Blueprint Retention Plan calls upon all to help

Margaret Ambrose, the interim chancellor for Southern University, has produced a student retention blueprint for the Baton Rouge campus that gives “a guide for each unit to use to develop their own individual plan for their individual departments,” said Ambrose.
She explained that the blueprint was the skeleton and the students, faculty and staff from the various departments, academic and non-academic, were to provide the meat.
Therefore, Ambrose has put into play a retention oversight committee, which is comprised of students, faculty and staff, that has been charged with bringing the blueprint to fruition.
Everyone is needed to complete the blueprint including facilities management who is responsible for keeping the buildings clean and healthy, the housing department being vigilant about giving students an atmosphere conducive to living and learning and student affairs who contributes to the cultural events said the chancellor.
Ambrose said Southern is losing students between their freshmen and sophomore years, so she needs everyone university wide because “our philosophy is to develop the total student not just academic.”
While the committee is drafting the plan, data is being gathered to find the cause of freshman drop outs.
In addition to appealing to the university, Chancellor Ambrose has appealed to Southern alumni. She said letters were mailed out soliciting their support and because Southern has to regain the alumni trust, she requested a nominal fee and explained what the monies would be used for.
Ambrose said she desires to expand on the textbook program which is spear headed by Carey Ash, the student government association president, and increase lab hours and tutors. For the athletes, one of the rooms in the F. G. Clark Activity Center has been remolded and turned into an academic counseling room.
When Ambrose attended the inauguration of the newly elected Gov. Bobby Jindal, he stated he was concerned with retention figures. Chancellor Ambrose was proud that “we didn’t have to react to the governor’s comments. We were already proactive.”
Ed Pratt, assistant to the chancellor for media relations, said that the chancellor should be commended. Although most of our students come with great grade point averages and great ACT scores, there’s a small population, because of some difficulty, that drops out. Therefore, the chancellor has begun the groundwork to ensure those students have a “positive experience at Southern and graduate from Southern.”
Business major Chris Donavy said that he thinks the chancellor’s slogan of “Recruit, Retain and Graduate” is great. He said for him, struggling in class would be a reason to utilize tutoring. The baseball athlete said it is mandatory for some of them.
According to an interview with WAFB-9, Ambrose said she has been around Southern for approximately 35 years and that 25 of those years were in an administrative position; she began as an associate professor in English. Although it was last semester when the blueprint was launched via mass email, she has been thinking about it for a while.
Seth Monaghan, an education major from Mandeville, said that an incentive could be to “award in class participation and attendance.”
In order to reward for participation and attendance, Chancellor Ambrose said that Carey will promote a project titled “Go To Class.”
Junior criminal justice major Joseph Griffin from San Francisco said he doesn’t have any problems going to class.
“I party all the time and I go to class. I think they (students) make a personal choice not to go class.” Griffin believes he has a balance. “I make the dean’s list every semester.”
Ambrose said her retention plan is ambitious and comprehensive; therefore, change will not happen overnight.