African American Retention at ISU
Christopher Childs, M.A, Research Analyst, Office of Student Success
On October 14, 2009 President Bradley presented the strategic plan for Indiana State University.
Goal One sought to increase student enrollment and retention as well as to reduce time to graduation.
Embedded in Goal One was also the desire to narrow the retention and graduation gap between African
American students and the rest of the student body by 50% (Office of Institutional Research, 2012a).
By the Numbers: Enrollment and Retention of African American Students
ISU has made noted gains with regards to enrollment of African American students. In Fall 2010,
586 African American students enrolled as first-time, full-time, bachelor degree seeking (FTFT-BDS)
freshmen. This was an increase of 227 students from the previous year’s cohort. Currently (Fall 2012),
the African American first year enrollment is at its highest in 15 years with 655 students enrolled Fall
2012 (Office of Institutional Research, 2012a).
In regards to retention, between 2010 and 2011, retention of FTFT-BDS African American
students decreased from 55% to 43%. As a result of growing yields of African American students with
stronger entering GPAs, combined with focused attention on African American student success through
the ISUcceed Program (described below), retention of African American students was up 8.5% this year
(Fall 2012), more than three times the total campus retention increase of 2.5%. This increase enabled a
substantial movement forward in reducing the retention gap, with more efforts planned on the path
toward achieving the 2017 goal for African American students of at least 58% (Institutional Research,
2012a).
Factors Impacting African American Student Retention
Cross and Slater (2001), in their study of persistence rate differences between African American
and non-African American students, suggested that financial resources, the racial climate on campus,
the availability of strong programs, and geographical location are strong predictors of African American
retention. Holmes, Ebbers, Robinson, and Mugenda (2007) suggested that academic preparation, lack
of African American faculty/staff, and alienation are key factors impacting African American student
retention. Furthermore, Seidman (2005) noted that students of color tend to more often be first
generation students. Seidman’s research also showed that first generation students are likely to have
low parental support, less resources to pay for college, lower self-esteem, and lower expectations for
going to college and completing a degree vis-à-vis their counterparts with parents that did attend
college.
Informed by research such as this, the Office of Student Success at ISU has been seeking to
support programs and initiatives that help to address these issues where possible such as through a new
First Generation Student - First Generation Faculty mentoring program, strengthening the LEAP summer
bridge program, and working collaboratively with other units on campus such as the University College
and the African American Cultural Center.
Getting to Know Our Students through MAP-Works
Another focus of the Office of Student Success has been to use demographic data, as well as
information on students’ social and academic experiences at ISU, to get a better idea of what will help
them succeed. A primary source for this information has been via MAP-Works. MAP-Works is a tool for
early identification of students at potential risk of leaving the institution. By using university data, linked
to information from faculty, staff, and the students themselves, MAP-Works builds a risk factor profile of
ISU students at potential risk of academic difficulty and/or dropping-out. Then this system provides an
alert to advisors, faculty, and residential life staff among others about these at-risk students (EBI MAPWorks, 2012). In Appendix A is a figure of the sub-scale scores from the MAP-Works Survey that is
administered during the first three weeks of the fall semester. While the differences between African
American students versus White students are small, the biggest difference is the students’ perception
on if they can afford colleges. Many of the means of the sub-scales between African American and
White students are significantly different from each other, such as ability to afford college and
satisfaction of the University.
In addition to looking at MAP-Works, The Office of Student Success compared sub-groups of the
University by building demographic comparison tables. The table below provides a profile of ISU African
American FTFT-BDS freshmen from fall 2012 versus the total FTFT-BDS cohort using a combination of
BANNER and MAP-Works data.
Table 1
First-Year Demographics
Measure
African Americans N=641
Pell Grant
526 (80%)
First Generation
388 (64.5%)
Avg H.S GPA
2.83
Avg SAT Math
412.12
Avg SAT Verbal
408.47
Avg ACT
16.87
Marion County
238 (36.3%)
Cook County
143 (21.8%)
Total Cohort N=2,080
1414 (53.2%)
1228 (56.1%)
3.06
460.22
463.57
19.34
420 (15.8%)
182 (6.8%)
As shown in the table, there is a much greater proportion of African American students who
come from families with low-incomes as indicated by the proportion differences of those with Pell
grants. More African Americans are also first generation students, have lower high school GPAs, and
have test scores that are lower as compared to the total cohort. In addition, African American students
disproprtionately come from major metropolitan areas, Marion County (Indianapolis) and Cook County
(Chicago) in particular.
