Program 'reaches' out to keep students at U of L U of L has a new program to work with both students and faculty to help keep students in school and to provide a centralized, coordinating office for all university retention efforts.
"We've been fairly decentralized in the way we do business for years," said David Howarth, associate university provost. "With a graduation rate of less than 30 percent over six years and retention rates that aren't spectacular, we know we need to do something."
Called Resources for Academic Achievement (REACH), the program began as an idea nearly a year ago; it located its offices and services in Strickler Hall in July.
Still in its infancy, REACH is exploring its role at the university, noted program director Judy Aycock Simpson. Already, however, it has had input into the revision of freshman orientation, the freshman introduction to the university class and student advising, planned interventions for at-risk students and planned social events to bring students together.
REACH has worked with various departments and divisions, as well as establishing its own programs, to address each of the issues that affect retention, Simpson said.
"One of the main reasons students drop out is they don't get connected," Simpson said. "It's especially a problem in an urban university" where the student body resides primarily off campus.