Importance of and relationship between involvement and retention for black college students

This is one of my first enterprise stories; in it I explored the poor retention rates among black college students, and how on campus involvement among these students helps improve their college experience and encourage them to not only stay in school, but finish. Enjoy.

By Lalita Smith
The struggle is real for black college
students not only at Cleveland State but
across the nation—the struggle to not
just go to college, but to stay in college.

Studies have shown that one solution to
this struggle is student involvement.

According to a report released last year
by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), in 2008 only 11.8 percent
of first year, full-time black students
attending a public university, graduated
within six years.

A report released by Cleveland State
cited that black students comprised only
20 percent of all undergraduate students
in 2009—and a study conducted
by Cleveland State reported that only
14.3 percent of black students who were
enrolled in 2001 went on to graduate
within six years.

In the “Book of Trends” released last
year by Cleveland State University, the
reported retention rate for black students
between Fall 2011 and Fall 2012
was 46 percent, compared to the 70 percent
retention rate of their white counterparts—
and of the 2,066 bachelor degrees
awarded that year, only 352 were
to black students.

For years, black people have fought;
fought for the right to live free, fought
for the right to enjoy political freedom,
fought for equality and fought for the
right to educate themselves and their
children.

Black students today are free to go to
college, free to earn an education that
50 years ago may have been denied to
them—but the fight must not end there.

These same students now have to fight
to gain the education that is available to
them—a fight that it appears many of
them are losing.

Allen Smith, 23, who attended Cleveland
State from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009,
knows first-hand how hard it is to stay
in school.

“I thought I was ready to go to college,
but once I got there, I was just so overwhelmed,”
said Smith.
“I just wasn’t ready.”

What can be done to help students like
Smith get ready, instead of give up?

Research done by Dr. Walter R. Allen,
professor of sociology and the Allan
Murray Cartter Professor of Higher Education
at UCLA, supports the assertion
that student involvement is the simple
(and best) solution.

Dr. Allen and his colleagues at the
UCLA graduate school of education and
information studies have studied the
performance of minorities in college—
and in his book “The Color of Success,”
Dr. Allen reports that black students who
participate in social activities become a
part of the social environment of a university,
and as a result are more likely to
continue their education.

In addition, he argues that supportive
social college environments also “communicate
to black students that it is safe
to take risks associated with intellectual
growth…and increase the probability
that they will succeed.”

Marquis Brannon, 25, who started at

Cleveland State in 2007, can attest to
the importance of being involved
on campus. Brannon was a member of the
swim team and also pledged a
fraternity while here at Cleveland
State.

“If I wasn’t involved, I wouldn’t
be where I am now,” said Brannon.

The Office of Inclusion and
Multicultural Engagement has
recently created a new retention
initiative--the Navigator
Program--that is focused on
assisting minority students in

their goals to achieve academic
success, while at the same time
getting (and keeping) them involved
and engaged.

“We say it’s a continuous system
of support, from the time
you enter until the time you
leave,” said Dr. Charleyse Pratt,
assistant vice president of the
Office of Inclusion and Multicultural
Engagement.

The program utilizes the efforts
of trained “navigators”--
recruited individuals who support
and assist students and are
specifically trained to attend
the particular needs of students
throughout the various stages
of their college career.

“My vision in the long term
is that we would have like 500.
Right now we've got about 40,” said
Pratt.

These “navigators” are not just
students, but faculty and staff
members who are able to provide
students with the help and
advocacy they need.

Another facet of the Navigator
Program is student involvement.

“Research shows that students
who are engaged, who are involved,
who are connected are
more likely to be retained,” said
Pratt.

“If you create a space where
people can be involved, where
they can feel connected...where
they can get the help that they
need…that contributes to retention.”

Within the Navigator Program
and the Office of Inclusion,
there are various ways that students
can get involved.

A book club, three student organizations,
available learning and study groups and a weekly
Lunch and Learn event are just
a few of the involvement opportunities
offered to students.

With the support of the kind
of programs and opportunities
offered here at Cleveland State,
perhaps minority and majority
students alike will be able to
overcome the struggle and not
just go to college, but stay in
college.