September, 2007

Recruitment & Retention - September, 2007 - Full Issue PDF
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What We Can Learn from UCLA’s “First in My Family” Data
By Victor Saenz and Doug Barrera
In the last few decades, increased access to higher education for many historically underrepresented groups has generated an influx of new college students, some of whom are the first in their immediate family to go to college. First-generation college students are defined as those students whose parents have had no college or postsecondary experiences.

NACAC: Nearly 30 Percent of College Admission Programs Now Write Blogs
By Melissa Clinedinst
In 2006, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) conducted its 18th annual Admission Trends Survey. Each year, admission offices of all four-year, degree-granting, not-for-profit postsecondary institutions are invited to participate. The purpose of the survey is to collect information about a variety of issues related to college admission, including application volume; interactions with prospective and admitted students; enrollment management strategies; factors in the admission decision; and admission office functions, staff, budget, and operations.

MIT’s Five Steps for Hiring Student Admission Bloggers
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti
Laura posts pictures of herself clad (stylishly, it appears) in an outfit made solely of duct tape for the “Anything but Clothes” party. Anthony shares a photo diary of his day, including a protracted view of his commute, working as a summer intern at BNSF Railway. Jess explains the perils of Residence-Based Advising, while Sam cracks the code to decipher the differences among lectures, recitations, and tutorials.

Wrestling with the Consequences of Success: Student Lending in a Flourishing Market
By Frederick M. Hess and Juliet Squire
This spring, financial aid officials cringed as they read about the unsavory practices at colleges and universities across the country. Some instances are clearly troubling and inappropriate, such as those situations where lenders and financial aid officials have engaged in “payola” or in-stock dealings.

New Resources Can Help Campuses Address Invisible Retention Problem
By Tammy Mitchell
There may be a retention issue at your school that you can’t see or measure. When gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) students choose to leave your campus because of harassment or safety issues, chances are you do not know it because you don’t classify students according to sexual orientation. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reports that 20 percent of GLBT college students fear for their safety because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.