September 14th, 2021

Hello, Bobcat parent and family members of first year business 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 and our first home Bobcat football game was on Saturday. 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 one-third of our new business majors did not return to MSU for their sophomore year. We recognize the pandemic impacted many students and their decision about staying enrolled, but 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):

• financial challenges
• personal or family health issues
• trouble making friends or "fitting in"
• academic adjustment issues
• poor institutional fit

To address these issues, MSU actively invests in programming to help students navigate the hurdles they face:

• career and financial education coaching and clinics
• free counseling and health services
• hundreds of student clubs and organizations, including seven affiliated with Jabs
• academic support -- including tutoring and help centers
• countless occasions for students to connect through Bobcat athletics events, high-profile speakers and campus-wide events and programs sponsored by the Office of Student Engagement and ASMSU

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!

Next time, I'll share my theories on the positive side of retention -- why students stay in college.

Sincerely,

Brenda Truman
Assistant Dean of Student Services & Retention

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