By Julianna Parker Jones
When freshmen start college after high school, they often are confronted with a major life change. No longer micromanaged by teachers or scheduled by their parents, they experience a new sense of freedom.
Many students thrive in this environment, but others struggle.
"These students have been micromanaged, and to be away from that management structure is stressful," said Alice Lanning, director of Freshman Programs at the University of Oklahoma.
In order to help students succeed in college, OU has several programs that specifically target freshmen with the skills and resources they will need at OU.
"We don't want students to waste time or money by not finishing their degree," Lanning said. There are many reasons students drop out before graduation, including lack of preparation in both basic life skills and academically.
"We find a wider and wider gap about what students are expected to know on graduating high school and what students are expecting to know when entering college," Lanning said.
So the university has a variety of courses, scholarship programs, mentorships and groups to help students make a successful transition to college life.
The newly built 35,000-square-foot Lissa and Cy Wagner Hall on the OU campus is a one-stop-shop for University College, where all students are classified before declaring a major their sophomore year, and student academic services.
One program in Wagner Hall the university implemented in 1988 in order to aid in student retention is Gateway to College Learning. Gateway is a letter-graded, two-credit-hour elective course. The class is offered to first-semester freshmen and teaches study skills, campus orientation, university culture and reflective journals. There are about 55 sections of the class each fall, filled with no more than 25 students.
"It's designed as a transition course for high school to college learning," Lanning said.
The class has been deemed successful, she said.
"Students who take Gateway tend to make slightly higher grades and return (to OU) in higher numbers than those who did not take the course," Lanning said.
That success rate also applies to other OU programs targeting freshman retention.
The President's Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Program also boasts higher grade point averages among its freshman participants. Freshmen enroll in the one-hour class with a professor of their choice during the fall semester. Faculty members volunteer their time to mentor about 10 freshmen during the semester, and the experience is free for students.
The program began in 1998 and involves 37 mentors and about 400 students. The Center for Student Advancement, which administrates the program, sees it as an alternative to Gateway, said Lisa A. Portwood, director of the CSA.
"They provide kinda a guide to help them navigate through the bureaucracy here," she said of the mentors. The mentorship program isn't a regular class, instead students meet throughout the semester with their mentor in different settings and activities. It's not as structured as Gateway and thus appeals to a different kind of student, Portwood said.
"What I have found as an experience is that students who are real highly motivated do well in this," she said.
Donna J. Nelson, associate professor in the department of chemistry, is participating in the mentoring program for the first time this semester.
Last month, she took her students, who are all interested in science of one type or another, to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and also showed them her version 3 Dodge Viper. She explained to them the science and mechanics behind the car.
"This way they get to see some unusually things with studying the science," Nelson said.
She said she wants to show her students other sides of science, expanding their perceptions of the field.
"I think it's a great opportunity for students to learn that science isn't something to be taught in the classroom, that it's all around us," Nelson said.
No student is required to take part in freshman success programs, but many of those who do appreciate the experience.
Paulinna Huynh, a freshman in Nelson's mentoring group, said she enjoys having access to a faculty member in a more informal way.
"I can talk to another faculty member that's not my teacher," she said.
Elizabeth Hoang, also in Nelson's group, said she learned a lot from the activities so far this semester.
"I think it's really fun and stuff, and it's really nice to have a mentor in the chemistry department," she said.
Students in Nelson's group said they learned a lot from Nelson's experience and felt more comfortable having her on their side.
The mentoring program, and all the other freshman programs, are designed to give students a helping hand for their time at OU. In the end, these programs are designed to help students succeed at OU, Lanning said.
"We want students to expand their horizons, broaden their minds, experience all of the opportunities of a research university -- and they are unique -- and graduate with a degree they can be proud of," she said.
Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com
