Journal of the American College of Dentists

Manuscript
Table 1. URM Representation in U.S. Population, Among U.S. Dentists, in U.S. Dental Schools,
and at TAMHSC-BCD
Students in U.S.
Students at
Race Population in U.S. 1 Dentist in U.S. 2 Dental Schools 3 TAMHSC-BCD
2010-2011 2010-2011
Black 12.6% 2.1% 5.6% 14.4%
Hispanic 16.3% 3.4% 6.3% 23.0%
Native American 0.9% 0.2% .6% 1.0%
1 U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 2 ADA Survey Center, Distribution of Dentists in the U.S. by Region, 2004
3 Data from ADA’s Survey of Predoctoral Dental Education Institutions
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Office of Student Development
There are multiple offices and departments
at TAMHSC-BCD that provide
support services to students. However,
the Office of Student Development serves
as a “one-stop shop” where pre-dental
and dental students can secure information
and services. The director of the
office oversees multiple programs in the
Bridge to Dentistry initiative, serves on
the college’s Admissions Committee,
advises the Student Promotion
Committee, and serves as one of the
advisors for the Student National Dental
Association. The staff of the office
includes the Education Specialist whose
primary responsibilities are to personally
council students who are having academic
difficulty, administer and monitor
peer tutoring services, monitor students’
academic performance and provide
information to the Student Success
Team, and teach a Learning Strategies
course for the college’s Summer
Enrichment and Post-Baccalaureate
Programs. An Educational Programs
Coordinator directs all pre-college
enrichment programs. A Program
Assistant serves as the primary support
for all college level enrichment programs
and assists with pre-college activities.
An Administrative Assistant serves as
the primary source of support for the
Post-Baccalaureate Program. Since
personnel in this office work with a
continuum of students, they are able
to build rapport with the students
and form a strong relationship with
them. This establishes a “family” type
environment which serves as a powerful
tool in enhancing students’ success.
Program Outcomes
Since 2006, TAMHSC-BCD has consistently
enrolled very diverse dental classes, which
has led to a very diverse student body.
Table 1 provides a comparison of the
percentage of URMs among TAMHSC-
BCD’s students and all United States
dental students to the percentage of URMs
in the United States general population
and among United States dentists.
Further evidence of accomplishments
in diversifying its student body can be
seen in TAMHSC-BCD’s URM rankings.
Between 2006 and 2010, TAMHSC-BCD
enrolled greater numbers and proportions
of African-American and Hispanic
students in its first-year classes than any
other non-minority United States dental
school, and the college had the greatest
total URM enrollment among nonminority
dental schools from 2007
through 2010.
All students entering TAMHSC-BCD
have access to resources and faculty
and staff work hard to ensure that these
students successfully complete the requirements
for the DDS degree. Otherwise,
enrolling a diverse class would be selfdefeating.
Over the last five years, the
college has not only been successful in
increasing diversity, but it has also
retained the vast majority of its students.
TAMHSC-BCD’s retention rate over these
years is 95.7% for all students and 92.5%
for URM students. Table 2 provides enrollment
and retention data on TAMHSC-
BCD’s students for the last ten years.
Students classified as “dismissed” were
dismissed if their departure was the
consequence of poor academic performance.
Voluntary withdrawal from the
College was usually the result of nonacademic
reasons such as transferring
to another dental school, deciding on a
different career, or attending to health
(personal or family) and other personal
issues. The retention rate for Hispanic
students appears to be significantly
lower than that of other students. This
lower retention rate can be attributed to
the number of students who voluntarily
2011 Volume 78, Number 4