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New YSU Policy to Help At-risk Freshmen Succeed
"YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A new admissions policy aimed at helping academically under-prepared Youngstown State University freshmen succeed in their college coursework will become effective spring semester 2006.The policy, known as conditional admissions, requires entering freshmen with low high school grade point averages and standardized test scores to follow a regimen of requirements that university officials say will ease the academic transition to college. "It's a step to help identify some of our most at-risk students that we have and to help increase their chances of success," said Tod Porter, chairman of YSU's economics department.Porter chaired a committee of the YSU Academic Senate that helped develop the new policy. The proposal was approved by the Academic Senate in February. "This policy is consistent with policies that have been enacted at a whole range of institutions," including the University of Akron, Kent State University and Cleveland State University, said Tom Maraffa, special assistant to YSU President David C. Sweet. "It doesn't change our admissions policy. We are still an open admissions university. This new policy simply helps us make sure that students have a good academic foundation that will carry them through their first year of college and beyond."As an open admissions university, YSU accepts any student with a valid Ohio high school diploma or GED. Under the new policy, students with a high school GPA below 2.0 and a composite ACT score of 17 or below will be conditionally admitted. In fall semester 2002, there would have been 113 students in this category enrolled at YSU. By fall semester 2004, only 60 of those students were still enrolled. Forty of those 60 had grade point averages less than 2.0, Maraffa said."We want to catch these students early on, make sure they are enrolled in appropriate courses and getting the help they need so they don't end up failing and dropping out," he explained.Conditionally admitted students cannot register for more than 14 semester hours in a single semester, are restricted to an approved list of courses and must receive the approval of their course schedule by an academic adviser. The students also must, in their first semester, sign a contract to work with the Center for Student Progress, which offers an array of tutoring and other programs. "A lot of what we're doing here are things that academic advisors are already doing," Porter said. "What the policy does is codify the process and send a stronger message to students."Visit Youngstown State University: www.ysu.edu"