DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Facultad de Artes y Ciencias

University of Puerto Rico Universidad de Puerto Rico
Mayagüez Campus Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez
PO Box 9265 Apartado Postal 9265
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265
(787) 265-3847 – Ext. 3064 (787) 265-3847 – Ext. 3064

Retention, Graduation, & Academic Progress of the Department of English UG Students

Mission: The English Department, which exists in an academic environment where English is a
second language, addresses the needs of all students who enter the UPR-Mayagüez. It directs its
efforts toward the development of educated, responsible and cultured citizens and professionals
in all areas as well as in fields related to English Studies, primarily those involved with the study
of Linguistics and Literature. Graduates of departmental programs will be qualified to contribute
in an effective manner to the social, cultural and economic development of Puerto Rico and the
world at large. The English Department focuses its efforts and initiative equally in three
fundamental areas: Instruction, research and service to the university community.

Goals:

• To award the degree of B.A. in English with a specialization in Linguistics and/or

Literature.
• To award a degree of M.A. in English Education.
• To teach communication skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing at all levels
from basic to graduate.
• To encourage a socio-humanistic outlook.
• To strengthen research skills and to foster a positive attitude towards research that will
provide useful information in the field of English studies.
• To promote expertise in skills involving analysis, interpretation, and evaluation.
• To provide a foundation for advanced study in English studies.

Note to Dean: OJO: All of the below data was provided by the OIIP and, interestingly, the
number of students returning for each year of study (1995-2006) is exactly the same. This seems
inaccurate and highly unlikely!!!

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 PAST TO PRESENT
According to statistics provided by the OIIP, undergraduate student retention is at its highest
risk from a student’s freshman to sophomore years. Although this may be true, the reason a
student fails to return should be explored on an institutional basis. In this way, a collaborative
effort should be utilized uniformly amongst all Departments of UPRM.

Year Returning for 2nd Year of Study

Entering Total Retention Loss

2000 17 10 58.80% 7 41.20%

2001 18 16 88.90% 2 11.10%
2002 15 11 73.30% 4 26.70%
English

2003 25 21 84.00% 4 16.00%

2004 29 19 65.52% 10 34.48%
2005 32 21 65.63% 11 34.38%
2006 25 21 84.00% 4 16.00%

Based on the above data, 2004 and 2005 reflect the highest number of students who did not
return after their freshman year. This may be a result of a number of situations including the
possibility that our Department was used as a springboard to transfer into another program. Since
our institution requires incoming freshmen to claim a major, and not all students are certain of
their academic pursuits, they could have entered through our Department and subsequently
transferred out to their true major preference.

In addition, the above data does not list the amount of transfer students who entered our program
each year. Based on the data provided to us by the OIIP, the below numbers reflect the amounts
of UPRM internal transfers to our Department for each of the years, and the faculty they
previously belonged to:

UPRM INTERNAL TRANSFERS TO DEPT OF ENGLISH

Year Agriculture ADEM Engineering Arts & Sciences Total
2002 2 (12%) 0 0 15 (88%) 17
2003 1 (5%) 3 (15%) 4 (20%) 12 (60%) 20
2004 1 (6%) 4 (23%) 2 (12%) 10 (59%) 17
2005 3 (16%) 1 (5%) 8 (42%) 7 (37%) 19
2006 0 1 (6%) 7 (47%) 7 (47%) 15
2007 1 (6%) 2 (12%) 1 (6%) 13 (76%) 17

Because transfer students are not included in the retention rates for each year, if we take these
numbers into account, the numbers of 2nd year returning students may be notably distinct.

The Department requested data from the OIIP regarding students who transferred out of our
Department. The information provided to us, again, is not accurate due to the fact that it lists

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Secondary Education as a source of transfer for our students. However, these students did not
transfer from our Department; instead, they entered the Teacher Certification program in
conjunction with a Bachelor’s degree in English. The below table reflects the information
provided by the OIIP:

Year Program Transferred To Total TRUE Transfers

2002 Accounting (1); Secondary Education (3) 1
2003 Hispanic Studies (1) 1
2004 Plastic Arts (1) 1
2005 Nursing (1); Philosophy (1); French (1);
Secondary Education (1) 3
2006 Hispanic Studies (1); Pre-Med (1); Sociology (1);
Secondary Education (2) 3
2007 Political Science (1); Secondary Education (1) 1
Total TRUE Transfers 2002-2007 10

As the above table indicates, the accurate number of transfers from our Department is ten (10)
students during the past six (6) years, and not seventeen (17) as the data originally reflected.

