Inside Iowa State
Dec. 15, 1996
14 proposals to improve student recruitment, retention funded
by Anne Dolan
Fourteen proposals, ranging in size from $300 to $3,320, will receive funding in the second year of a program aimed at improving the student experience at Iowa State. A $20,000 grant from the President's Office to the Professional and Scientific Council has funded the student recruitment and retention program each year.
Twenty-seven proposals were submitted this fall for review and selection by an ad hoc committee of the P&S Council. Funds awarded must be spent by June 30.
Following is a summary of the projects that received complete or partial funding.
1. $300 to University Relations to continue a mentoring program that matches staff members with journalism students, who also work on special projects in the office.
2. $400 to the College of Agriculture Information Office to help develop a recruitment video that answers questions of high school students considering enrolling in the college. Copies of the video will be used across the state by college ambassadors, county extension staff assisting in recruitment and ISU students who visit Iowa high schools.
3. $600 to the Science Bound and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) programs to sponsor a day in which 15 to 20 10th, 11th and 12th grade Science Bound students will "shadow" an NSBE student to learn more about Iowa State. It will be held during National Engineering Week, Feb. 19-23.
4. $800 to the Athletic Department and Training & Development to partially fund a series of three workshops to show faculty and staff the unique concerns and needs of student athletes and seek their support in helping new and at-risk athletes succeed in the classroom. The target audience is student affairs staff, academic advisers and faculty who work primarily with new student athletes.
5. $800 to the Sportsmedicine & Physical Therapy Center and pre-professional health program to provide internships for two freshman pre-physical therapy students in the Sportsmedicine & Physical Therapy Center to help retain them at Iowa State into their sophomore year. 6. $900 to the Towers Residence Complex for an outdoor information and "welcome" station during two weeks of spring semester. Staff members in the booth will answer questions, offer refreshments, laminate fee cards and bus passes for free and solicit comments from students about improving services in the Towers.
7. $1,000 to the College of Education and the department of agricultural education and studies to form stronger links with Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Lakes and Ellsworth community colleges, respectively, to better accommodate students transferring to ISU. 8. $1,400 to the Program for Women in Science and Engineering to partially fund a mentoring program in each of four collaborating academic departments (chemistry, computer science, botany and civil and construction engineering). Each program will include a distinguished speaker on topics related to women in science and foster mentor relationships between freshman and sophomore female students and junior or senior women.
9. $1,400 to a team representing the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, extension, and aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics to involve freshmen in a high-altitude balloon project. The freshmen in turn would serve as recruiters at their own high schools to involve high school juniors and seniors in a subsequent balloon mission on campus.
10. $1,500 to the Financial Counseling Clinic for money management workshops, a brochure for international students on money and banking in the United States, distribution of a clinic brochure at all student loan entrance interviews and distribution of a clinic information sheet to freshmen during Orientation. The efforts are intended to help students prevent money problems before they occur. 11. $2,200 to the Osceola County Extension Office for partial development of a recruitment program that focuses on high school sophomores, when decisions about college are beginning. Campus visits, meetings with ISU freshmen and /or faculty and other opportunities to learn about ISU over two years would be planned to meet students' academic interests.
12. $3,000 to the biological sciences (biochemistry and biophysics, botany, genetics and zoology) for three high school recruitment strategies: two "Biology Day" campus visits this semester, phone recruitment by top students in the departments and a brochure that would be mailed to high school counselors and 500 to 700 high-ranking high school students.
13. $2,300 to Student Counseling Services to train and pay student facilitators to lead a workshop aimed at improving communication between black and white students and staff. A minimum of 10 workshops will be offered.
14. $3,320 to Student Counseling Services to partially cover the costs of giving a brief exit interview to all students withdrawing from Iowa State to determine why students leave. It also will identify students who leave Iowa State short of their educational goals and those who did not intend to get a degree.
The committee also endorsed a proposal that does not require funding from the Center for Coal and the Environment. The center seeks a policy that allows units to hire undergraduate research associates the first summer after their high school graduation. Center officials say the change would help recruit students who need jobs to pay for school and assure better training of the students by staff during the quieter summer months.
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