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By Bill Graves, The Oregonian

Cristal Sandoval of Woodburn will be the first in her family to get a college degree when she graduates in June 2011 from Western Oregon University. Photo: Doug Beghtel, The Oregonian

Cristal Sandoval says she's on course to become the first person in her family to earn a college degree, in part because of the financial support, tutoring and guidance she's received during her years at Western Oregon University.

"They taught me how to prepare with study skills and how to organize my time," said the 21-year-old senior. Western's support programs for Latino students, she said, "are definitely key to my success."

They also help explain why the college completion rate at Western, unlike at most colleges and universities in Oregon and the nation, is higher for Latino students than for their white peers. Nearly 49 percent of the Latino students at Western graduate within six years, compared with 45 percent of white classmates, according to a study last month by the American Enterprise Institute.

The study, which averaged graduation rates from 2005, 2006 and 2007, found that at most colleges and universities, no matter how selective, Latino completion rates lagged those of their non-Latino white peers.

The lag in Oregon ranges from 4 percentage points at the University of Oregon to 15 points at Willamette University, the report found. Those percentages, however, do not account for students who graduate after transferring from one institution within the Oregon University System to another, officials said.

Nationwide, 51 percent of Latino college students earn four-year degrees within six years compared with 59 percent of white students.

Universities are focusing more on Latino students because they are the fastest growing population group in the nation. In Oregon, one in five public school students is Latino, and the number is growing.

As a result, Oregon colleges and universities are under pressure from state business and political leaders to ensure more students succeed and graduate.

Improving Latino graduation rates was a major theme at a statewide symposium at Portland State last fall and at a daylong summit last week at California State University at San Bernardino that was broadcast to other universities, including Washington State University's Vancouver campus.

"By 2020, Hispanics will make up 22 percent of the nation's college-age population," the report said.

The state Board of Higher Education is aware of the coming Latino wave and has launched a "Latino Access and Success" initiative to recruit and retain more Latino students, said Joe Holliday, assistant vice chancellor for student success initiatives.

The system is looking at ways it can help more Latino students complete high school and then support them "once they are in college all the way through to graduation," he said. "It is really the first coordinated effort we've had in Oregon on Latino success in higher education."

Western is a model for other universities. It has recruited Latino students such as Sandoval, a graduate from Woodburn High School, and has hired Spanish-speaking staff and faculty to communicate better with its growing enrollment of Latino students and their families.

Sandoval said she got strong support from a summer bridge program that helped introduce her to the university before her freshman year and by the university's Student Enrichment Program, a federally funded program aimed at helping students from low-income homes or who are first in their families to attend college.

Sandra Dominguez Carrillo, 19, a freshman from Hood River and the first in her family to go to college, said she's also relied on the enrichment program as well as the Western chapter of the Latino organization M.E.Ch.A.

"It is difficult when you are the first one" in the family to go to college, she said. "You have to work harder than other people."

The enrichment program, which is supplemented by the university, provides tutoring, mentoring, study skill classes, laptops and other support for 300 students "from registration all the way through graduation," said David McDonald, associate provost. "It is phenomenally successful. We have a 90 percent graduation rate for kids in that program."

Western has made dramatic headway with its Latino and other minority students, increasing their graduation rate by 16 percentage points between 2002 and 2007, putting it among the top 10 gains in the nation, according to a report by the Education Trust.

Latino students also fare better than their majority classmates at Portland State University, though the graduation rate for all groups is low, with 38 percent of Latino students and 35 percent of non-Latino white students graduating within six years.

Even with financial aid, tuition and other costs continue to be a major barrier to college for Latino students, said Martha Balshem, a PSU sociology professor and a special assistant to the president for diversity.

The university, which draws older, more mobile students who often must juggle jobs with school, has created a task force on how to help more Latino students succeed, she said.

"It is not only the right thing to do," she said, "but the business community and everyone else is concerned about it because the college-going rates among the Latino community will have a strong impact on the economy of our region."

On March 11, South Salem High School students enrolled in the Western Oregon University Project taught students at Richmond Elementary School about the importance of getting a high school diploma and pursuing higher education.

The WOU Project is part of Salem Keizer School District's college preparation program.

Various high schools participate in the program, in which a group of students are personally guided through the college application process.

