According to some Shaw University officials, the better first year students are getting ahead, while the worst are on vacation. According to the Office of Institutional Research, Shaw University’s first year students who attended summer school 2010 earned an average of 33.5 credit hours after their first year versus the students who did not.
According to the Office of Institutional Research, 612 degree-seeking first year students entered in fall 2009 and 508 students returned for the spring semester. After the academic year only 106 first year students are now sophomores, this leaves 79 percent that did not advance to their sophomore year according to the Office of Institutional Research.
Director of First Year Students Program, Dr. Cynthia Graham said, “I think first year students come in and are not as focused on their studies as they should be.” Graham says that first year students should plan early to attend summer school by looking at their grade point averages and academic progress. According to Graham, by doing this it will help students determine if they need to attend summer school or not.
First year Sociology major, Isaiah Daniels agrees with Graham saying, “summer school offered me a much needed life line and opportunity to focus on my academics and raise my grade point average.” According to the Office of Institutional Research, out of the 83 percent first year students less than a quarter of them are in summer school. The 102 first year students who did attend summer school average grade point average is 2.656, while the 80 percent who did not attend summer school average grade point average was 1.831 according to the Office of Institutional Research.
First year, Business Administration Major, Rashameka Housen is also attending summer school and was one of the fall 2009 students who was sentenced on academic probation because of her grades and lack of focus. Housen said, “To better myself as a student, I am going to study more and cut back on the partying, hanging out, and staying up late.” First year, Elementary Education major, Mary Prim said she came to summer school to boost her grade point average. Prim said, “Being active in a lot of on and off campus activities caused me to lose focus on the more important things like education.” While some students are attending summer school to better themselves, others are attending for further reasons. Freshman, Early Childhood Education major, Camille Styles states, “I am in summer school because I want to be, not because I have or need to.” Sophomore Political Science major, James Parker says that he is using this summer school session to get ahead, boost his grade point average and prepare him for reaching his goal of graduating early. Parker said, “Unlike most of my first year comrades I found a balance between my academics and participating in on and off campus activities.”
Parker and Styles both advise first year students who have missed this summer school session and incoming first year students to take every opportunity that is given to them, including summer school. “Do not come because your friends are here, come because you want to be here and that you believe that you will have the determination and focus needed to excel,” said Styles. Kenneth Hinton, Assistant Professor of Theatre said, “For me, teaching first year students requires patience because I have to deal with them not only being on their own for the first time, but I also have to deal with their level of responsibility.” Since such a small amount of students are in summer school, but a great number of them did not advance or are not in good academic standing, teachers and faculty think there should have been a better outcome of first year students attending summer school. Hinton stated that he encourages first year students who have low grade point averages and are not doing well to attend summer school because it gives them a chance at improvement.
To get more first year students to attend summer school Brian Cumberbatch, Senior Data Analyst for the Department of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research says that students should be encouraged by their advisor and program coordinators to attend summer school and remain in good academic standing.