Improvements sought in grad rate

CSULB students average six years for completion of college education

By Ted Apodaca, Forty-Niner Online
Oct. 18, 1994

Cal State Long Beach officials are now looking for ways to improve the university's student graduation rates. The search was triggered by a National Collegiate Athletic Association report that showed CSULB to be below average in the California State University system in graduating its students.

The NCAA report, released in the summer, showed that 36 percent of CSULB students graduate within six years, while the overall rate of six-year graduates within the CSU system is at 46 percent.

CSULB's short-term goal, said Donald Coan, director of institutional research, is to bring the six-year graduation rate up from 36 percent to the 46-percent average.

"It stands as a major goal to try and make improvement in this area," Coan said.

A joint commission created by the CSULB president's office and the Academic Senate investigated and made suggestions to improve graduation rates. The commission issued its recommendation report in May, and President Maxson has recently created the Blue Ribbon Task Force to review the report and make implementation recommendations.

The commission recommended that CSULB increase its knowledge of students being admitted into the university and keep tabs on their academic progress. Student characteristics and preparation levels were specifically targeted for review.

According to the report, first-time undergraduate students should receive advising as soon as possible, and the university should develop a commitment to student retention.

"My main concern has always been that we don't put roadblocks in the paths of students, so that they can graduate as soon as possible," said Marilee Samuelson, director of academic advising, who assisted the commission.

One such roadblock, Samuelson said, occurs when students either change majors or break the continuous-attendance rule. She said that students who receive graduation checks well after their proposed graduation dates may discover that they did not graduate and are subject to new general education requirements.

Although the graduation rate appears low, the commission found that the statistic can be deceiving, due to the non-traditional nature of students.

Karl Anatol, CSULB provost and vice president of academic affairs, who assembled the original commission, said the first priority should be to try and understand why CSULB has the diverse student population that it does. He also said that some of the suggestions, such as restructuring the first-year experience for students, have already been put into action.

Maxson's task force will begin looking at the report and implementing some solutions this fall.

The president's aim, Anatol said, "is to make sure that not only do we have a very good outreach recruitment effort, but that we also have a very good retention effort on campus."