Part of the curriculum involves mentoring other students, and South students talked with Richmond students about their educational success, strategies and aspirations.

For information about the program, call (503) 399-3000.

AIR DATE: Friday, February 19th 2010

When you call Western Oregon University student Kristty Polanco's cell phone you get a message in perfect English inviting you to leave your name and number, then one in fluent Spanish. She's facile in both languages, she's majoring in Community Health and is holding down a 3.59 GPA.

She's a success story, but there are other paths she could have taken. When she first moved here at nine years old with her family from Venezuela she spoke no English. She says her dad spent hours with her helping her study for a spelling test that other kids might have spent 15 minutes on. But she was lucky, she learned English fairly quickly and her parents were behind her all the way. At her Dallas high school she connected with the federally funded Upward Bound program. She'll graduate college this spring.

The conversation about how to make sure students succeed doesn't seem to be coming to a close anytime soon. The Obama administration wants changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Some of the best, brightest and well-funded in Oregon continue think about how to close "the achievement gap." Today we're taking a look at three different organizations that work to boost student achievement -- what makes them work, and why.

How do you measure student success? What have you seen that helps overcome obstacles to achievement? What barriers did you face in your own academic career? What helped you?

GUESTS:

David McDonald: Associate provost at Western Oregon University

Kristty Polanco: Community health major at Western Oregon University

Tom Cole: Executive director of Kids Unlimited

Tony Hopson: President and CEO of Self Enhancement, Inc.

Tagged as: college · finding solutions · high school · minorities

Photo credit: Self Enhancement, Inc.

I've taught high school and middle school English from the South Bronx to Eugene, OR. The holy grail of education right now seems to be eliminating the achievement gap -- primarily among students of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds. I struggled to help my students in the Bronx overcome seemingly insurmountable deficits. They lived in one of the poorest Congressional districts in the country. They were not properly nourished. Their neighborhoods were filled with medical waste incinerators, drug dealers, crime....too many signs that society had given up on them.

A difficult question for our society is not how to close the achievement gap, but why the vast majority of students who are at the bottom of that achievement gap are racial and ethnic minorities. Why are they concentrated in poor neighborhoods, largely in urban areas? Why do their parents struggle more with unemployment, hunger, disease, prison, and homelessness than their white counterparts? How can we help them?

For many of these students, no matter how good the school or the teacher or the curriculum, it's TOO LATE to help then once they're in school. Hart and Risley did a groundbreaking study related to this. By age 3, a child's learning trajectory is largely fixed and their vocabulary (which is a result of the quantity and quality their parents talk to them) is an accurate predictor of future academic success and IQ. So children who are behind at age 3 will remain behind throughout their academic careers.

What will work for all students would be to give them an equal start - to begin with parents and their infants. As a society, we need to educate their parents to provide their children with the things they need for optimal prenatal and postnatal brain development: good nutrition, an environment rich in talk and reading, quality play, a loving and nurturing environment. Parents do what is best for their children with the tools they have. We can provide many more tools and more support to parents so that their children are not behind when they begin school.

Birth the Three, in Eugene, is doing work to help parents here.

Harlem Children's Zone is doing groundbreaking work in New York City to do this same work. http://www.hcz.org/

I think that this early work is our best hope.

Amy Samson

Eugene, OR

I wish I could call in tomorrow morning to share my personal experience and opinion on this subject. Unfortunately, I will be in a meeting at work. ~Kilong

"What will work for all students would be to give them an equal start - to begin with parents and their infants. As a society, we need to educate their parents to provide their children with the things they need for optimal prenatal and postnatal brain development: good nutrition, an environment rich in talk and reading, quality play, a loving and nurturing environment. Parents do what is best for their children with the tools they have. We can provide many more tools and more support to parents so that their children are not behind when they begin school."

"Birth the Three, in Eugene, is doing work to help parents here."

"Harlem Children's Zone is doing groundbreaking work in New York City to do this same work." http://www.hcz.org/

"I think that this early work is our best hope."

"Amy Samson"

"Eugene, OR"

Right on , right on, right on!

You are exactly right, Amy. The achievement gap is a by-product of a larger issue. We need to look "upstream" to the root causes of the problem- namely poverty. Kids who are brought up in impoverished homes are more likely to be undernourshed, live in unsafe neighborhoods, be exposed to more chemicals, stress and violence. All of which impact a student's ability to do well in school.

