2008 Occasional Papers - AUK

EmotionalSignificant variations in academic success levels remain.Szulecka, Springett, and DePauw (1997) have suggestedthat the major causes of attrition of first year collegestudents are emotional rather than academic factors.Brooks and Dubois likewise found that emotional factorsexerted a strong influence on how well students adjusted totheir first year experience (1995). Leafgran (1989) suggeststhat students who are emotionally and socially healthyhave a greater chance to succeed in college. Pritchard andWilson (2003) found that student’s emotional health wassignificantly related to GPA regardless of gender. Thisis particularly important given the fact that recent studiesshow a dramatic increase in the levels of stress experiencedby college students over the last 30 years (Sax, 1997).While self-confidence, self-control, achievementorientation, perfectionism, and other personalityvariables have been found to be closely linked to collegeadjustment and retention, other personality variables aremore closely linked to attrition. For example, studentswho are more anxious are more likely to drop-out (Tobey,1997). However, the jury is still out on introversion andextraversion. While some studies find that introverts havethe highest retention rates (Spann, Newman, & Matthews,1991), others suggest that extraverts tend to adjust betterto college life (Searle & Ward, 1990) and perform higheracademically (Eysenck & Cookson, 1969; Irfani, 1978).The Pritchard and Wilson (2003) study on “UsingEmotional and Social Factors to Predict Student Success,”found that students who indicated their intent to drop outreported more fatigue and had lower self esteem thantheir peers. On the other hand, students who intended tostay in college used more positive coping skills and weremore likely to accept when they could not change thestressor. Pritchard and Wilson therefore suggest that “theability to deal successfully with the multitude of emotionalstresses encountered in college life appeared to be animportant factor in student retention” (p. 25). This is notnew information. In 1970, Harvard Professor W.G. Perryidentified the criticality of providing the optimum balanceof challenge and security at each new learning stage ina series on interviews with Harvard students. Perryexamined the relationship between task learning and largercontext about them, and the phases of development fromsimplistic thinking to mature commitment. Perry’s studyfound that if the threat of a new experience/learning is toooverwhelming, students cope with the anxiety by avoidingthe challenge (in Rickinson and Rutherford, 1995).How To Improve RetentionAccording to Parker (1997), the critical factors thatimprove retention include positive faculty relations,community relations, leadership, organizational services,orientation programs, student support classes andservices, recruitment planning, academic interventionservices, campus climate, and award programs (Parker,1997, para. 11). This is supported by Whitbourne (2002),who prioritized balancing socializing and studying,joining campus activities, seeking assistance and help,looking beyond financial issues to real problems social oracademic acclimation, remaining an “undecided” majorduring the first year of college, and seeking universitiesthat specifically focus on first generation and/or minoritystudent affairs (Whitbourne, 2002).In “New Approach to Curb Low-Retention Rates,” Powell(2003) identifies proven student retention techniques suchas the availability of tutors, midterm faculty evaluations,and an early warning system. In an effort to curb lowretention rates Alabama State University recentlyimplemented a writing across the curriculum program,and increased attention to student accountability measuressuch as class attendance and assignment completion.A 1996 study of 163 community colleges across the UnitedStates with enrollments of more than 5,000 studentsexamined strategies used to recruit, retain, and graduateminority students. The research indicated that studentsuccess is highest when retention efforts are coordinatedby a centralized office or person, making it visible andgiving it a sense of purpose (cited in Parker, 1997, para. 4).A number of authors call for mentoring programsto improve the institutions retentive power. Mentorprograms enable students to see successful studentsand staff, expose students to strategies for success, andprovide the confidence and support that some studentsneed to succeed. (Example: AUK’s new PALS program,a student peer tutoring and advising program.)Why They Work? Interaction And ConnectednessAttracting and recruiting incoming students is costly.Universities are working hard, therefore, to retain thestudent they have. One means of doing this is to ensurethat students feel connected to the institution and share asense of belonging to the university community.13