2% vs. 5% success/retention rates...Why the fuss?

According to a faculty member and some students the colleges decision to set a campus wide annual goal for retention and success rates back to two percent; which was previously set at five percent the year before with hesitation from faculty, classified staff and administrators. So is reducing the percentage back down to two percent really that bad? The reduction rate is aimed primarily at African-American and Hispanic/Latino students.

Many object that lowering the rate will discourage students from trying to succeed. I would beg the question that, if a success and percentage goal listed on a piece of paper is all one is looking for to be motivated to succeed; a re-evaluation of why they are in college or what their long term goals are needs to be done. The motivation to succeed should not come from a document that a vast majority of students do not even know exist.

Some students have also argued that they are not properly informed about the services on campus or programs offered to help them be successful. In my opinion there is only so much the college can do to promote services and if students do not take the time, one to attend events on the quad or stop at the information booths the Associated Students and Inter-Club Council have out weekly, or two go to the college website and click on the student services tab to see what is available; then I am not sure what more can be done to inform students. To be quite frank, nearly all students are adults and it is up to each individual to seek out the resources they need to succeed in college. Students need to own up to why they are not succeeding. It is always easier to blame someone else, just remember as you’re pointing the one finger at someone, there are three more pointing back at you.

Everything we do in life is based on a choice, a choice to succeed or drop out and fail. To ask and seek out the help needed or sit back and blame others for not spoon feeding us the information of the resources available to us; ultimately the final outcome falls on us, not others. And for those raising the issues about the success and retention rates I ask, what about the other ethnicities? Why is the focus only on two out of the seven to eight ethnicity groups that make up all of Fullerton College? Shouldn’t their success and retention rates also be examined and see if theirs should be raised as well? If an issue is going to be addressed it should not be one sided, but benefit ALL the students of Fullerton College.

Until next time!

Joey McIntosh

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown