After studying national literature and local needs, Kutztown University created the Student Support Services Freshman Year Program to help at risk freshmen acclimate to the campus environment and succeed in college. This article presents the five-component program that has improved retention at the university and includes evaluative data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American College Testing Program (1998). National College Dropout and Graduation Rates, 1997 [On-line]. Available: http://www.act.org/news/04-0d1b98.html.
2.
AstinA. W. (1975). Preventing students from dropping out. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
AstinA. W. (1977). Four critical years. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
4.
AstinA. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
5.
BealP. E. & NoelL. (1980). What works in student retention. Iowa City, IA: American College Testing Program.
6.
BoudreauC. A. & KromreyJ. D. (1994). A longitudinal study of the retention and academic performance of participants in freshmen orientation course. Journal of College Student Development, 35(6), 444–449.
7.
BraunsteinA. & McGrathM. (1997). The retention of freshmen students: An examination of the assumptions, beliefs, and perceptions held by college administrators and faculty. College Student Journal, 31(2), 188–200.
8.
BrownA. (1995). New advisement system at Baker University. The Freshman Year Experience Newsletter, 7(3), 6.
9.
CapolupoR. F.FullerR. & WilsonL. (1995). Retention at Drexel University: A look at a successful model. The Act 101 Journal2(2), 8–9.
10.
ColtonG. M. & ConnorU. J. (1999). The transition from high school to college: Constructing a freshman seminar to improve academic performance and student retention. In LipskyS. (Ed.), Selected Proceedings From the 16th (1997) and 17th (1998) Annual Conferences of the Pennsylvania Association of Development Educators (PADE), 20–25. Pittsburgh, PA: Community College of Allegheny County.
11.
CrawfordJ. J. (1993). Recession and the role of developmental education: An interview with John N. Gardner, Journal of Developmental Education, 17(1), 22–24, 26, 41.
12.
CrowlS. (1993). A historical perspective (Ohio University). In StrommerD. W. (Ed.), Portals of entry: University colleges and undergraduate divisions. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
13.
CuseoJ. B. (1991). The freshman orientation seminar: A research-based rationale for its value, delivery, and content. Columbia, SC: National Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
14.
DaleP. M. & ZychT. (1996). A successful college retention program. College Student Journal30(3), 354–360.
15.
Davis-UnderwoodM. & LeeJ. (1994). An evaluation of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte freshman seminar. Journal of College Student Development, 35(6), 491–492.
16.
FidlerP. P. (1991). Relationship of freshman orientation seminars to sophomore return rates. Journal of the Freshman Year Experience, 3(1), 7–38.
17.
GeraghtyM. (1996, July 19). More students quitting college before sophomore year, data show. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 42(45), A35–A36.
18.
GordonV. & GritesT. J. (1984). The freshman seminar course, helping students to succeed. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25(4), 315–320.
19.
GrayG. (1994). Freshman experience course improves retention. The Freshman Year Experience Newsletter, 7(3), 10.
20.
Higher Education Research Institute (1996). UCLA study finds number of college students successfully earning Bachelor's Degrees is declining. [On-line]. Available: http://www.gse.ucla.edu/heri/darcu.html.
21.
Kutztown University Office of Research and Planning. (1992). Planning and information technology factbook. Kutztown University: State System of Higher Education.
22.
LevineA. (1991). Perspectives on the freshman year. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
23.
NagdaB. A.GregermanS. R.JonidesJ.von HippelW. & LernerJ. S. (1998). Undergraduate student-faculty research partnerships affect student retention. The Review of Higher Education, 22(1), 55–72.
24.
National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience. (1992). Summary statistics: 1991 national survey of freshman seminar programming. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
25.
PalmerD. (1996, July 19). KU stressing student rate of retention. The Reading Eagle/Reading Times, B2.
StromS. (1995). Enjoying the benefits of minority mentoring. The Freshman Year Experience Newsletter, 7(3), 9.
28.
StrommerD. (1993). Portals of entry: University colleges and undergraduate divisions. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
29.
TerenziniP. T. (1993). The transition to college: Easing the passage. State College: National Center on Post-Secondary Teaching, Learning and Assessment.
30.
TintoV. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student retention. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
31.
TintoV. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student retention (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
32.
University of South Carolina. (1998). The freshman year experience: University 101: The University of South Carolina's freshman seminar program [On-line]. Available: http://web.csd.sc.edu/fye/infopeic.html.
33.
WatfordJ. (1995). Revisiting the role of HBCU's in the academic development and retention of students-at-risk. The Act 101 Journal, 2(2), 4–7.
34.
WeaverB. (1993). The retention of students (Ball State University). In StrommerD. W. (Ed.), Portals of entry: University colleges and undergraduate divisions. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.
35.
WhiteE. (1993). Coherence through coordinated advising. In StrommerD. W. (Ed.), Portals of entry: University colleges and undergraduate divisions. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience.