UHDS News

OSU News and Communications (Aug. 16, 2012).

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will revise its First Year Experience program for new students over the next several years in an effort to help students succeed academically and improve retention.

A task force of OSU faculty, staff and students has been working on ways to help students thrive academically and personally during the first year. It concurs with what many national studies have found: The best way to ensure that students return for their sophomore year is to help them “connect” to campus in a meaningful way, said Susie Brubaker-Cole, associate provost for academic success at OSU and co-chair of the task force.

“What we’re seeking is a ‘high-touch’ experience for students during that first year when it becomes critical for them to interact in meaningful ways with other students, with faculty and with campus programs,” Brubaker-Cole said. “A lot of this happens in the classroom, but much of it is an extension of classroom learning that reaches into life on campus and the experiences you have as a member of campus communities.”

As an integral part of OSU’s initiative, first-year students will be required to live on campus for their first academic year beginning fall term of 2013.

“If you look at top universities in the country in terms of academic success and student retention, almost all of them require students to live on campus their first year,” Brubaker-Cole said. “The learning and community-building that occur in campus residences are focal points of the first-year experience.”

Tom Scheuermann, director of University Housing and Dining Services at OSU, says his office has assessed its overall on-campus housing capacity and will have adequate space for the live-on-campus requirement. In addition to the International Living-Learning Center that opened last year and houses 320 students, OSU’s on-campus capacity will get a boost from a new residence hall that is in design with a planned opening of fall 2014.

Scheuermann said on-campus capacity this fall (2012) should be about 4,300 spaces, which will grow by another 300 in 2014 with the new hall. And some floors in Finley Hall that will be off-line in the coming academic year, or used for office space, will reopen in fall of 2013.

In recent years, about 80 percent of the new-to-OSU freshmen have lived on campus.

There will be some exceptions granted to the new requirement, OSU officials say, though specifics have yet to be determined.

Brubaker-Cole and her colleagues are focused on the importance of boosting OSU’s First Year Experience efforts to broaden student success and deepen student learning. OSU’s retention rate for freshman-to-sophomore year is 81.4 percent, which “is actually good when compared overall nationally,” she said, “but it hasn’t improved over the past few years in ways that fulfill our aspirations.”

“We want more of our students to flourish here, earn their degrees, and benefit from the career paths that a college education brings,” Brubaker-Cole said.

OSU’s retention rate is comparable to its institutional peers, according to Brubaker-Cole, but not as good as some of its aspirational peers.

“It is important to actively build programs and support services that foster broad student success, and we know that the stakes are high for our students, their families and Oregon communities,” she said. “An Oregon state employment projection showed that by 2016, nearly 74 percent of high-wage job openings in Oregon will require a bachelor’s degree. We also know that college degree-holders are more active in civic life and are more likely to vote.”

Mark Hoffman, co-chair of the task force and associate dean of OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences, said the university is also working on ways to better connect students to campus resources, including the library, academic advisers, faculty mentors, Counseling and Psychological Services, and other resources.

“There are summer bridge programs to help students get their feet wet before they become full-time students,” Hoffman said, “and then we have U-Engage classes for first year students to help them learn how to navigate on campus and connect to all of the things it offers. Our next step is to evaluate all of the orientation programs and see what is working and how we can better coordinate the university’s efforts.”

Brubaker-Cole said students typically drop out for a variety of reasons, including homesickness, academic difficulties, finances, and psychological pressures. Friendships, mentoring relations with faculty members, connecting to programs that motivate and inspire, and campus support services can help offset the pressures that compel some students to not return after their first year.

“Retention is an issue that almost all universities around the country face,” Brubaker-Cole said, “and fostering a deep sense of belonging for all students in the university community is the critical foundation for college success.”

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Nov. 11, 2011] — Officials announced Thursday that nearly 25,000 students enrolled at Oregon State University this fall, a record total that includes a significant number of transfer and out-of-state students.

Overall, OSU’s student population is 24,977, up 5.1 percent from last fall. It’s the second-largest percentage increase of students within the seven-institution Oregon University System.

