September 10th, 2024
 |
|
Hello, Bobcat parent and family members of first-year students,What a great start to the semester! There have been plenty of events and activities to connect students with our college and the university -- student clubs are meeting, our first Bobcat football home game of the season is in the books, students gave the "M" a new coat of paint, and we even hosted a campus-wide academic treasure hunt. It feels good to be on campus! Part of the reason I love this email series is the ability to connect with you and, to be honest, to enlist your help. We have a challenge here in the college -- last year, about 25% of our new business majors did not return to MSU for their sophomore year. Based on historical retention studies, there are numerous reasons students do not persist. Retention research tells us that students leave college for a handful of primary reasons (or a combination of them):
To address these issues, MSU actively invests in programming to help students navigate the hurdles they face:
I see our business students struggling with these same primary challenges, but sometimes, students elect business as their major when they don't know what else to choose. Who can blame them? Business is a practical major with plenty of employment opportunities after graduation. It's also a challenging major with quantitative classes like math and economics. After a semester or two of business courses, some students start to realize business isn't a good fit for their strengths, interests or goals. And that's okay! Business isn't for everyone, but our goal is to help students find the major that best fits their interests and aptitude. If you hear some of these comments from your student, please encourage them to meet with their academic advisor, who, in working with campus colleagues, will help them explore options and find their academic home at MSU. Next time, I'll share my theories on the positive side of retention -- why students stay in college.
Sincerely,  Brenda Truman |
|
|
