Utah State University Faculty Present at National Conference

Student Retention — Utah State University Faculty Present at National Conference

Beth Anderson Wilson, academic advisor and community relations specialist at Utah State University's Orem campus, along with Joyce Kinkead, vice provost of undergraduate studies and research, were invited to present at the National Student Retention Conference July 14-16 in San Diego.

Retaining High-Achieving Students was the topic of Wilson and Kinkead's session, and featured the results of a pilot program inaugurated fall, 2002 for the top scholars entering Utah State as freshmen.

"Our retention working group was surprised to find that we not only had a problem with our freshmen continuing to sophomore status, but that an unacceptably high percentage of top scholars were not continuing to their second year," said Kinkead. "With that in mind, we first began surveying our 'leavers,' with the guidance of Grayson Osborne, who oversees assessment. "By talking with literally hundreds of students, we found out the causes of students leaving Utah State; many of them were outside our control, but we began to think of programs to help keep students on campus."

The Honors 2000 class, a one-credit, web-based orientation course, was the result. Wilson developed the on-line modules under the direction of David F. Lancy, director of Honors.

"I worked throughout summer 2002 to create informative lessons that would help students plan their undergraduate careers, understand financial matters, become networked within their programs of study and be aware of national scholarships," Wilson said. "The beauty of an on-line class is that it's flexible and can be worked into students' busy schedules."

Kinkead added that an excellent orientation class exists in "Connections," created by Lavell Saunders and Noelle Call in the Academic Resources Center.

"What we sought in the Honors 2000 class was to build upon an introduction to the university, giving students the political, social and cultural capital they need not only to succeed at the university, but to excel," Kinkead said. "Many of these students are bound for graduate studies, and given the cut throat competition these days, it behooves us to give them every opportunity to plot an undergraduate trajectory that results in funded fellowships for graduate school."

Audience members at the national conference were intrigued by the breadth of assignments for the class, including a Thanksgiving letter to a former teacher who has made a difference in the students' lives.

"We used John Steinbeck's tribute to his former teachers, Like Captured Fireflies, as a reading to stimulate students' memories of their own influential teachers," Kinkead said. "It seemed appropriate at Thanksgiving to acknowledge these teachers, thank them for being an influence in our top scholars' lives, and ask them to keep sending students to Utah State. What a pleasure it was to receive responses noting how much they appreciated hearing from Clifton or Tiffany."

In addition to informing students about their opportunities, Kinkead and Wilson used focus groups to get feedback from the students.

"When I thought about 13 hours of focus group meetings with these students to talk about their first university semester, I wondered 'how will I ever fit this in with my other end-of-term appointments?' but how wrong I was; it was one of the best experiences of my career," said Kinkead. "The students were open and honest about what worked and what needed work. Based on their advice, we began implementing changes almost immediately."

One of the major changes focused on the Honors Program itself.

"Students complained that Honors was not easy to understand, which led us to revamp the curriculum and develop a 'Honors Path' with rewards at various points through the experience," said Tom Peterson, professor of interior design who served as interim director of Honors during Lancy's sabbatical leave for the 2002–03 academic year. In the new program to begin this fall, students enroll in a gateway course and an honors version of a general education course and then decide to enter Honors officially in January of their first year.

"It's a risk-free sampling of Honors," Peterson added. "They'll get an Honors designation when they finish their University Studies courses — usually at the end of sophomore year — and they can also receive department and university Honors, entitling them to walk at Commencement with the gold cords added to their academic regalia."

"Our presentation at this conference is the tip of the iceberg on what the university is doing to improve the persistence of students making it to graduation," Kinkead noted. "We were able to pilot with a few hundred students activities and events that we can eventually move to the entire freshmen class."

And how did the students feel about the Honors orientation class?

"It was clear that the administration cared about us and listened to us," noted Eden Zabriskie, an undergraduate from Idaho Falls. "I had wanted to attend a small, liberal arts college originally," Thayne Batty of Randolph added, "but I was surprised at the personal touch during my freshman year at a research university. With this help, I was able to get tied into a research project on artificial intelligence. That wouldn’t be possible at many schools."

"Utah State is blessed with a tradition of caring among its faculty," noted Stan L. Albrecht, executive vice president and provost. "It's an Aggie tradition that faculty here have open door policies and encourage students to engage in hands-on learning. The Honors 2000 class is but one example of how the university continually engages in analyzing and improving itself." 

Contact: Joyce Kinkead, joyce.kinkead@usu.edu, 435-797-1706