Dear Honors Freshmen

A junior Honors student offers the Honors Program class of 2017 some pieces of informal advice covering school, time management, relationships, and priorities

The Effects of Higher Admission Standards on NCAA Student-Athletes: An Analysis of Proposition 16

This study examines the effect of an increase in minimum admissions standards on college enrollment and graduation rates of student-athletes. In 1996, the NCAA enacted Proposition 16, which increased the admission standards for freshmen student-athletes at Division I schools in an effort to improve graduation rates. Results indicate that Proposition 16 increased graduation rates significantly for black student-athletes, and had no significant impact on graduation rates for white student-athletes. Results also indicate that graduation rates declined for black student-athletes at Division II schools, which may be driven by students transferring to Division I. As a result of the higher admission standard Division I schools changed recruiting patterns and relied less on freshmen student-athletes, particularly black student-athletes, to fill scholarships. Even though fewer black freshmen student-athletes enrolled in Division I schools, the overall number of black student-athletes did not change, suggesting that greater proportion of transfer students into Division I schools were black

The Troubled Sense of Otherness among Christian and Non-Christian ESL Freshmen at a Christian College in the Midwest

This study was derived from an ethnographic study conducted with five ESL learners and their peers in a Christian college in the Midwest. The theoretical framework of this article was built upon Freire’s (2000) and Kumashiro’s (2001) anti-oppressive education. The study employed various data sources to find out how Christian and non-Christian ESL freshmen experienced a sense of otherness in the local college community. The findings reveal the hidden norms in the faith-based college, which marginalized the non-Christian ESL freshmen from being legitimate participants (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The researcher provides recommendations to educators and administrators in higher education for advising international students and providing services to them. The researcher also highlights the importance of having a deeper understanding of the plights experienced by non-Christian ESL freshmen at Christian colleges in the USA

UA Research Summary No. 11

Alaska Natives make up 9% of students at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the number attending classes on the Anchorage campus is up more than 40% since 2000—from 950 to nearly 1,400. But despite that fast growth, few Alaska Native students go on to graduate. Less than 5% of the students earning bachelor’s degrees at UAA in 2007 were Alaska Native. And as Figure 1 shows, only about one in 10 of the Native students who were freshmen in 2000 had earned bachelor’s degrees six years later, in 2006. Alaska Native students begin leaving at high rates in their second year at UAA. Among those who started in 2005, less than 60% of the Native freshmen but 70% of all freshmen went on to the next year. Still, that was an improvement over 2000, when only about half the Alaska Native freshmen continued on to their second year (Figure 1). The low graduation rates among Native students—not only at UAA but throughout the University of Alaska—are worrisome. Alaska Natives are under-represented in teaching, health care, business, and many other professions—and that won’t change until more Alaska Native students get the educational credentials they need. But what about those Alaska Native students who do succeed in earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and doctorates? What keeps them going, when so many others don’t make it to graduation?University of Alaska Foundatio

Comparison of Career Decision Difficulties Between Nursing Freshmen and Interns

Career selection is one of the most important decisions an individual makes in his life. High career expectation could result in career decision difficulties. This study aimed to compare and analyze the career decision difficulties between nursing freshmen and interns. This cross-sectional study involved 110 and 66 nursing freshmen and interns respectively (n=176) in two private nursing colleges. Career decision difficulties questionnaire was used in data collection. Descriptive statistic and independent sample t test were used in data analysis (α<.05). Results showed that most respondents experienced moderate difficulties in both groups. Overall, there was no significant difference of career decision difficulty found between groups (p=.057), but indecisiveness, dysfunctional myths, lack of knowledge about the process of career decision making, lack of information, lack of information about occupations, lack of information about ways of obtaining additional information, and internal conflicts were significantly different between groups (all p<α). Career decision difficulties occur similarly both in nursing freshmen and interns

The Enrollment Effects of Merit-Based Financial Aid: Evidence from Georgia's HOPE Scholarship

This paper examines the effects of Georgia's merit-based HOPE Scholarship on college enrollment. Introduced in 1993, the HOPE Scholarship covers tuition, fees, and book expenses for students attending Georgia public colleges, and provides a subsidy of comparable value to students attending in-state private colleges, without any income restrictions. Treating HOPE as a natural experiment, we contrast college enrollment in Georgia with those in the other member states of the Southern Regional Educational Board using IPEDS data for the period 1988-97. We estimate that the HOPE increased total freshmen enrollment by 5.9 percent, with the gains concentrated in 4-year schools. For freshmen recently graduated from high school attending 4-year colleges, two-thirds of the program effect is explained by a decrease in students leaving the state. Both white and black enrollments increased because of HOPE, with the state's historically-black institutions playing an important role. Finally, the total HOPE-induced enrollment increase represents only 15 percent freshmen scholarship recipients.Higher Education, Enrollment, HOPE, Merit-based Aid

Series of Lectures on Personality Development

These lectures and demonstrations on personality development were given to Bryant freshmen in the School of Secretarial Science by faculty members and off campus specialists in 1958

Do Bans on Affirmative Action Hurt Minority Students? Evidence from the Texas Top 10% Plan

In light of the recent bans on affirmative action in higher education, this paper provides new evidence on the effects of alternative admissions policies on the persistence and college completion of minority students. I find that the change from affirmative action to the Top 10% Plan in Texas decreased both retention and graduation rates of lower-ranked minority students. Results show that both fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation of seconddecile minority students decreased, respectively, by 2.4 and 3.3 percentage points. The effect of the change in admissions policy was slightly larger for minority students in the third and lower deciles -- fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation decreased, respectively, by 4.9 and 4.2 percentage points. Moreover, I find no evidence in support of the minority "mismatch" hypothesis. These results suggest that most of the increase in the graduation gap between minorities and non-minorities in Texas, a staggering 90 percent, was driven by the elimination of affirmative action in the 1990s.Affirmative Action, Top 10% Plan, College Quality, Freshmen Retention, College Graduation

Fit Into College: A Program to Improve Physical Activity and Dietary Intake Lifestyles Among College Students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 10-week program could improve physical activity, physical fitness, body weight, dietary intake, and perceptions of exercise and diet among college 30 healthy college freshmen. Outcomes were measured at baseline, and following the 10-week program. The weekly sessions incorporated constructs of the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change and were administered by fitness interns who were junior or senior college students enrolled in health-related majors. The participants presented with low physical activity, physical fitness, and poor dietary intake, and 50% were overweight/obese (BMI \u3e 25). Participants demonstrated gains in their physical fitness and their perceived benefits to engaging in exercise and decreased their perceived barriers to engaging in exercise and a healthy diet. College freshmen presented with low levels of physical activity, poor dietary intake, and excess body weight. A peer-administered program can improve these measures and favorably change perceptions of exercise and diet