1 / 13

THE E.O.P. ACADEMY

THE E.O.P. ACADEMY. Increasing retention for low-income, first generation students. Presentation by:. Laurie Dawson, M.A. Learning Skills Services Lecturer in Developmental English EOP Academy Instructor. Our EOP Students.

pearly
Download Presentation

THE E.O.P. ACADEMY

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. THE E.O.P. ACADEMY Increasing retention for low-income, first generation students

  2. Presentation by: Laurie Dawson, M.A. Learning Skills Services Lecturer in Developmental English EOP Academy Instructor

  3. Our EOP Students • EOP students at SSU are historically low income and the first in their family to go to a four-year university. • Our EOP FTF class of 2006 has 96 students, representing the entire state of CA, with 40% of our students from the S.F. Bay area, 25% from Northern CA, 20% from Sacramento and the Inland Valley, and 15% from Southern CA. • They also represent a wide range of ethnicities, with nearly 45% Mexican and Central American, 25% Asian and Pacific Islander, 20% Caucasian, and 10% African American. • They have a mean high school G.P.A. of 3.11. The mean high school G.P.A of the entire SSU Freshman class is 3.13. • 3% (3/96) of our EOP FTF are Presidential Scholars (high school G.P.A. of 4.0 or higher).

  4. History of Summer Bridge at SSU • Historically, Summer Bridge was an academic readiness program focusing on developing remedial skills in math and English. • Students placed in remedial classes were the only ones to attend Summer Bridge (approximately 65% of our Freshmen). • Students’ academic skills improved, but they had no contact with nearly half of our Freshman class. • A series of budget cuts reduced Summer Bridge from eight weeks to six weeks to three weeks. • It became clear we could no longer run a viable academic skills development program, and we spent too little time approaching issues effecting students’ social transition to college. • Summer Bridge was changed, and the EOP Academy was introduced in 2001.

  5. Current Program • Summer Bridge was changed from an academic support program to a social transition program. • It now lasts one week, and is required of all incoming EOP FTF. • Purpose is to help smooth the transition from high school to college, and begin developing a learning community among our students. • They attend Summer Bridge for one week, and then become part of the EOP Academy in the Fall.

  6. EOP Academy Model • During Summer Bridge, 15-20 EOP FTF live together with a student Peer Mentor. • They receive advising from their EOP Advisor, who becomes a mentor for them throughout their career at SSU. • They attend a series of workshops dealing with subjects such as Financial Aid, academic expectations, finding a job, and balancing school with home. • Each group forms a cohort that will take classes together in the Fall.

  7. Fall Semester • Student cohorts take English, Freshman Seminar, and a G.E. class, or English support courses, together. • Their Freshman Seminar instructor is their EOP Advisor; their Peer Mentor at Summer Bridge continues to work with them. • Cohorts are developed based on English placement scores. • Students take nine units in EOP Academy classes and six units or more in other university classes.

  8. Spring Semester • Students move out of their cohorts and take nine units of classes with other EOP FTF. • These include their next level English class, G.E. courses, and electives. • They take nine units in EOP Academy classes; six or more units in other university classes. • They maintain their advising relationship with their EOP Advisor throughout the time they are at SSU.

  9. Academic Department Involvement EOP Academy offers courses from: • American Multicultural Studies • English • Education • Learning Skills Services • Mathematics • Philosophy • Sociology • University Studies All courses are part of the regular university, and are suported through the General Fund.

  10. Changes in EOP Retention • 1991-2000 EOP FTF 1 year retention rate = 74.45% • 2001-2004 EOP FTF 1 year retention rate = 83.50% • 1991-2000 EOP FTF 2 year retention rate = 57.44 • 2001-2004 EOP FTF 2 year retention rate = 67.5%

  11. EOP Compared to All FTF • 2001-2004 EOP FTF 1 year retention rate = 83.5% • 2001-2004 SSU FTF 1 year retention rate = 81.5% • 2001-2004 EOP FTF 2 year retention rate = 67.3% • 2001-2004 SSU FTF 2 year retention rate = 67.5%

  12. Conclusions • 1 year and 2 year retention rates of EOP FTF have significantly increased since introduction of EOP Academy. • 1 year and 2 year retention rates of EOP FTF are comparable to the rates of all SSU FTF since introduction of EOP Academy. • We have great hopes that these increased retention rates will lead to increased graduation rates for our EOP students.

  13. For more information on the EOP Academy, please contact: Bruce Peterson, M.S. Senior Program Specialist Advising, Career, and EOP Services Sonoma State University (707) 664-3077 peterson@sonoma.edu

More Related