The numbers are based on an annual count of students during the fourth week of the term.

Among this year’s students, 1,804 are transfer students and 1,519 students hail from outside of Oregon.

A shaky economy explains the increase in both demographics. More people are likely to attend a community college and eventually a four-year university when unemployment is high, and budget woes in California and Washington have sent public university tuition in those states skyrocketing. That made Oregon’s public universities look appealing and provided OSU with its two biggest sources of out-of-state students.

Never before has an Oregon State University student been able to wake up in their residence hall and walk a few flights of stairs to their first class. Such will be the case upon the development of the International Living Learning Center.

The ILLC will be having its grand opening Monday. The ribbon will be cut at 4 p.m., followed by self-guided tours and an open house from 4:30-6 p.m.

The ILLC is a brand new building that serves as INTO’s headquarters, a residence hall, classroom structure and business center. It is home to over 320 international and domestic students, offers 26 classrooms specifically for INTO-OSU academic classes, and houses INTO-OSU’s administration offices and international programs.

“The ILLC was built to accommodate an increased number of students that would be attending OSU through various programs offered by INTO-OSU,” said Operation Manager Joseph Evans.

The campus resource features a brand new Cascadia market right next to Arnold Dining Center as well as Peet’s Coffee. There is also an all-purpose auditorium that can be used as a lecture hall. The classrooms boast state-of-the art technology.

“The total cost of this building was $52 million. UHDS is carrying the debt on the facility, paying for it through the sale of public bonds,” Evans said. “In other words, paying the mortgage through generated revenue collected from student room fees, sales from Peet’s Coffee, and Cascadia market and the space UHDS leases to INTO-OSU and the University.”

The residence hall is easily one of the most expensive on campus. The facility offers student housing, but it’s by no means cheap.

Per academic year, the student will pay $10,080.  There are three types of rooms offered in the building: double-room with a dining plan for $4,753 per term, double-room with a private bathroom and dining plan for $5,260 per term and single room with dining plan for $5,793.  There are private restrooms as well as public restrooms situated in the halls like other resident halls on campus.

“I like the class so close; it’s very easy,” said Doo RT Kim, who arrived from Korea one week ago.

Some classrooms are right next to floor lounges, where a glass wall separates the class and the lounge.

“It is easy to focus. The lounge does not distract us,” said Teng Jim Yan, a Chinese student who arrived three months ago.

International students who have classes but do not live in the ILLC agreed with their peers.

“I like my listening and speaking class, but the building has bad parking and is too far away,” said Faisal Alshehli from Saudi Arabia.

Parking is a common complaint among the students, as well as there aren’t enough Americans to interact with. The best thing, students agreed, is the conveniently located coffee shop and market place.

“Students seem just as focused as in any other classroom,” said Melody Slothower, an INTO-OSU instructor of two years. “No one’s showed up in their pajamas at all.”

Though ILLC instructors are doing something that other professors on campus haven’t, the overall mood is one of enthusiasm.

“The best thing about teaching in this building is that there’s more room, and it’s a unique place to work,” said Randy Garver, instructor for intensive English and lower-level listening and speaking.

Main concerns have to do with classroom layout and technology issues.

“The rooms next to the lounges have been a concern, but no problems so far,” Garver said. “There might be a technology glitch too.”

Moving past possible distractions technological glitches, another concern stems from the lack of interaction that ILLC faculty, students and residents are experiencing.

“I can’t interact with my colleagues as much because we’re on different floors. It takes a lot more effort to keep up communication,” Slothower said.

However, teachers agree the new building has amazing views from the windows and every resource is state of the art.

To learn more, search International Living-Learning Center on the OSU website.

Read more from The Daily Barometer. (Published Oct. 7, 2011)

Oregon State University, which expects international enrollment to surpass 1,800 this fall, is opening a 365-bed dormitory, half for international students, with classrooms and laboratories for a program that helps international students adjust. PSU already has one building, East Hall, to support international students and Americans studying abroad. PSU and the University of Oregon each may see enrollment for students from other countries top 2,000 this year.

Read more from The Oregonian. (Published Sept. 26, 2011)