The below table reflects the total amount of students who have graduated from our program each
year from 2000 to 2006:

YEAR TOTAL GRAD MALE FEMALES

2000 13 6 7
2001 14 3 11
2002 15 3 12
2003 20 1 19
2004 11 2 9
2005 13 3 10
2006 18 5 13

It is important to clarify that 26% (38 of 149) of the undergraduates in our program are registered
in the Teacher Certification (Secondary Education) Program. In order to comply with the
Teacher Certification Program and a Bachelor’s degree in English, students generally need an
extra year. They are provided with the option of completing the Bachelor’s in English and
returning as a Professional Enhancement student or completing both concurrently, which may
take an extra year.

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 PROPOSED STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING RETENTION

Student-Faculty Engagement and Interactions

(December 2006 to the Present)

• Support, attend, participate and collaborate in student association meetings and activities
such as the English Department Student Association (EDSA) and the Linguistics,
Literature, and Language (LLL) Society. Faculty and administration attend initiations,
student activities, and support creative endeavors.

• Provide academic/social orientations to the students each semester, and allow ample time
for questions, answers, and comments.

o For incoming freshmen, we give a day-long orientation to present important

institutional and curricular information, to help guide students through the
registration process, and to assist students with the modus operandi of our
institution. This orientation also serves as a social venue for students to meet the
faculty and each other, and to feel at ease with the Department. This year, we
offered students a movie, popcorn, and ice-cream after the orientation

o Each semester, we offer general orientations for all our undergraduates. Again, we
provide important curricular information, introduce our faculty, and open the floor
to specific questions or concerns from our students. In addition, we give chats to
the students regarding career options with a specialization in Linguistics and/or
Literature.

o We assign an advisor for each student and offer one-on-one counseling

throughout the student’s academic term. The bulletin board outside the
Department lists each student’s name, his/her advisor, the telephone extension,
and the office hours of each advisor. This year, our advisors are Profs. C.
Maldonado, M. Rivera, I. Toro, S. Ríos, R. López, M. Toledo, S. Bischoff, E.
Pratt, J. Irizarry, W. Morciglio, J. Lugo, and G. Griggs.

o We evaluate each graduating student’s curricula to determine eligibility for

graduation. We also contact all graduating students to discuss career plans. In
addition, each semester, we offer a “Breakfast of Champions” for all graduating
students (BA & MAEE) and provide them with a “Certificate of Successful
Completion” and a small gift.

o A personalized letter is sent to each student who is on probation or suspended

from the Department asking that the student visit our office to discuss his/her
academic progress. During the visit, we evaluate their curricula and discuss ways
in which we can assist their successful progress in the program.

o We provide individual support by evaluating students’ curricular progress, and

assisting in the selection and registration in the courses.

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• We maintain continuous communication with the students via email, the Department
Blog, the bulletin board outside the Department, and our open-door policy.

• We provide a suggestion box at the front desk of the Department, along with an
assessment form for students and visitors to comment regarding our services. We take
their responses very seriously.

• We train and prepare our English Department undergraduate students to serve as tutors at
the Writing Center and acquire additional expertise in the language. These students
contribute to the English language needs of the general student population. This, in
conjunction with our Work-Study students, who assist in the administrative process of the
Department, helps to promote unity and retention at the Department and institution levels.

• We continue to revise and renovate curricular requirements to provide our students with a
rich variety of courses and promote life-long learning.

• Based on a needs assessment conducted to the UG students, the Department is creating a

Writing Track as a third alternative in the BA program. Once implemented, our program
will offer students the option of specializing in a Linguistics, Literature, or Writing
Track.

• After conducting a needs assessment to students enrolled in the Basic Track (INGL
3101-3102, 3201-3202), the Department determined that students desire alternative
courses for INGL 3202. The Department is developing this option by providing students
with the choice of taking INGL 3202, or Conversational English (INGL 3191), or
Science Writing, among other courses as an alternative to INGL 3202.

Future Strategies
(2008-2013)

The Department of English will continue to offer quality student-faculty engagement and
student retention strategies as we have been doing (see above) since December 2006.

January 2008 through January 2013

o Analyze drop-out cases of our students over the past five (5) years
o Determine the most common reasons for dropping out
o Identify at-risk students for probation or suspension
o Offer individual assistance to each student based on needs (academic, curricular,
personal, emotional, etc.)
o Provide an online venue for students to schedule appointments with their advisors
on a regular basis (using the Business Administration model).
o Reduce class size from 30 to 25 students
o Equip all classrooms with computers, multi-media, and other technology

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