ST. BONAVENTURE (April 19) – Despite a 3.7 GPA, Nate Carson, a freshman business major, will be transferring out of St. Bonaventure University. He’s dissatisfied with the business program.
For every 500 freshmen who attend St. Bonaventure, 100 are likely to transfer before the end of the year. While other private liberal arts colleges have a less-than-70 percent retention rate from freshmen year to second year, St. Bonaventure’s rate is 82 percent, according to the most recent statistics from the federal Department of Education.
St. Bonaventure, a campus of about 2,000 undergraduate students, flaunts its 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, but students said they question the quality of the faculty and the facilities.
James Tantalo, a freshman finance major sporting a 4.0 GPA, considered transferring after complaining about a professor.
“His teaching style is the same thing every day, and he talks to us like we’re 4-year-olds,” Tantalo said. That respect between students and faculty was important to him, he said, and was upset that “he talks at us, not with us.”
Nancy Casey, an education professor and director of the First Year Experience (FYE), said she would like faculty and staff to be more interactive with students. FYE is a committee which concentrates on transitioning freshmen and transfer students into a college lifestyle.
“Our students are the reason we’re here,” she said. “It’s everyone’s business to help students succeed.”
Casey said she supports a strong advising system, and Lee Coppola, dean of the journalism and mass communication school, agreed.
“Academic advisers need to keep closer track of their advisees. Sometimes, they do only the bare minimum,” said Coppola. “Students need someone they can feel comfortable with who can help solve their problems.” Coppola said he was impressed with the journalism and mass communication advisers, however.
Casey stressed the need for “someone on campus who cares.” That’s why the FYE committee has decided to extend the peer coaching program onto every new freshman and transfer student beginning in the fall of 2011. Peer coaching provides upperclassmen to coach the new students on academic and social life.
Casey said the university seeks to increase the retention rate about 1 percent a year for five years.
“But we will never aim for a 100 percent retention rate, because not 100 percent of people belong at Bona’s,” she said.
Carole McNall, a professor in the journalism and mass communication school, said Bona’s is not the perfect fit for everyone, even though “CAB falls all over itself to make things available. The small-school environment isn’t right for everyone,” she said. CAB stands for Campus Activities Board, an organization to plan social events campus-wide.
Carson believes the Office of Admissions is partially to blame. “The retention rate would probably be higher if admissions was more selective. Bona’s should raise the requirements. Right now, they accept people who don’t belong at college. It isn’t for everybody,” he said.
A fall 2010 governmental study reported that out of the 2,303 undergraduate applicants, St. Bonaventure admitted 78 percent. Of those 78 percent, only 28 percent enrolled.
“There’s not a silver bullet to making the retention rate better. No one thing is going to make the difference alone,” said Casey.
As far back as 1981, a study showed, the reasons why students drop out of college are numerous and diverse.
“The reasons students give for dropping out include academic matters, financial difficulties, motivational problems, personal considerations, dissatisfaction with college, military service, full-time jobs, the expressed need for new, practical, nonacademic experiences, and the lack of initial plans to obtain a degree,” the study said.
Casey cites another study that narrowed down the reasons why students drop out of college.
“The first is the number of hours spent studying, and the second is the amount of drinking, which has a dramatic negative impact,” she said.
Students and faculty agreed that alcohol consumption does affect performance in school, academically and socially.
“Bona’s is a good time, not a good education,” said Carson.
“It can be hard to make friends here,” said Tantalo. “It’s hard to find people who don’t want to get wasted every weekend.”
Carson said he thought the university is losing its credibility. Safety and Security Services and resident assistants need to be more effective.
“There aren’t many consequences enforced for getting caught doing illegal things,” he said.
“You can get away with a lot here,” Tantalo agreed.
But Coppola said the responsibility rests also on the students’ decisions.
“If partying is the main objective, you’re not going to do well,” he said. “If they want their grades to get better, they should pay attention to their studies.”
Coppola said he thinks the university has several resources for students, including the Teaching and Learning Center, the Counseling Center, extracurricular activities, and the Richter Center.
“But some students just don’t have the ability or don’t want to make the grade,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment