A Success Course for Freshmen on Academic Probation: Persistence and Graduation Outcomes
Administrators at a large, public university launched a mandatory success course for freshmen placed on academic probation at the end of their first semester. We compared the rates of course participant and nonparticipant return to good academic standing; persistence to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years; and graduation (within 4 to 5 years). The chi-square test for independence revealed significant differences across all measures of persistence and graduation between the control and treatment groups. We call for an increase in credit-bearing success courses using applied retention theories in the curriculum for students on academic probation.
Contributor Notes
Shelley M. McGrath is the Co-director of Degree Tracker Implementation and before that Director of Academic Advising and Student Services in the College of Science at the University of Arizona. She holds a PhD in higher education from the University of Arizona. Dr. McGrath serves on various committees related to student success and social justice, and received the College of Science Distinguished Advising Award in 2006. She has worked in student services for the past 9 years, and her research interests focus on undergraduate student retention and educational barriers of underrepresented students. She can be contacted at smcgrath@email.arizona.edu.
Gail D. Burd is a Distinguished Professor in molecular and cellular biology and the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Arizona (UA) and before that was the Associate Dean in the College of Science at the UA. She holds a PhD in neurobiology from North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is recognized internationally as an expert on the development and neural plasticity in the vertebrate olfactory system. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she has served on numerous government panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She has received numerous awards for her undergraduate teaching, including several honors from the UA Mortar Board, the Director's Award at Student Showcase, the Innovative Teaching Award from the UA College of Science, the Outstanding Student Organization Advisor Award from the Dean of Students and the Sarlo Family Foundation Outstanding Faculty Award. She was also awarded Distinguished Professor in 2003. Her e-mail is gburd@email.arizona.edu.
We express sincerest thanks to the following people who contributed to the course and research: Dr. John Cheslock, associate professor of higher education; Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, assistant professor of Higher Education; Rebecca Mitchell, senior academic advisor, for designing the curriculum and teaching the course; the instructors, Barbara Collins, Rachel Hughes, Brian Smith, Kathy Godwin, Jennifer Cubeta, Christina Dentel, and Dr. Tom Fleming; Dr. Guillermo Uribe, Assistant Director, Retention Program Evaluation, Dr. Rick Kroc, Director, Office of Institutional Research and Planning Support, Dr. Joaquin Ruiz, College of Science Dean; and the students who participated in the class, who made a conscious decision to succeed, and were a pleasure to work with.
We also thank the anonymous reviewer who voiced FERPA concerns.
