By Susan Carroll
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 9, 1998

Graduation rates need improvement statewide, regents say

UA President Peter Likins said Thursday he focused on the "shattered dreams" of college dropouts as he reviewed the 1998 Arizona Universities Report Card.

"If you ask me, quite frankly, a 52 percent (UA) graduation rate is not something to be proud of," Likins said.

The Arizona Board of Regents, in its second-annual report card, gave the university system a "needs improvement" rating for its graduation rates. Last year, the universities graduated 47.4 percent of their students within six years, compared with 48.1 percent this year.

Likins said the number of students finishing college at the UA makes him "think seriously" about Arizona's student retention plan.

He said one out of every four students enrolled at the UA drops out after their first year. Roughly half of those students, Likins said, drop out with a grade point average less than 2.0.

Likins said the key to keeping students at the UA is to get them involved in campus activities like work-study programs.

He said both he and Provost Paul Sypherd "struggled" to evaluate the UA for this year's report card.

Student satisfaction with academic advising dropped this year from "satisfactory" to "needs improvement." Progress toward implementing online academic programs remained "unsatisfactory," or below the universities' expectations.

Access to regular faculty by undergraduates rose this year from "needs improvement" to "satisfactory."

Regent Hank Amos said Likins is being hard on himself when it comes to graduation rates.

"We are making improvement which needs to continue," Amos said.

He said the universities should focus on improving the ratio of students to tenure faculty, although the university system received a satisfactory mark in the category.

Student Regent John Platt, an ASU law student, said although the university system is changing for the better, the amount of academic advising students receive needs improvement. According to the report card, 63 percent of students attending Arizona's universities are satisfied with academic advising.

The report card averaged statistics and evaluations from the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University to arrive at grades ranging from "superior" to "unsatisfactory" in 20 different system-wide areas.

Likins and the board of regents disagreed about the report card's audience.

"The report card is a communication tool," Amos said. "It's something legislators can focus on."

Regent Jack Jewett said the report card is a way for the board of regents to get feedback on the university system's effectiveness.

Likins agreed that it is a way for the board of regents to grade themselves.

"I don't think this is a useful tool for students, but it's not designed for that," Likins said. "It's a simple way for regents to demonstrate what they're doing to the public."

Platt said the report card is useful for students, but that it is directed toward legislators, parents and the public.

"People are interested in where their tax money goes," he said.

Ann Collison, a junior majoring in English at NAU, said the report card should focus on the three universities separately.

"Maybe the report card would help somebody who went to all three universities," she said. "I would like to know what's happening at my school, not the average performance of the three."

But Platt said breaking the report card down to evaluate each university individually would risk pitting schools against each other.

"We give a system-wide grade because we have a responsibility for the whole system," he said. "A lot of policies from the regent level are having the same effect on all three campuses."

The 1998 Arizona Universities Report Card rated these areas as:

Superior

• Percentage of senior graduation without excess credit hours
• Percentage of faculty with good or excellent teaching ratings
• Percentage of top high school scholars attending Arizona universities
• Number of National Merit Scholars attending Arizona universities
• Research grant and contract expenditures

Satisfactory

• The ability of students to progress in academic programs
• Success of alumni
• Percentage of graduates going to graduate or professional schools
• Access to regular faculty by undergraduates
• Success of transfer students
• Overall alumni student satisfaction
• Use of new technology to deliver instruction
• Participation of faculty in instruction activities
• Portion of state's operating budget used for educational activities
• Efficient use of resources

Needs improvement

• The rate at which students stay in school and graduate
• Student satisfaction with academic advising
• Privatization of university functions

Unsatisfactory

• Progress toward and implementing collaborative online academic degree programs