We need to look with a wider lens at programs and policies that can help students achieve, such as access to health care, living wage and food assitance programs.

College intervention is often too late. Early childhood programs that feed smoothly into elementary school and through critical transitions in Middle and High School are most effective.

Sparkplug Dance in Eugene is a great example of an early childhood arts program that prepares students, parents and teachers to help students succeed. Through brain-based creative movement studies, students learn spacial relationships, collaboration and physical awareness.

Caldara in Portland and Bend is an outstanding example of a program that helps students successfully bridge the gaps between middle school, high school and post-graduate work. Paired with a practicing artist in an ongoing mentorship situation, students find a grounding home base as they move through their latter educational experiences.

Success in these programs is measured through self-confidence, level of engagement in school and community and ability to set goals for the future: skills that many of our students lack. Standardized tests measure only test-taking success. I would love to hear what other measures could be used to determine students' overall achievements.

To increase awareness and turn your brain into a computer that is able to to receive, process, and react at high speed to incoming information, ....do, learn, and stick with martial arts. It is a fantastic secret weapon as a learning tool. I praticed martial arts all through college, got a black belt, and pulled straight A's.

Some Jesuit Priest once said "Give me a child before the age of seven and I'll give you a Catholic", or similar words.

Well, I think we ought to steal that idea. Revise early education into building kids into the human potential they have, and revise parenting methods to do just that.

The gap between what we humans currently do and what our human potential really is just brings tears to my eyes. I have been around people all through that spectrum of possibilities, from some of the worst losers to the highest achievers, and I know that we can move the norm way towards the highest achiever side by changing parenting strategies.

We are very fortunate in that our two children have attended Portland Jewish Academy, which prepares its students for success from an early age through Middle School. The small school allows individual care, which I think is vital to success. When you look around the car park, you see many older model cars (we personally drive 10 year old cars), which reflects the sacrifices parents make because they believe in the education and caring environment PJA provides. )The school also provides financial aid to around 50% of the students, which is a huge percentage for a private school.) The kids go to high school more than prepared, and many are valedictorians. The majority go on to college. The kids also learn independent study and research methods from an early age, which prepares them very well for high school and college. PJA is also a candidate school for the IB programme, which is less common in K-8 schools than the high school programme, but which is a great preparer for later life, especially in this global age.

Our older daughter now attends Riverdale High School, which has similar educational methods and goals. Again, independent study and giving the kids a sense of responsibility for their education.

Both schools also encourage a significant amount of service work, locally or in the wider world.

Parents are very involved in the schools; many of them are involved in learning themselves at some level, so teach by example. An expectation that kids will take their education seriously is a given. This active approach takes a lot of time and commitment, not to mention money, but we feel this is what it takes for children to succeed.

Thanks for talking about this important issue. I work for Oregon Mentors -- the statewide partnership that works to expand the number of young people with access to quality mentoring relationships. There are more than 165,000 kids in Oregon who need mentors; currently 35,000 have mentors through the support of mentoring programs around the state.

Potential mentors can connect to mentoring opportunities at: www.oregonmentors.org. We host Oregon's statewide database of mentoring opportunities through more than 100 programs around the state, operating in more than 500 locations. Programs like Kids Unlimited, SEI, Mentor Portland, Incight, APSIRE, and many more, offer a variety of unique ways that adults can support young people.

Christina Mullin

Oregon Mentors

Portland OR

Mid Valley Mentors is another great program you will find in the Oregon Mentors database. We serve students in Marion and Polk Counties.

Tom Cole: Executive director of Kids Unlimited

Tony Hopson: President and CEO of Self Enhancement, Inc.

I appreciate what these guys and their programs are doing, but they are addressing pathology and symptoms and I would like to see prevention, to teaching all parents, before they even become parents, how to be good effective parents.

I'd like to see good parenting taught from early on in schools, in middle school if at all possible. Let's rethink education into considering that we want to raise good potential parents, for they are the future that will affect the future children.

Let's add good parenting to our goals of educating workers, citizens, and decent contributing people.

While I totally agree student success starts with involved parenting, caring schools and enriching opportunities for children, it's not too late to provide innovative programs and support for college students to assist in their success and retention. Numerous research studies document that student success and retention is directly related to student engagement and connection to the school of higher education. The TRiO Student Support Services program previously mentioned on your program, is a great example of how enhanced outreach, connection and support of students increases their success and retention. Another fairly new model is life coaching. There is a company (Inside Track) that has also documented through the use of control groups that students that are provided a life coach in their first year of college to support them, assist them with study and life skills, goal setting, decision-making, encouragment, etc, have a 20-25% higher retention rate, and 20-25% higher GPA than their peers who did not have a life coach. I believe as professionals in this field we must always be open to new innovative methodologies that will support individuals of any age to be successful in the pursuit of their life dreams.

RoseAnn Kennett

TRiO-SSS Advisor

Thanks, TOL, good show, well done, and well sourced!

Mentorship is an incredibly powerful tool in helping all students, but especially at-risk and system-involved students stay in school, out of trouble and to consider a future in higher education. Mid Valley Mentors is a Salem based non profit that provides volunteer mentors to primarily juvenile justice-involved students to support their education and reduce recidivism.

In Marion County 2855 youth were arrested in 2008. 42% of those students were failing two or more classes and 18% had already dropped out.

There is a significant correlation between juvenile delinquency and school failure. Mentorship has proven to be an incredibly effective way to help these students stay in school and help them avoid returning to the juvenile system as youth or worse, committing crimes as adults. A shared characteristic of system involved youth is a lack of support and guidance from positive adult role models. Something as simple as a positive adult role model in the form of a mentor can make change the course of a young person's life.

Did you know that according to a 2007 Marion County jail survey, 71% of inmates reported being high school drop-outs? Each year 700 adults reenter Marion County after incarceration. 73% of incarcerated adults are parents; many are parents of juvenile justice involved youth. If we do not help our students stay in school now, we will be paying for many of them to be incarcerated later, and the transgenerational cycle of juvenile delinquency and adult incarceration will continue uninterrupted.

Help us engage at-risk students in one-to-one mentoring relationships and break the cycle. As a mentor your simple, positive support as a role model for just one hour a week can mean the difference between a child ending up in the prison system as an adult or going on to higher education and becoming a successful, contributing member of society.

Our education system may be flawed, but even as it is, our community's children are much better off in a flawed system than in the juvenile system. Help us stop a cycle that is destroying our communities.

Become a Mentor.

Change a Life.

Suzanne Jorgensen

Mid Valley Mentors

I agree with every comment above to some degree. What people don't seem to realize is that we already know everything we need to know to provide a high quality education for every child.

The current education system provides a high quality education for every normally-abled, emotionally and physically healthy, auditory and/or visual learner, who comes from a family that values education--but whose parents also understand how to work within the system as an advocate for their child and are able to help their child with becoming a skilled writer. That is a small percentage of the student population.

Some differently abled children get a good education.

Some students with emotional difficulties and mental health diagnoses get a good education.

Some students with physical handicaps or chronic conditions get a good education.

Some students who are kinesthetic or tactual learners get a good education. Perhaps even some olfactory or gustatory learners get a good education.

Some students whose families value education but don't understand how to get one, get a good education.

Some students whose families do not value education even get a good education, but this is where the percentage starts to seriously drop.

Solutions to problems are easiest if intervention is begun in pre-school.

Solutions to problems are fairly effective if intervention is begun in elementary school.

Solutions to problems may sometimes be effective if begun in middle school.

CONTINUED FROM LAST POST:

Solutions to problems are most effective with high school children if they are somewhat intelligent. There is so much to learn for a student who is prepared for 9th grade, it's too late for many to meet math and language standards for college entrance, but it's also likely too late for them to be conversant in the culure of educational success that opens professional doors.

They can still pass the sort of GED tests that I finished five hours early, twenty years after my last high school class in most of the subjects I was tested in. Those who enter 9th grade functionally illiterate may do well enough to eventually have the fifth grade education that our dumbed-down society requires, unless--like Malcolm X--they have another reason besides limited intelligence for never having learned to read.

So, we need to figure out how to pay for and implement some version of every pilot program that has been shown to work but for which there is no political will or budget. There is also no way to get the teachers.

