Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss--What began as a research effort by a Mississippi State psychology professor now is a 10-year-old program giving the university's graduation and retention rate a significant boost.
Started in 1997 by research professor David McMillen of the university's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center, Pathfinder is based on the simple premise that, whatever their high school grade points or American College Test Score, freshmen who don't miss class have a better shot at academic success.
A decade of data--and a six-year graduation rate of 60 percent--support McMillen's thesis. MSU now has the highest graduation rate among the state's public institutions of higher learning, up from about 50 percent when the program began.
MSU's retention rate of freshman-to-sophomore students also is the state's highest, having risen to 85 percent from 76 percent in 1997.
"We estimate that approximately 1,000 students have graduated from Mississippi State who otherwise might not have completed their degrees," McMillen said Monday.
The program has gained the attention of other universities. At present, Pathfinder staff members are working with the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga to develop a similar approach.
Before he launched Pathfinder, McMillen conducted extensive research to determine variables influencing retention and graduation rates, including high school grades, American College Test Scores and class attendance.
"Class attendance was a huge factor," he said.
With that information as a guide, he and then-graduate student Ty Abernathy set about to enlist faculty members in joining the effort to record class attendance and emphasize its importance.
Supported by the Division of Student Affairs, they established a collaboration with the housing and residence life department to train residence hall assistants in how best to make personal contact with students who missed class.
Even the university's presidents over the years got on board by writing parents to remind them that their sons and daughters would benefit academically from good class attendance.
"It all started at a grass-roots level," McMillen said, adding that the most important component of the program has been face-to-face contact.
"Ours is a 'soft' message to students," he explained. "We communicate that we're glad they're here and that we want them to succeed."
Because class absence often is a first sign of freshman difficulties, Pathfinder works to determine if there's a problem and, if so, to encourage students to talk with their instructors.
"We try to recruit residence hall assistants who care and who believe in what we're doing," said Abernathy, who now supervises and trains all of the RAs. One emphasis is the personal responsibility students must assume in balancing academic and social schedules, he said.
"Usually, our contact is about two minutes unless a student asks for additional assistance," Abernathy observed.
While the program has support from the divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, as well as the institutional research office, it continues to operate with only Abernathy and two half-time employees.
"We believe this program has changed the culture at Mississippi State," McMillen said. "Students, faculty and administrators are beginning to realize the impact of class attendance and its importance for student success.
"We've done it using modest resources, and it's been a great investment," he added.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, telephone McMillen at 662-325-3936 or Abernathy at 325-0595.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.