7/16/2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University's efforts to provide high quality education to first generation, income eligible, underrepresented students who have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity was recognized with a 2003 Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award.
MSU was one of nine colleges and universities recognized July 13 at the 2003 National Conference on Student Retention in San Diego.
MSU's SUPER (Summer University Program Excellence Required) program, which has been in existence since1988, was selected to receive the award.
Institutional awards recognize integrated and successful retention achievements in multiple programs. Selection criteria include identifiable and measurable institutional outcomes; originality and creativity in program conception or implementation; adaptability for use at other institutions; clarity of focus; and use of resources.
The awards program and conference were sponsored by Noel-Levitz, an operating division of SALLIE MAE and a national higher education consulting firm.
SUPER is a bridge program for incoming students who come to MSU the summer after high school graduation for an early orientation to campus. Since 1995, approximately 35 students per year have been selected to participate in the program.
"As a summer bridge program, SUPER gives students a 'head start' to their college career. The program teaches them critical academic success strategies as they learn about campus and its resources while earning academic credits," said Lee June, MSU vice president of student affairs and services and assistant provost. "Over the years, participants in the program have consistently had a higher freshman-to-sophomore persistence rate. The program is consistent with our goal of having high quality programs that maximize a student's chance of graduating."
More than 425 College Achievement Admission Program (CAAP) students enter the university each year. As a subset of the university's CAAP program, SUPER has an average first-year persistence rate for cohorts from 1995 to 2001 of 84.6 percent. Since its re-engineering in 1995, the program has raised the first-to-second year retention rate for SUPER students by 5.7 percent.
"Many SUPER students are brought face to face with the social and systematic challenges that grip our society, and it is truly their ability to rebound and persevere that play heavily into our retention," said Betty Sanford, SUPER program coordinator. "A multi-year study of persistence rates for first-time undergraduates at MSU showed an 83 percent retention rate for SUPER students, which is 1.2 percentage points higher than the 81.8 percent rate for all minority students. Many SUPER students are very grateful for this opportunity and they apply themselves in order to get ahead and to be competitive in a Big Ten university."
In the eight-week summer program, SUPER students are challenged to complete 11-14 credits of college-level coursework in math, composition, social science and learning strategies seminars. They also follow a structured support plan of required study halls and advising sessions, participate in interpersonal and life skills sessions, group residence hall activities and take classes as a cohort group.
The statistical success of SUPER is amplified by the overall satisfaction of participants as reflected in evaluations of their SUPER experience, Sanford said.
"Evaluations from the current cohort revealed that 75 percent of students believe SUPER has helped enhance their organizational skills, 80 percent believe the program has improved their time management skills and 85 percent say they have improved their study skills," Sanford noted.
Classes conclude Aug. 8. An anniversary reception and awards dinner will be held Aug. 1. SUPER is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, with the theme of "Keeping the Tradition of Excellence."
"It is gratifying to see the SUPER program and its staff honored so appropriately," said Renee Sanders-Lawson, director of the Office of Supportive Services. "The Noel-Levitz student retention national recognition is not only an honor for the SUPER program but also for the Office of Supportive Services and MSU."
For more information on the SUPER program, visit the Web at www.msu.edu/~oss/Superx