Some people go into teaching because of their love for teaching, learning, or children. Many teachers--some of whom are effective--go into teaching because they are unqualified for more competitive professions--law, medicine, and business. High pay and selecting teachers like we select doctors would replace today's problems with different ones.

Half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years. Teachers know why.

The Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference will be Friday, March 12, 2010 from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, celebrating 20th Anniversary of this conference.

The annual event provides a forum for Hispanic youth, grades 9 to12, to meet community leaders, take part in leadership and cultural workshops and visit with career and college exhibitors. This year there will be a notable keynote speaker, Edward James Olmos, an actor, producer, director and community activist

*note: Data was corrected, which led to WOU ranking 10th in the nation instead of 1st.

By Bill Graves, The Oregonian

Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian Andrea Arce (left) of Western Oregon University talks about college with Annalisa Sanchez after speaking to Latino students at Forest Grove High last fall. Western has led the nation in recent years in improving the graduation rate of its underrepresented minority students. Western has heavily recruited Latino students, the fastest growing student group in Oregon. It's Latino enrollment, consequently, has climbed by 70 percent since 2004.

About 10 percent of Western's students belong to underrepresented minority groups - African American, Latino and Native American. The six year graduation rate for those groups at Western, which is in Monmouth, collectively jumped from 17.5 percent in 2002 to 42.3 percent in 2007. That was the largest gain in graduation rates for underrepresented minorities among any public university in the nation, reports the Education Trust,a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that promotes high academic achievement in schools and colleges.

As a result of improvements, the gap in graduation rates between minority and non-minority students at Western narrowed from 15 points in 2002 to 3 points in 2007.

The Trust also named the University of Oregonamong 25 research universities that made the biggest gains in minority student graduation rates between 2002 and 2007. Underrepresented minority students make up 6.5 percent of the University of Oregon's undergraduate enrollment. Their six-year graduation rate climbed from 56.3 percent in 2002 to 67.1 percent in 2007, a 10.8 percentage-point gain that put them above the university's average non-minority student graduation rate of 65.3 percent.

Western's top ranking stems directly from its focus in recent years on improving access and success for disadvantaged students, including minority, low-income and first-generation students, said George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System.

The university has made it a priority to reach out to minority students, particularly Latino students. More than 20 percent of this year's freshman class came from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Western also has added faculty to keep class sizes small and provided academic advisers to help minority and first generation students who are the first in their families to attend college.

"It is no accident that as the campus has become more diverse, our students are becoming more successful," said David McDonald, Western's associate provost, in a prepared statement. He noted the university has developed nationally recognized programs in academic advising, writing and student enrichment that provide support to minority and first-generation students.

The Education Trust reported that about 60 percent of public colleges and universities improved graduation rates for minority students between 2002 and 2007. The Trust listed the following as some strategies that have helped colleges boost minority graduation rates:

- Partner with area high schools to better prepare students for college.

- Focus resources on the first year, when half of all dropouts leave, to ease student transitions into college life with summer bridge and freshman orientation programs and learning communities.

- Improve teaching in gate keeping remedial and introductory courses.

- Monitor student progress through intrusive advising programs and early warning systems that connect students with support services such as tutoring and counseling to keep them on track.

- Target grant aid to meet the full financial needs of low-income students first.

Western Oregon University Admissions Office is working with Salem-Keizer School District high schools to conduct a series of on-site admissions events in February.

The events will consist of WOU staff visiting each school and receiving completed applications for admission and transcripts. The applications are processed and students learn if they are admitted within an hour. The events are scheduled so that students can meet the WOU scholarship deadlines.

Three schools are currently scheduled for the admission event: McKay High School, Feb. 2; South Salem High School, Feb. 10; West Salem High School, Feb. 11. High-school counseling staffs of the remaining S-K schools are working with the university's admissions office to coordinate event schedules.

For information, contact WOU admissions at (503) 838-8211.

By Justin Much
Statesman Journal

MONMOUTH -- Timing an event for a sunny day is a prospect of luck during January in Western Oregon.

Western Oregon University was a recipient of such lucky timing Saturday.

Blue skies greeted hundreds of visitors as prospective students, parents and school counselors visited WOU for Winter Preview Day.