The ISUcceed Program
One retention effort that is starting to use MAP-Works information to better inform decision
making is the ISUcceed Program (pronounced I Succeed Program). According to Stephanie Jefferson,
Director of the Charles E. Brown African American Cultural Center and Director of ISUcceed , this
program (which is free and open to all students) was created to assist students with the transition from
high school to ISU. The program accomplishes this by addressing issues that inhibit academic and social
transition, such as time management, engagement, and study skills. This helps the student develop
academic, leadership, and professional skills.
The ISUcceed program has four components - Summer Orientation for students and parents,
ISUcceed Prep-Fall Orientation, the ISUcceed Scholars Program, and Refocus. The Summer Orientation
component introduces new students to faculty and staff. Students learn from upperclassmen and
graduate students about the academic expectations and resources to be successful. During Summer
Orientation, parents learn how to assist their student in college and introduce them to ISU support
resources. The ISUcceed Prep-Fall Orientation is held prior to classes and helps students get acquainted
with ISU and introduces them to their graduate counselor and other new students. In the ISUcceed
Scholars Program, students meet on a bi-weekly basis with graduate counselors and go through
academic seminars, tutoring, leadership development, and social activities. The fourth component is
Refocus, which helps students who are placed on academic probation to get back on track through
intrusive counseling and academic seminars.
Aiding African American Student Retention
Retention can seem like a daunting task given the myriad of individualized reasons a student
might chose to leave an institution. Yet, ironically, just 25 more students retained equates to a 1%
increase in retention. In other words, retention is achieved one student at a time and any staff or
faculty member has the potential for aiding a student to succeed in reaching their educational goals and
helping to build a culture of student success. A research report by the Southern Regional Education
Board (2008) examined the college culture at schools that had both diverse populations and high
retention rates. They found that at these institutions, employees from top to bottom believed that
student success was his/her job. A culture such at that here at ISU might have these features (SREB,
2008):
1) Go out of your way to help students. If you see a student that seems lost, try to help them
find what they are looking for. If a student seems to look sad while you pass him or her in
the quad, stop and ask them what’s wrong and if you can help.
2) Service with a smile. We are not a fast food restaurant but making sure you have a positive
attitude when talking to students can help.
3) Try to meet one student during the week. This might be hard depending on where your
office is located, but meeting students and actually saying hello to them on campus will
make them feel wanted here and make the environment warmer for them.
4) Mentor a student. Share your knowledge with a student. This can be anything from
navigating through the college environment to career advice. The interactions can be
informal, maybe lunch every other week.
5) Attend on-campus events. Go to sporting events and show your sycamore pride. This is a
great opportunity to meet students. Or, consider inviting a student along to a game or
event.
6) Participate in BFSC Events with students. The Black Faculty and Staff Caucus coordinates a
number of engaging activities with students. For more information on the Black Faculty
Staff Caucus please contact Christopher Childs at christopher.childs@indstate.edu.
7) Always think of ways to help students feel comfortable at ISU. Always be thinking of how
you can improve retention. This can be simple things like wearing your nametag or offering
to lead a workshop through the African American Cultural Center , Office of Residential Life,
or through the Office of Diversity.
References
Cross, T., & Slater, R. B. (2001). The troublesome decline in African-American college student graduation
rates. Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 33, 102-109.
EBI MAP-Works (2012). MAP-Works process. Retrieved from http://www.webebi.com/retention/process
Holmes, S. L., Ebbers, L.H., Robinson, D. C., & Mugenda, A. G. (2007). Validating African American
students at predominantly white institutions. In A. Seidman (ED.), Minority student retention
(pp.79-96). Amityville, NY: Baywood.
Office of Institutional Research. (2012a). Pathway to success 2012. Retrieved from
http://irt2.indstate.edu/ir/index.cfm?fuseaction=sp.main
Office of Institutional Research. (2012b). First time full time bachelors degree seeking freshman retention
and graduation rates 2001-2011 by ethnicity. Retrieved from
http://irt2.indstate.edu/ir/assets/files/data/ret/2010/success/FTFTBDSSuccessFall2010Ethnicity.
pdf
Seidman, A. (2005). Minority student retention: Resources for practitioners. In Gaither, G (Eds.),
Minority retention: What works? (7-24). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Southern Regional Education Board. (2008). Promoting a culture of student success: How colleges and
universities are improving degree completion. Retrieved from www.sreb.org
*indicates statistically significant at .05 or less
Sub Scales range from 1=Not at All to 7=Extremely (Homesickness and Test Anxiety reverse coded)
MAP-Works Factors Comparison for First Year Students 2012
Appendix A