THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510010036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
Step by step, adviser Brenda Smith showed freshman LaVonda Bruce how to fill out the change-of-major form so Bruce could switch from nursing to either business or computer science.
Smith then gave her the phone numbers of a couple of counselors and a bit of advice: ``It's important you're in a field you're comfortable with.''
The day before, another freshman, Roger Lee II, had a different type of discussion with his English professor, Matilda Martin, after class. They chatted about some of his new friends, who are in another of her classes.
Those small moments are part of a large-scale effort at Norfolk State University, using the personal touch, to improve the university's graduation rate, the lowest in the state.
Norfolk State has launched a duo of programs - one featuring close contacts with professors and advisers inside and outside the classroom, and another that uses smaller class sizes and more tutoring.
Officials say they've already seen positive results: The number of freshmen who returned for their sophomore year rose 10 percentage points this fall.
``I'm not going to tell you we've discovered the magic medicine, but we've made some very real progress,'' said retired Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wagner, a special assistant to the president who helps oversee the programs.
Students, especially freshmen, also say the effort is paying off.
``It helps you with the transition to college courses,'' said Lee, an 18-year-old from Virginia Beach. ``The teacher-student relationship, it's more like a friendship. You can talk to the teacher about your problems so you can get adjusted.''
A state study last month reconfirmed that Norfolk State has one of the highest dropout rates among state-supported colleges: Less than half of Norfolk State's freshmen - 42 percent - were still in school two years after they started.
Only Virginia State University had a worse record - 41 percent.
Of the remaining 58 percent at Norfolk State, 5 percent had transferred to other schools and 53 percent were no longer enrolled.
Three years ago, another state report, which followed freshmen for seven years, found that NSU had the lowest graduation rate in Virginia - 19 percent. That report, university administrators said, motivated them to work harder to keep students in school.
In 1992, they began a campuswide advising project known as RAAP, or the Retention and Academic Advising Program, to link every undergraduate with an academic adviser. They meet five times a year to make sure students are staying on track academically and socially.
Administrators decided that wasn't enough, so last fall, NSU started another program, called REEP, or the Retention Enhanced Education Program. The program, led by English professor Nellie Boyd, targets freshmen, because they're the ones most likely to drop out.
``You're losing them in the freshman year because they're out to lunch or they don't know where the bathroom is,'' NSU President Harrison B. Wilson said.
And ``they're afraid to ask questions because they think they'll look ignorant. Once they find out . . . they have somebody to lean on, they feel more comfortable.''
The freshman program offers math and English classes no larger than 20 students, primarily for first-year students who don't pass entering exams and need help getting up to speed. The size shocked Lee, who expected classes of 100 when he got to school. There are also weekly labs in those subjects, where students can get more help from peer tutors or professors.
At one of the classes Friday, Martin broke her students into four groups to edit one another's essays on the characteristics of a good teacher. She wandered around the room, offering a mix of criticism and encouragement.
Martin told one student to be more assertive when editing her classmate's work. She looked at another's essay and cautioned: ``You're trying to put too much into one sentence, sweetheart.'' But then, Martin found a sentence she liked in the essay and turned on the praise: ``Very good, excellent.''
Students say they feel they can approach Martin both during class and afterward.
``She's someone you could talk to about being homesick, not just classes or homework,'' said freshman Shani Parson of Brooklyn, N.Y. - not that Parson gets homesick much.
Wilson has said the university's low graduation rate is caused primarily by students' financial problems. With the more intensive advising, he said, many students might find a way to stay in school.
For instance, Boyd said, one student told his adviser he might drop out because he couldn't juggle a full course load and his full-time job. Together, they figured out a solution that reduced his work hours but still allowed him to support his family - and keep up his grades.
Nearly every university offers students academic counseling, but Norfolk State University says its programs are more intensive and far-reaching. This summer, the university appointed a new dean to oversee retention, Antionette Lampkin. And Vice President Jesse C. Lewis said Norfolk State, unlike other universities, evaluates professors partly on their dedication to advising students.
State officials say they have yet to investigate the programs, but they are optimistic that they will help.
Gordon K. Davies, director of the State Council of Higher Education, commended the effort. ``It clearly is an important issue. On other issues that have to do with standards, Norfolk State has responded very well,'' he said, citing the school's work to boost students' pass rates on state nursing exams.
Already, Wagner said, the efforts have borne fruit: This fall, the percentage of last year's freshmen who returned for their sophomore year was 66 percent, up from 56 percent last year. Administrators say their goal is to raise their graduation rate to 34 percent by the year 2000.
Wilson, a former basketball coach, said: ``This is like coaches who are really interested in the academic success of their athletes. Their job is to bird-dog them, to make sure they're in class and taking the right courses.''
And when coaches do that, Wilson said, the athletes usually graduate. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
NSU English professor Matilda Martin speaks with LaVonda Bruce, 19,
of Richmond, recently. The class is part of the school's efforts to
retain freshmen and improve graduation rates.
by CNB