Michelle Hennessy – News Writer
Only 17 percent of Southern’s students will graduate in four years and 49 percent in six years, that’s compared to 40 percent and 62 percent, over the same time frame, nationally, according to Dean Steven Breese.
“We are in the business of graduating student, if we don’t graduate students, we’ll be out of business,” said Breese. “Graduation rates have been getting slightly better over the last few years, but it is by no means of national standard.”
At the Student Success Town Hall meeting last week, Breese and Vice President for Student Affairs, Tracy Tyree, highlighted some of the major issues surrounding Southern at the moment, while outlining some of the key ways Southern can improve for its students.
President Papazian opened the event, stressing the importance of the findings that were outlined from the Steering Committee.
“The recommendations that we will hear today are based on evidence and based on data,” said Papazian. “The recommendations are significant and they are profound. Some will require time and financing but others are just about looking how we can change what we are doing.”
Papazian said though the recommendations will take time to affect Southern, they’re vital for the success of the university.
“It’s one thing to talk about the ideas and talk about the data but it’s another thing to make a change. But we will make it a priority to implement these changes,” said Papazian. “Some of it can happen very quickly, and some things are already in motion, but it won’t happen overnight.”
Six major recommendations were outlined during the talk, including creating a culture of student centeredness.
“We want to create a sense of belonging so students think they matter,” said Tyree. “We know we aren’t a first choice for a lot of students that come here, but do we become their first choice once they are here? We need more of our students to believe we can offer them something they can’t get anywhere else.”
Other recommendations was to create a student success center, whether it be a physical building or virtual, to help students transition between the years and creating a place where students can seek help. Tyree also recommended refreshing the university’s branding and marketing and also financing and affordability, as off campus work can act as a “barrier” for students, so more needs to be done to look at how Southern can help, according to Tyree.
Transforming academic advising was also mentioned as a key recommendation. Breese said studies have shown that if students make it to their fifth semester, or junior year, then they will graduate. Erin Dyer, a social work graduate student, said that was something she found a lot of students suffered with while at college.
“I know academic advisement, stuff like that, you would always hear students say they weren’t getting the benefits that they thought they would through academic advisement so I think, depending on the student, a lot of their stuff is definitely changing,” said Dyer.
Revising the Liberal Education Program was also recommended, Breese said too many credits may be expected from students which can hinder graduation. Though more credits, and therefore more hours, are expected from students because of the LEP, Breese said it’s the “heartbeat of many institutions in America.” Dyer agreed.
“I really do think that a lot of the times with the Liberal Education, students come here and they say ‘I want to be a marketing major,’ but as soon as they get other experiences through the Liberal Education Program, they’ll take a language or classes they wouldn’t normally take, and it will open their eyes to a whole new thing,” said Dyer. “We always say when you’re older at a cocktail party and there’s all these discussions, you can participate in those discussions because you have that knowledge, and not just knowledge in your field.”
