No sprawling campus, a majority of commuter students, many first-generation college students and the necessity to work make retention and graduation efforts especially challenging at urban institutions.
“We’re trying to make sure at a majority-minority institution, at a commuter institution, at a first-generation, access-focused institution that we do not take a canonical approach to solving this problem,” says Dr. Vijay Pendakur, associate vice president for student affairs at California State University, Fullerton, speaking about issues of student retention and graduation.
“Cal State Fullerton, much like many public-access-focused schools in the country, really struggled to connect historic commitments to access, which is admitting students and admitting a diverse body of students, with the reality of equitable education and timely graduation,” he says.
These are challenges that public and private colleges and universities both large and small in urban environments face each year. These institutions admit local students who show potential but may not be fully prepared for college. Many if not most students work part or full time and have family demands. Since they often don’t live on campus, too, it is harder for them to become fully engaged with college life. In addition to traditional retention efforts—tutoring, mentoring and counseling—schools take decisive and innovative steps to engage students academically and socially.
Utilizing resources
Monica Michalski, assistant dean of freshman studies and academic enhancement at St. Francis, a private college with approximately 2,800 students in Brooklyn, New York, says St. Francis utilizes Brooklyn Heights and Manhattan as extensions of the campus.
“In some ways, having the urban campus has been a benefit to us because we’re so centrally located,” Michalski says. “Students are excited about the resources here.
