It comes as no surprise that Ball State faculty and staff members engage in research. It turns out, though, one thing they study is the campus itself.
Sherry Woosley, senior analyst in the Office of Academic Assessment and Institutional Research, recently published such a study in the College Student Journal. According to her findings, a freshman's first few weeks at college are instrumental in setting the tone for their Ball State experience.
Students who are making friends, participating in activities and generally feeling pleased with their decision to come to BSU are more likely to see their degree through to completion, according to data collected from the Making Achievement Possible survey.
That's why the Welcome Week events scheduled for Aug. 20 through Sept. 7 are so important. It's why Housing and Residence Life sponsors programs to make students feel more at home in the dorms. And it's why Ball State used $3 million from the Lilly Endowment to start the Freshman Connections program in 1997.
Freshman Connections allows students living in the same residence halls to form a sense of community by taking classes together. Since it began, the number of freshman who return for a second year at BSU has increased from 68 percent to 77 percent.
Last September, the Policy Center on the First Year of College named Ball State an institution of excellence.
Of course, this achievement doesn't belong to Ball State alone. It belongs to all students who took part in the programs and took ownership of their lives on campus. They're the ones who have stuck it out and stayed in Muncie when the going got tough.
But Ball State's staff certainly deserves credit for providing the tools that make it easier for students to adjust to their new lives.
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