"It's a beautiful day," said John Finney, a counselor with Upward Bound who brought 12 students from Marshfield and North Bend high schools from the Coos Bay area for the day. "It was sunny down there when we left, too; we don't see many of these days this time of year."

Finney's 12 and another dozen from Myrtle Point and Coquille were among the longer-distance travelers, making the four-plus hour drive to see what WOU has to offer. Students and parents toured the university center, academic departments, classrooms, dorms and facilities, enjoying lunch as part of the event.

Student advocates led the tours, giving insights to their experiences while pointing out everything from geographical layouts to specifics of the ongoing construction projects.

"This has been a very good turnout," WOU admissions counselor Justin Strohmeyer said. "With students and families, we've had upwards of 400 people today."

"It's 425," a lunchroom ticket taker interjected. "Ask a food-service worker -- we know."

The visitors gathered in the Werner University Center's Pacific Room in the morning to get an overview, mingle and organize before the tour.

Strohmeyer said there were enough visitors that the lunch portion was split in two one group toured the dorms while the other ate.

Howard Kubli, a counselor with Talent Search, which is affiliated with Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, said he's been bringing groups up from Myrtle Point and Coquille for several years.

"I could have filled the bus today, but we were competing with a big basketball game down there," Kubli said. "I've brought as many as 25 to 30 students before."

His group was mostly juniors with a couple of sophomores and seniors. He's also taken students to the University of Oregon, Southern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon State University.

But he's partial to WOU.

"I graduated from here in 1986, so I have a soft spot for this tour," Kubli said. "A lot of these changes and new developments are huge improvements."

He was especially impressed with all the refinements around the Werner University Center, and the prospects of the Wellness Center under construction.

"They just put in a wellness center down there was SWOCC, and it's been very nice," he said.

Finney said the campus and amenities at Western have a particularly strong lure for Southwest Oregon students.

"The campus feels big, without actually being too big," Finney said. "We had a tour of PSU earlier.

"Growing up in Coos Bay and North Bend -- Coos Bay has around 16,000 people -- this is a much easier transition for our students than a place like PSU."

It also has a draw for transfers.

"One of our seniors from last year is now studying business at SWOCC," Finney added. "After she finishes up her AA, she's going to transfer here to study entrepreneurship."

jmuch@statesmanjournal.com or (503) 399-6736

By Justin Much
Statesman Journal

Timing an event for a sunny day is a prospect of luck during January in Western Oregon.
Western Oregon University was a recipient of such lucky timing today.

Blue skies greeted hundreds of visitors as prospective students, parents and scholastic counselors visited WOU for "Winter Preview Day."

"It's a beautiful day," said John Finney, a counselor with Upward Bound who brought 12 students from Marshfield and North Bend high schools up from the Coos Bay area for the day. "It was sunny down there when we left too; we don't see many of these days this time of year."

Finney's 12 and another dozen from Myrtle Point and Coquille were among the longer travelers, making the four-plus hour drive to see what WOU has to offer. Students and parents toured the university center, academic departments, classrooms, dorms and facilities, enjoying lunch as part of the event.

Student advocates led the tours, giving insights to their experiences while pointing out everything from geographical layouts to specifics of the ongoing construction projects.

"This has been a very good turnout," said WOU Admissions Counselor Justin Strohmeyer. "With students and families, we've had upwards of 400 people today."

"It's 425," a lunchroom ticket taker interjected. "Ask a food-service worker -- we know."
The visitors gathered in the Werner University Center's Pacific Room in the morning to get an overview, mingle and organize before the tour. Strohmeyer said there were enough visitors that the lunch portion was split in two: one group toured the dorms while the other ate.

Howard Kubli, a counselor with Talent Search, which is affiliated with Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, said he's been bringing groups up from Myrtle Point and Coquille for several years.

"I could have filled the bus today, but we were competing with a big basketball game down there," Kubli said. "I've brought as many as 25 to 30 students before."

His group was mostly juniors with a couple of sophomores and seniors. He's also taken students to the University of Oregon, Southern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon State University.

But he's partial to WOU.

"I graduated from here in 1986, so I have a soft spot for this tour," Kubli said. "A lot of these changes and new developments are huge improvements."

He was especially impressed with all the refinements around the Werner University Center, and the prospects of the Wellness Center under construction.

"They just put in a wellness center down there was SWOCC, and it's been very nice," he said.

