Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) was organized by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in partnership with The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to increase student learning in developmental--or basic skills--classes. However, their concern was not just the success of students in classes…

In this series of convention papers, the presentors reviewed the phenomenon of retention, summarized what is known and not known about the causes of attrition on the college campus, traced the efforts of the Grand Valley State Colleges' Retention Committee and the colleges, reviewed the colleges' research information, and presented the all-college…

Discusses the environment for Blacks on predominantly White campuses and describes Unity through Diversity Week, a program designed to promote racial and cultural diversity and to address racism. (Author/TE)

Cuyahoga Community College (CCC), Western Campus, has developed an admissions/counseling cooperative program to assist underprepared, probationary, or academically dismissed students to effect positive changes in their educational record and personal lives. The program includes the following components: (1) computer monitoring of students' grades…

Mount Ida College (Massachusetts) has found the use of college administrators as mentors to students, complementing academic advising and faculty mentoring, to be an effective approach to strengthening the tie between first-year college students and their institutions. The impact has been noticeable in the campus culture as well as in student…

Drawing from an analysis of the literature on student attrition and retention at community colleges, this paper presents a typology of retention strategies as a structure by which further research can advance. Introductory material explains the typology, which categorizes retention strategies according to whether their purposes are to: (1) sort…

Orientation for first-year college students is important for students, parents, and the institution. It should fit institutional traditions, values, and culture, involve parents, be staffed by well-trained current students, and be carefully evaluated for improvement. Mississippi State University's program focuses on retention and is festive,…

This publication contains a collection of 95 abstracts of presentations on college student transitions, particularly those of freshmen, transfer students, and seniors. Each abstract is designed to give the reader a short summary of a presentation and to provide the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact for additional…

The director of Boston University's Disabled Student Services shows how institutions can offer equal access to handicapped students through coordinated campus services. Three types of services that a campus office can help assure are: preadmission inquiries and visits, auxiliary aids, and access to recreational activities. (Author/JMD)

In humanities and social sciences, completion of a doctoral degree, especially dissertation writing, can be enhanced if students work in a collaborative environment, are not isolated in their work, interact with advisors frequently, have information about academic publishing, and have a suitable financial aid package. The University of California…

A study of minority graduate student needs at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) found three areas needing improvement: (1) recruiting efforts; (2) social support; and (3) cultural environment. A mentoring program was then designed to address these needs by providing a personal and academic support network for minority students,…

Higher education is undergoing radical shifts that are part of the larger wave of changes taking place in the society. The transformation affects all sectors of higher education, especially distance learning and how it relates to the University's regular offerings. In this article, the author begins with clarifying the terms commonly associated…