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The Pioneer Log Features

april 13, 2012

It has been quite the year for Lewis & Clarkchanges, last minute announcements and unforseen surprises shaped the 2011-2012 school year. e Pioneer Log has rounded up some of the most major punctuations to our school year and rated them here. Are they HOT or NOT?

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HOT
d in eca des

RETENTION
BY JAKE BARTMAN
Staff Writer

A WORD ON

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Summer Sessions at Lewis & Clark College

Session I May 14-June 22 Session II June 25-August 3

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f there were an issue symbolic of the aws of Lewis & Clark as an institution, it might be the retention rate. Alongside alumni participation and giving, it sits well below our peers (schools similar to us that we choose to compare against), raising fundamental questions about the quality of student experience and the direction of the school going into the future. A schools retention rate is the percentage of a class that returns to a given school after its rst year at an institution. Its one of many indicators about student experience, said Mark Figueroa, Director of Institutional Research. For private colleges people are going to expect a high rate, he said. According to research conducted by ACT, Inc., the average retention rate for highly selective private colleges in 2011 was 93.8%. Lewis & Clarks rate has varied widely in years past, from a low of 79% in 1995 to a high of 88% in 2010. is means that approximately 60 of the 493 full-time freshmen transferred or left school that year. By contrast, in 2010 Reeds retention rate was 90%, Whitmans was 93%, Pomonas was 97%, and Yales was 99%. Additionally, an independent survey of the student body conducted last spring by the SOAN department found that as many as 49% of the undergraduate student body had seriously considered transferring from LC. Reasons for transferring vary, but Kali Gluckman (15), who intends to transfer after this year, noted that the quality of the social scene and the residential experience have been especially important factors for her. If Im unhappy, its probably because of my social life, she said. It just doesnt feel like people are excited to be here, added Emily Alford (15), who also intends to transfer. Michelle Hughes (15) summed up her decision to leave, saying, I just dont feel like Im getting a fty-thousand dollar education. Gluckman, Alford and Hughes reasons for leaving are in keeping with reasons cited by the students who took last years survey. e top four reasons given by the 49% who claimed to have seriously considered transferring were nancial concerns, lack of speci c academic o erings, lack of a satisfying community and lack of high-quality classes, respectively. In part to help combat its low retention rate, the school has launched a number of programs in recent years intended to improve the experience of rst-year students. Last year, President Glassner devoted $25,800 from the Strategic Initiative Fund to programs to improve undergraduate retention. e numbers are a challenge to us, said Natasha Begin, Area Director of Platt-Howard. ere have been some conversations about whether or not we actually

have too many programs on campus. Jenn Crowder, Interim Director of the O ce of Student Transitions and Experiences, an o ce created in 2009 that oversees transitional programs like Great Expectations and LiNCS, emphasized that the schools goal is primarily to provide a positive experience for students. But we do like to see the numbers go up. It means were doing something right, she said. Interestingly, the retention rate has only come to be an important number over the course of the last decade or so. Programs meant to support students in a dynamic way are a new trend in higher education, Crowder said. But the focal point of these e orts is the experience rst-year students have at their school. eres been a big push towards focusing on the rst year experience, said Figueroa. He also noted that the beginning of a students rst year in college is an especially vital time. It feels like the rst few weeks of school really determined the whole year, Hughes noted. Research has veri ed the importance of getting students connected to their new community in their rst several weeks at a school, so many e orts at improving retention focus especially on this formative period. e rst couple weeks are critical, said Begin, noting that, e longer people are here, the more rigid they become.

I just dont feel like Im getting a fty-thousand dollar education.

While the quality of a students overall college experience cant be captured in a gure, the retention rate is usually taken as a number which provides a hard-and-fast picture of the likelihood of success at a school for the many students seeking a college each year. But administrators hope that students who are interested in the school will take the retention rate only as a starting point for their investigations. e best indicators of our success are references from current and former students to prospective ones, Figueroa said. Regardless, an image backed by solid numbers is imperative, especially with respect to LCs tuition-driven structure, because the school is so dependent on a continuing ow of new applicants every year. Retention therefore remains a central issue as the school continues to attempt to better connect with every incoming student. Youd think at a school of this size, no one would fall through the cracks. But they do, said Figueroa. Despite the importance of the retention rate and e orts to augment it, Begin noted that ultimately, departments like Campus Living can only do so much to help students be happy at LC. We want to empower students to create their own community, she said.