer institutions, the UA retention rate has not changed in the last 10 years.
Rick Kroc, director of the Office of Assessment and Enrollment Research, said that the retention rate has held steady - at 77 percent - for the last 10 years and that students are taking less time to graduate.
"The UA is graduating more students and they are graduating faster," Kroc said.
A U.S. News and World Report study found that 23 percent of UA freshmen drop out after their first year, compared to peer research institutions such as the University of Virginia - which had the lowest rate at 3 percent - and the University of Utah, which boasted the highest rate at 28 percent.
Kroc stressed that the UA's admission policy, compared to other institutions in the study, is more liberal so as to give everyone a chance at a college education.
In terms of improving retention, Kroc is optimistic that the UA will increase its one-year retention rate to at least 80 percent in the next five years.
"This goal will put us in line with some of our research peers," Kroc said.
Randy Richardson, interim vice president for undergraduate education, cited high school preparation as the key factor to freshmen retention.
"The highest predictor of success for incoming freshmen here at the UA is high school preparation - everything else is secondary," Richardson said. "We've done a lot in recent years to try to improve freshmen retention."
The University Partners program through the Freshman Year Center, targets regularly admitted freshmen who have been deemed high-risk because of their high school grades and standardized test scores, said Sylvia Mioduski, director of the Freshman Year Center.
The University Partners program, which started four years ago, uses faculty mentors who share their expertise with students through a one-credit course each semester. The 100 to 120 students who participate each year are expected to participate for their entire freshman year and have been successful so far, Mioduski said.
"The retention rate for the students that participate in the University Partners program is 6 to 8 percent higher than a cohort of students with similar high school backgrounds who don't participate in the program," Mioduski said.
Also part of the Freshman Year Center is ACES, the Academic Center for Exploratory Students, which includes the Peer Encouragement Program (PEP) - both retention programs for the undecided freshman population.
Diana Wilson, ACES coordinator, explained that while ACES advises undecided students of options for majors and PEP provides peer mentors for undecided students on academic probation, both programs aid in freshmen retention.
"A lot of students won't persist here because they feel they don't have academic direction," Wilson said. "They come into ACES and see they have options."
PEP is available to 20 undecided students on a first-come, first-serve basis from the colleges of humanities, science, social and behavioral science and university who find themselves on academic probation - a cumulative grade point average below 2.0 - to help them get off of probation and remain at the university.
Michele Herzer, a biology senior, ACES adviser and PEP peer mentor, sees PEP as a positive resource for students in danger of failing out of the university.
"I worked with a student who got off of academic probation by helping her improve her study skills, overcome test-taking anxiety and with time management," Herzer said. "I hadn't seen her for a year and then I ran into her and she introduced me to her boyfriend as the girl who kept her in school."
As American Indians, Hispanics and African Americans are found to have a higher dropout rate than whites and Asian Americans, the cultural resource centers on campus are key in providing both academic and social support for freshmen with the goal of retention, said Lynette Cook-Francis, associate dean of students and director of Multicultural Programs and Services.
"Retention rate of students of color is lower than other students, but we are seeing an increase in both recruitment and retention," Cook-Francis said. "What students are telling us is that they need to feel connected to the campus and the biggest benefit of the cultural centers is that it provides these students with a smaller community."
While there are many retention programs at the UA, and more to come with the upcoming Integrated Learning Center - a building designed for promoting success of freshmen - Kroc sees the dropout problem as needing a joint effort from students, faculty and the administration.
"We are all responsible - students need to work, faculty needs to teach and be there for their students and the administration needs to fund and support the retention programs," Kroc said. "When people get beyond thinking it's someone else's problem, then we'll make progress."
Anastasia Ching can be reached at Anastasia.Ching@wildcat.arizona.edu
