retention

The student-athlete experience at the University of Hawai‘i is unique! One significant challenge for our student-athletes is traveling more than 2,500 miles with each trip to a competition. The distance extends the time away from class and places additional pressure on student-athlete academic performance. A significant goal of our strategic plan is “To provide each student-athlete with the best possible opportunities for academic success, leading to graduation.” We use the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) Academic Progress Rate and Graduation Success Rate to assess the academic success, retention, and progress toward graduation of our student-athletes. Data assessment has led to the implementation of policies and strategies to enhance student-athlete academic performance, retention and graduation and a system has been initiated to evaluate the performance of head coaches on these important measures.

Student-Athletics Academic Performance

The student-athlete experience at the University of Hawai‘i is unique! One significant challenge for our student-athletes is traveling …

Several studies have revealed that successful mentoring affects college student retention. Also, research on attrition shows that the first year is a critical stage in students' decisions to persist or leave college. Nora & Crisp have recently identified four essential elements to mentoring: psychological/emotional support; support for setting goals and choosing a career path; academic subject knowledge support aimed at advancing a student's knowledge relevant to their chosen field; and specification of a role model. In the 2007-2008 Academic Year, over 400 first-year students in English 100 at UHM were mentored by MA or PhD students in English, and analysis of their standardized end-of-term evaluations revealed that students identified each of the elements above in varying degrees, with “academic subject support knowledge” identified 79% of the time and with at least one of these elements identified 85% of the time. These results suggest that mentoring when delivered as part of a course holds great potential for boosting student retention at UHM.

Assessing Mentoring in First Year Composition: A Tool to Boost Retention?

Several studies have revealed that successful mentoring affects college student retention. Also, research on attrition shows that the …