This issue examines the problems and issues that affect students in the first year of college and reviews current institutional efforts to enhance the learning and retention of first-year students. It also offers a set of suggestions for trustees who seek greater understanding and more active engagement in campus decisions related to the first…

Articles in this issue focus on adolescent literature. The first article is a reflection by author Katie Letcher Lyle on her personal experiences since the publication of her last novel. The second article examines the dramatic power of the novels of Alice Childress. The third article reports the results of a questionnaire on the reading…

Research and programs concerning college student retention are considered. Based on research studies, reasons why students depart prior to graduation are examined. The literature about corrective actions that can be taken and University of Tennessee data about student retention are discussed. A recent study at the University of Tennessee,…

This bulletin from the Center for Statistics (CS) attempts to shed light on the potential impact of new college eligibility requirements linking extracurricular participation to academic performance. The CS-sponsored longitudinal study, "High School and Beyond" (HS&B), was used as the data source for estimates; the information on…

The four articles in this issue of Removing Vestiges reflect on institutional, curricular, and classroom approaches to freshman orientation. This issue provides examples of ways institutions meet the needs of their students. The first and last articles involve institutional orientation. Vrondelia Chandler, in "Preparing Community College…

The University of California at Berkeley has developed a Mathematics Workshop the purpose of which is to improve serious deficiencies in minority students' mathematics and study skills. Now in its second year, the workshop has five functions: (1) building a community of minority freshmen that is academically-oriented and a source of peer support;…

This edition of Research Brief examined the impact of five specific academic support programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on college student performance and persistence: ARCHE, a tracking and monitoring system for at-risk students; Student MAP was developed to assist students who place in the lowest level reading…

This research brief examines the data on baccalaureate recipients in the humanities, especially the upward trend over the past 9 years. Highlighted findings include that: in 1971 the number of humanities degrees awarded peaked; this was followed by a decline of over 50% in the early 1980s; such degrees have been increasing since the low in 1983,…

Results of a 1983 study of freshmen at private black four-year colleges and a comparison to freshmen at all four-year colleges are presented. Attention is directed to the educational, financial, and family backgrounds of the students, as well as their aspirations and interests. Data were obtained from "The American Freshman: National Norms for…

Academic and demographic information are obtained annually on students at General College (GC) in order to adjust programs to student needs. In 1981, data were gathered on students' sex, age, ethnicity, home county, parents' characteristics, educational background and objectives, self-assessment of basic skills, counseling needs, anticipated…

Student development along three cognitive and three psychosocial dimensions was studied at the University of Iowa. Six instruments were administered to students during their freshman and senior years. Attention was directed to moral development, ego development, and conceptual level, as well as freeing interpersonal relationships, establishing…

The efficiency and effectiveness of using a group approach to advising by a team of faculty advisors were evaluated in 1980-81 at the General College, University of Minnesota. Group/team advising was compared to individualized, one-to-one advising of first-semester freshmen in terms of student satisfaction with advising, student understanding of…

The six issues of this newsletter for academic year 1992/93 typically include one or more lead articles; the columns "Research Watch,""ERIC Tracks," and "Teaching Assistant (TA) Forum"; Case Studies; and Case Study Responses. Major articles and columns included in this volume are: "Cooperative Learning as a…

This document consists of volumes 1-9 of the Mathematics Association of America's (MAA) Placement Test Program Newsletter. The MAA is the professional association primarily concerned with undergraduate education in mathematics. It has responded to the increasingly difficult problem of placing freshmen students in mathematics courses by developing…

The report "UNO Act Class Profile, 1989-90" in the first of two serial issues presents salient parts of data from "The Class Profile Report" of the American College Testing (ACT) Corporation, which provides detailed information concerning the academic past of 1,359 freshmen entering the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in…