91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ

91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ has received a $250,000 grant from the (AVD) Foundations for a series of projects aimed at increasing the retention and successful graduation of 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ students, especially increasing the persistence of African American and Latino men.

 

“This project is central to one of our most important priorities: empowering 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ men to be successful at the College and to become leaders in the larger world upon graduation,” said 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ President Patrick White.

 

Historically, 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ retains 87 percent of its students from the freshman to sophomore year, and 68 percent graduate within four years. However, both retention measures vary by ethnicity and African American and Latino students fall well below those percentages.

 

Gary A. Phillips, Dean of the College at 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ, believes that the AVD grant, which is part of the College's , will allow 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ to develop retention programs that will be of benefit to all 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ students.

 

“Although one can never predict with certainty whether a particular student will succeed or not at 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ, the experience of many institutions that are addressing student retention issues and our own internal analysis suggest that some factors are knowable, and there are steps 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ can take to increase the probability that students, regardless of ethnicity, can persist through to graduation,” said Dean Phillips.

 

Data gleaned from the 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE) indicates that student engagement at 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ is not experienced uniformly across all student groups. African-American and Latino students earn lower grades and fewer credits, which directly result in increased attrition and lower graduate rates.

 

91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ National Study data also indicate that the single best predictor of whether or not a student returns to the College for his sophomore year is the student’s report of “faculty interest in teaching and student development,” a scale which assesses students’ perceptions of faculty interest in their overall development — not just academic performance.

 

“Our goal is to create a distinctive 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ model for improving engagement, one that will consider the fact that we have an all-male student body, that we are a small institution with fewer professional student service staff members compared to other campuses, and that the 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ ethos of student success can be improved for each and every student if faculty and staff improve engagement practices inside and outside the classroom,” Dean Phillips said.

 

More than two years in the planning, the award from AVD will support the College’s ongoing student retention efforts, including implementation of an Early Alert System; a comprehensive review of the student advisement system; funding faculty advisement workshop training; and the establishment a student-to-student peer mentoring program.

 

Grant funds will support teaching and learning workshops focused on retention of at-risk and first generation students, and student-alumni mentoring activities (dovetailing with work already begun with a $50,000 CIC/Walmart College Success Awards grant from the Walmart Foundation and the Council of Independent Colleges).

 

Heather Hines, the Coordinator of Student Engagement and Retention, will lead in the implementation of the grant, as will the College’s Retention Committee and the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies.

 

“One of the key points of 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ’s strategic plan calls for us to focus on the question of how 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ will continue to attract, retain, and graduate young men who will make the most out of 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ and who will make a difference in the larger world,” added President Pat White. “91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ generally has a strong and even admirable retention rate. But as with so many good aspects of 91³ÉÈ˶ÌÊÓƵ, we are convinced we can do better.”

 

“While the grant application was the result of many persons’ labor, Nancy Doemel deserves special credit and our collective thanks for the role she played in the process,” said Dean Phillips. “Nancy has been the College’s institutional face to the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and a passionate advocate for greater institutional attention to student persistence issues.”

 

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