A K LEO T H E
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 to FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 28
Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
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New initiatives help incoming freshmen and graduating seniors
NOELLE F UJII News Editor Freshmen who have not yet declared a major and seniors who are about to graduate but face an obstacle will receive help through two initiatives the campus will implement next fall. The Office of Undergraduate Education will implement the “Exploratory Student” and “Come Home to M ā noa” initiatives in fall 2014, offering workshops and advising assistance. The goal of these initiatives is to increase the campus’ graduation and retention rates, according to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Ronald Cambra, Ph.D. “All of these initiatives that have worked are all based on one theoretical frame, and that is you cannot be passive if you’re going
to be a student here at the University of Hawai‘i at M ā noa,” Cambra said. “We want you to be active with us from day one.” The office hopes to find ways to actively engage undergraduate students in the campus, which is one of its central themes. According to Cambra, if students are actively engaged, they will become a partner and eventually a steward of the campus. “And if they’re partnered here with us, then yes they will graduate, and we will improve the graduation rates on campus,” Cambra said. Cambra said these three themes are important because as tuition increases, more of the fi nancial burden falls on student dollars. “And as that happens and as the value or the amount of tuition is charged, the length of time that a student stays with us become critical,” Cambra said.
E X P L O R AT O RY S T U D E N T S T RY D I F F E R E N T M A J O R S About 30 to 35 percent of the incoming freshman class did not declare a major upon being accepted to the M ā noa campus, according to Cambra, who said this percentage has remained relatively steady for a number of years. “ They’re in the category called ‘general,’” Cambra said. “We’re going to change that category to ‘exploratory.’” He said graduation and retention rates are still a concern. “The biggest population that seems at risk are the students that still seem unsure of what to do when they get here,” Cambra said. The initiative will include a way of identifying students’ interests early in their academic careers. Continued on Page 2
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