Describes how three faculty members created a learning community at a nonresidential campus by creating and teaching a linked block of three core-curriculum courses (Composition 1, Speech Communication, and Cultural Anthropology) for incoming freshman students. Relates first-day class activities, describes the linking of assignments and communal…

The role of the honors student on the urban, commuter campus is discussed with specific reference to the University of New Orleans. Prompted by a noted decline in the quality of the university's student body, an examination of the honor student population was conducted. Data were compiled from the ACT files and student records of all students who…

A bibliography of research on student attrition is presented. The 175 references, most of which are dated 1970 or later, are categorized under the following headings: research design, models of the attrition process, some historical perspectives, recent reviews of research--performance variables, empirical studies for 1970-1987, and intervention…

Institutional bonding was examined at a public, urban commuter college with exceptionally high attrition and visibly low morale. Changes in bonding and attrition were measured 6 years after a 2-year effort to develop school identity and student feelings of membership. It was found that a simple index of campus morale is provided by level of…

Student departure is a long-standing problem to colleges and universities. Approximately 45 percent of students enrolled in two-year colleges depart during their first year, and approximately one out of four students departs from a four-year college or university. The authors advance a serious revision of Tinto's popular interactionalist theory to…

This study examined the effects of race on first-year retention at York University (Ontario). Data were obtained from student surveys conducted in 1993, 1994, and 1995, involving a total of 1,864 first-year students, along with administrative records. The study found that the number of black students who left the university because of poor…

This speech describes Chicago State University's (CSU) model for encouraging student retention and success and the organizational changes that were necessary to implement the model during a period of fiscal constraints. A description of the institution and its context notes that CSU is a comprehensive, urban, commuter university serving a…

Data were gathered from nontraditional (commuter, part-time) freshmen at a midwestern urban university. Dropout was a function of grade point average and credit hours enrolled, as well as the utility of education for future employment, satisfaction with the student role, opportunity to transfer, and age affecting dropout through intent to leave.…

Tinto's model of college persistence/withdrawal, developed for residential colleges, is tested at a nonresidential institution. Results indicated that the concepts of person-environment fit, social integration, and institutional commitment operated differently in the commuter institution. A reconceptualized model for explaining…

Results of a recent study of attrition, retention, and transfer within the system of public higher education in Kentucky are summarized. Attrition, retention, and transfer rates are presented by class level and institution for 1979-80. For first-time full-time freshmen, the university system had an attrition rate of 27.9 percent, ranging from 20.6…