For more information on the following story, contact Beverley Pitts by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (765) 285-3716. Laura Helms can be reached at [email protected] or (765) 285-8094.
LILLY ENDOWMENT AWARDS $3.5 MILLION TO BALL STATE FOR RETENTION
MUNCIE, Ind. - Lilly Endowment has awarded a $3.5 million grant to Ball State University to help students make a stronger commitment to stay in school and graduate.
"Building the Four-Year Commitment" is a series of new programs designed to increase student retention and persistence through to graduation. The project runs from 2001-2005 and focuses on a student's second semester of the freshman year through the senior year.
Retention is built on two essential components for students -- connection and commitment, said Beverley Pitts, Ball State's associate provost.
"We know that successful students have established that commitment," Pitts said. "This project is designed to help students who are at risk of dropping out to strengthen the commitment to stay and graduate.
"Colleges around the state are struggling with retention issues," she said. "We are pleased that the Lilly Endowment has taken a leadership role in addressing the situation."
The program builds on an earlier Endowment grant. In 1997, Ball State received $3 million to focus on the initial college experience. Freshman Connections, a learning community program involving all freshmen, was the cornerstone of the freshman to sophomore project that pushed retention rates from 68 to 76 percent in three years.
"The first grant was about getting freshmen connected to the university," Pitts said. "Our challenge with this new grant is to make better what we already do."
Endowment officials commended Ball State for its recent retention efforts. The Indianapolis-based foundation is working to address issues facing education attainment, including student retention, on a statewide level.
"Lilly Endowment is pleased to support the expansion of Ball State's retention programs," said Sara B. Cobb, Endowment vice president for education. "We are impressed with Ball State's research into the factors relating to whether or not students stay in college and the university's imaginative strategies to address those factors.
"We also are impressed with the degree of creativity and evaluation that Ball State has shown in its programs and especially pleased with its willingness to share its experiences and lessons with other Indiana institutions of higher learning," she said. "Heartened by these developments, the Endowment is pleased to make this second grant."
The goal for the latest project is to increase the retention rate from freshman to sophomore years to 80 percent, and improve the graduation rate for students in the project to 60 percent. Ball State's freshman retention rate is currently 76 percent and the graduation rate is 54 percent.
Specific activities funded by the grant include a series of summer enrichment programs, faculty development workshops on the teaching/learning/advising process, programs to help undecided students identify major and career goals, faculty advising initiatives, specific retention activities designed by departments, intervention programs for at-risk programs and assessment.
Departments, centers and faculty will have the opportunity to apply for funding for their projects provided by the Endowment. The summer months will be used to fully implement the project.
The four-year project will be supervised by Laura Helms, director of freshman academic programs and assistant to the dean in University College. It was designed by a 25-member faculty committee.
The Freshman Connections program will continue under funding provided by the university and the Anderson Foundation, a statewide, non-profit group.
(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Pitts by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (765) 285-3716. Helms may be reached at [email protected] or (765) 285-8094. For more stories visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news on the World Wide Web.)
Marc Ransford3/9/01
RSS