2008 Woodie Awards
Who knew this is the real world?
Lakeland looks to improve four year graduation rate of athletes
Nicole Holland
Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: News
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Students like to procrastinate. Sometimes the big picture is not clear until crunch time. For freshmen in college, graduation is not the most important topic on their mind. They want to experience college, not plan to enter the real world. However, the real world does not start when students graduate. The real world starts when the decision is made to further their education. This is it.
Freshmen need to plain their college careers as graduates need to plan their lives. Lakeland College is unique because of its personal approach to each student's needs. Advisors are an integral part of Lakeland.
Suzanne House, instructor of writing and ESL and director of academic advising, has been in charge of the Academic Advising Program for three years. Each year she has organized Advisor Development Events. The most recent of these was on Oct. 2, which discussed 'Eligibility Issues.'
Eligibility is a term that is often linked to athletics. The specifications of eligibility as a student at Lakeland were covered by Kristi Vogel. Athletic Director Jane Bouche was also asked to give an overview about the eligibility for the student athletes.
The normal overview would include how the student athlete must maintain a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) and take at least 12 credits per semester. Bouche was prepared to just go over the NAC rules like these, but the event took an interesting turn at this point.
Instead of sticking to the NAC eligibility conditions, Bouche upped the ante. She pointed out the simple solution that she has Lakeland athletes following this year: To graduate in four years, take 15 credits each semester. Figuring out the math is not hard. Eight semesters multiplied by 15 credits is 120 credits, which happens to be the number needed to graduate.
There are cases when graduating in four years is not an option. Education and accounting are examples of areas of study that will require more time than four years. The students in these majors need to be more aware of how they use their time.
Freshmen need to plain their college careers as graduates need to plan their lives. Lakeland College is unique because of its personal approach to each student's needs. Advisors are an integral part of Lakeland.
Suzanne House, instructor of writing and ESL and director of academic advising, has been in charge of the Academic Advising Program for three years. Each year she has organized Advisor Development Events. The most recent of these was on Oct. 2, which discussed 'Eligibility Issues.'
Eligibility is a term that is often linked to athletics. The specifications of eligibility as a student at Lakeland were covered by Kristi Vogel. Athletic Director Jane Bouche was also asked to give an overview about the eligibility for the student athletes.
The normal overview would include how the student athlete must maintain a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) and take at least 12 credits per semester. Bouche was prepared to just go over the NAC rules like these, but the event took an interesting turn at this point.
Instead of sticking to the NAC eligibility conditions, Bouche upped the ante. She pointed out the simple solution that she has Lakeland athletes following this year: To graduate in four years, take 15 credits each semester. Figuring out the math is not hard. Eight semesters multiplied by 15 credits is 120 credits, which happens to be the number needed to graduate.
There are cases when graduating in four years is not an option. Education and accounting are examples of areas of study that will require more time than four years. The students in these majors need to be more aware of how they use their time.
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