FOR RELEASE: Feb.
25, 2013
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina
Logue, 615-898-5081, gina.logue@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO — A
college president addressing the retention and graduation issue in higher
education at MTSU Monday emphasized creating a campus culture that nurtures
students.
Known nationally as an education innovator, University of
Maryland-Baltimore County President Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III kicked off MTSU’s
Retention Summit with a call to listen more to students’ views.
Hrabowski, who has been hailed by Time Magazine as one of
the “10 Best College Presidents” in the country, has been tapped by President
Barack Obama to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational
Excellence for African-Americans.
In encouraging MTSU personnel to get to know students
personally, Hrabowski said, “You don’t know (a) person until you know that
person’s story.”
In addition, Hrabowski encouraged the participants gathered
inside the Student Union ballroom to use analytics to pinpoint students who
might need assistance, including African-Americans, Hispanics, first-generation
students and low-income whites.
“Campuses that are becoming increasingly enlightened are
using technology and mathematical modeling in order to look at trends in
academic performance,” Hrabowski said.
When a member of the audience stated that a bill pending in
the state legislature would prevent state government entities from collecting
or reporting data based on race, gender or ethnicity unless required by federal
law or court order, Hrabowski said, “That is about the same level of
enlightenment as burning libraries. … When people don’t want to know the truth,
then we have moved beyond the idea of enlightenment completely.”
The measure is Senate Bill 0007, which is sponsored by Sen.
Jim Summerville, R-Dickson. It has been referred to the Senate State and Local
Government Committee.
In noting that about two-thirds of Americans do not have
college degrees, Hrabowski said, while it’s fine to have beautiful buildings on
campus, first-generation students can find them intimidating and diminish their
sense of self.
“If a student has a sense of self, … that student will work
harder and harder, and nothing takes the place of hard work,” he said.
He also urged the approximately 200 participants to foster a
climate that does not result in defensiveness when the campus community
expresses what he called “the good, the bad and the ugly” about the university.
The summit was held in response to the Tennessee General
Assembly’s emphasis on retention and graduation rates in institutions governed
by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“With the Complete College Act of Tennessee that was passed
two years ago by the General Assembly, it has put the onus now on the campuses,
on the individuals, on the faculty, the staff and administrators to make sure
our students are successful and they become productive citizens once they enter
our institution,” said Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, MTSU president.
MTSU recently announced that it granted more bachelor’s
degrees and graduated more students for less money in 2011-12 than any other
institution governed by the Board of Regents.
However, according to Vincent Windrow, director of MTSU’s
Intercultural and Diversity Center, the graduation rate for African-American
students at MTSU for 2004-10 was 39.9 percent, a figure he said must be raised.
Summit attendees also heard presentations from Dr. Cynthia
Calhoun, executive director of student retention and graduation at Southwest
Tennessee Community College, and Dr. Karen Eley Sanders, associate vice
president for academic support services at Virginia Tech.
—30—
PHOTO INCLUDED: Dr.
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County,
stresses a point in his spirited address at MTSU’s Retention Summit.
MTSU is committed to developing a community
devoted to learning, growth, and service. We hold these values dear, and
there’s a simple phrase that conveys them: “I
am True Blue.” Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/trueblue. For MTSU
news anytime, visit www.MTSUNews.com.
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