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Keir Bickers taffe • editor in chief
Amy Broach • business manager
Courtney Christian • news editor
Ben Thorne • features editor
Lindsay Oldenski • editorials editor
Adam Lucas • sports editor
Kelly Davis • back page editor
Sara Johnson • photography editor
Olivia Riordan • layout editor
Jeannie Dahlhauser • copy editor
John Cocking • online editor
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Alice Reid • circulation manager
office manager
JeffJeske • advisor
STAFF
Irene Kelly • Owen Finberg • Damian Deßello • Dan Morse
Dan Milgrom • Lauren Gill • George Binns • Damian Miller
Amy Newsome • Cory Birdwhistell • Stacey Vincent
Kelly Davis • Greg Rinaldi 'Julie Kauffman • Ben Ford
STAFF MEETINGS ARE MONDAYS AT 7:15 P.M. IN THE PASSION PIT
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND
THE GUILFORDIAN
Box 17717, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC 27410
(910) 316-2306 • FAX (910) 316-2950
GUILFORDIAN@RASCAL.GUILFORD.EDU
BEG YOUR PARDON
The Guilfordian seekes to correct all errors. If one
is noticed please contact us via any of the above
means and we will print a correction the following
week in this box. Thank you.
INQUIRING PHOTOGRAPHER
"Do you feel campus staff are treated fairly?"
I feel that especially some No worker deserves to be I think the cafeteria workers
of the older black workers mistreated or underpaid. and maintenance got
have been treated unfairly. . Katie Downing, first-year shafted. They get to drive
Now that there's tension, I around In the little carts, but
hope action is taken. besides that, it sucks.
- Clifton Howard, Junior . Haley Woodward, first-year
I think everyone is treated the I think a lot of the students
same on a person-to-person give props to the
level, but as I understand the maintenance people. They're
pay policy Isn't very fair. just as respected as anyone
- Joshua Inklovish, sophomore else here.
- Benjamin Marks, first-year
The Guilfordian
news
Enrollment problems lurk
behind record retention
AMY BROACH
business manager
The picture is never totally rosy.
While Guilford boasted an 87%
retention of 1995's new students,
total enrollment dropped to 1,060
this fall.
Dan Poteet, provost, seemed
excited about the numbers. "Ev
eryone at the college is pleased
with retention," said Poteet. The
Class of 1999's retention of 87%
overcame the recent high of 81%
and surpassed the Guilford reten
tion average of 73%.
The provost credits the entire
Guilford community for the suc
cess. He gave particular credit to
the first-year program headed by
Anne Lundquist and to the Admis
sions office. The Admissions of
fice did an excellent job of "pick
ing students that are likely to suc
ceed at Guilford," Poteet said.
Anne Lundquist agreed, saying
that "retention reflected positively
on the new (first-year program)
initiatives. "For last year's first
year students, an effort was made
Revamped first-year
program helped retention
"Guilford seems to have found the key to
revolving door students," says Ken Burke.
Over the past few years Guilford has been
seeing a steady decline in returning fresh
man, but thanks to an aggressive change in
programming the statistics on student
retenting are looking much brighter.
The main objective was to make the col
lege transition easier for first-year students
by better preparing them before starting their
college career as well as providing them with
assistance and support throughout.
Guilford began by stressing the schools'
commitment to diversity and the community
while recruiting new students. Jami Smyth,
a returning sophomore at Guilford, says, "It
means a lot to people these days to find a
school that is interested in the world outside
of sports and academics."
Guilford took into consideration the spe
cial counseling needs of new students. They
created the "First-Year Center" where first
year students can find all of the answers,
support, or advice they need. Also, there is
a new mentor program where underclassmen
volunteer to aid freshmen during the transi
tional period. Even the academic advising
program was given a much needed boost.
The regular orientation program has also
been modified to help 'newbies' adjust, as
well as survive registration. Last, but far
from least, is Guilford's secret weapon for
new students—Avanti.
September 20,1996
to have first-year students' advi
sors be a part of classroom instruc
tion. For many, this meant having
FYS instructors as advisors."
The future looks brighter with
even more efforts for this year's
first-year students. The highly ac
claimed CHAOS and Avanti pro
grams were considered more effec
tive and popular than the former
SOS orientation.
The August 21,1996 edition of
"USA Today" featured Guilford's
Avanti program, and the partici
pants of CHAOS will appear on
"Good Morning America" on Oc
tober 11. The new first-year advi
sory board will start up soon, and
the first-year center is open and
active on the second floor of Hege
Library.
What are the costs of all these
advancements? Lundquist said
"the average cost of the programs
would be approximately S2OO per
first-year student."
However, as the star of Guilford
shines brightly, there is a dark hole
in the picture: enrollment. The
STACEY VINCENT
staff writer
total enrollment of 1,060 "some
what concerns" the Provost. How
ever, he says, "I believe that the
decrease in enrollment is tempo
rary." Poteet insists that "if reten
tion remains good, enrollment will
grow.
Management professor Bill
Steven disagrees. "Total enroll
ment at a college is affected by a
number of factors, including the
number of initial inquiries, the per
cent of those inquiries converted
to applications, the percent of ap
plications accepted, the percent of
accepted students that enroll, and
retention rate," said Stevens.
Stevens said that while the re
tention and acceptance (83%) rates
were high, the number of applica
tions received have just recovered
from a dramatic two-year decline
that saw the lowest numbers in
decades.
Stevens emphasizes that enroll
ment will suffer with the current
low number of applications.
"Without an adequate number of
applications, it will be difficult to
maintain enrollment," he said.
Though the name is reminiscent of a
cheap bottle of wine, the taste is far sweeter.
Avanti is an optional one-to-three day ori
entation where incoming students spend time
being introduced to all of the benefits
Guilford has to offer through many differ
ent means. Whether through a rock-climb
ing trip or a historical tour of North Caro
lina, new students have the opportunity to
gain insight into the year that awaits them.
When the Avanti students return from
their adventures, the rest of their class mem
bers are arriving and CHAOS begins.
CHAOS replaces the former SOS orienta
tion program and is required for all first-year
students.
Students who have participated in Avanti
seem to be much more stable and confident.
Smyth says some of her friends who partici
pated find themselves counseling other first
year students —and occasionally a wary
uppperclassman.
The drive behind the program changes
not only benefit the students, but by increas
ing the school's rate of student retention it
has added to Guilford's tuition revenues.
According to Dan Poteet, provost at Guilford
College, the changes cost the school approxi
mately $50,000, but by having last years'
new students return it has added over
$350,000 in revenues.
This year's retention rate is 87%, a tre
mendous improvement from last years' 73%.
Many feel that Guilford's success has set the
path for other colleges to follow —again.