Finney said the campus and amenities at Western have a particularly strong lure for Southwest Oregon students.

"The campus feels big, without actually being too big," Finney said. "We had a tour of PSU earlier.

"Growing up in Coos Bay and North Bend - Coos Bay has around 16,000 people - this is a much easier transition for our students than a place like PSU."

It also has a draw for transfers.

"One of our seniors from last year is now studying business at SWOCC," Finney added. "After she finishes up her AA, she's going to transfer here to study entrepreneurship."

Statesman Journal

WINNER Western Oregon University. The Monmouth college enrolled a record 5,654 students in the fall, up 305 from last year. Many students are attracted by the Western Tuition Promise, which guarantees a set tuition price for incoming undergraduates during their four years at the college.

Oregonian

By Bill Graves

A city street car rolls across the Portland State University campus where educators will gather on Thursday to discuss ways to improve the Oregon University System's student retention rate. Portland State this fall had 73 percent of its full-time freshmen from last year return as sophomores, the lowest retention rate in the state system.

Hundreds of high school and university educators will gather at Portland State University on Thursday to discuss ways to better prepare students for college and to keep them there once they arrive.

The symposium offers one of those rare occasions when educators from public schools, community colleges and public and private universities all get together in the same room to talk about a common problem, said Bob Kieran, assistant vice chancellor for research and planning for the Oregon University System.

Interest is high. The symposium has made room for 370 people and has another 100 on a waiting list.

People are very interested not just in retention and graduation, but in how do you get student success in a state system that has resource issues and how do you do more with less, Kieran said.

Like the dropout problem weighing down high schools, retention presents one of the most daunting challenges for higher education. On average, one in five full-time freshmen fail to complete their first year in Oregon's seven public universities and return as sophomores. Freshman retention rates have hovered around 80 percent since 2000. About 40 percent of entering full-time freshmen fail to graduate from Oregon universities within six years.

The percentage of full-time freshmen coming back to Oregon universities as sophomores this fall ranged from 73 percent at Portland State University to 86 percent at the University of Oregon. Rates for the other five campuses were 74 percent at Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon universities, 76 percent at Western Oregon University, 77 percent at the Oregon Institute of Technology and 85 percent at Oregon State University.

Educators meeting at Portland State on Thursday will review high school programs that help students prepare for college and examine university practices that help them stay there. Many of these programs focus on students who represent the first generation in their families to go to college.

As reporter Suzanne Pardington reported in The Oregonian on Monday, Western Oregon University has shown how a focus on improving recruitment and retention has paid off for its Latino students, most of whom are first generation.

The school brought Latino high school students to its campus for visits, hired more bilingual staff members and provided more financial and academic support for Latino students. The result Latino enrollment is up 73 percent and Western's freshman retention rates is higher for Latino students than any other ethnic group.

What else can schools and colleges do to help more university students succeed?

Associated Press - Salem Bureau, Corvallis Gazette-Times, KMTR-TV online, Statesman Journal, Victoria Advocate

PORTLAND, Ore._Oregon's public universities are trying to attract more Latino students.

In 2007, Latinos made up nearly 12 percent of the 12th-grade class, but less than 6 percent of freshmen in the university system.

The Oregonian newspaper reports that Western Oregon University in Monmouth is a leader in the recruitment effort. Since 2004, Latino enrollment has risen by 73 percent to 451 students, the biggest percentage increase in the university system.

John Minahan, Western's president, says the university's mission is to serve first-generation college students in Oregon, and a growing number of those students are Latino.

Oregonian, Victoria Advocate, News-Times, Register-Guard, Stateline.org

November 15, 2009, 7:00PM Thomas Boyd/The OregonianStudents at Forest Grove High School listen to a recruiter from Western Oregon University talk about programs and scholarships that can help them go to college.With stacks of college brochures and her own story as proof, Andrea Arce travels across Oregon telling Latino students that they can go to college.

It doesn't take a 4.0 and a rich family, she says at recent stop at Forest Grove High School. She never thought she could get into college or afford to go until she got a scholarship to Western Oregon University.

"One step at a time," she tells a student. "You can do it."

One student at a time, Arce is chipping away at one of the biggest challenges facing Oregon's public universities: Educating more of the state's fast growing Latino population.

In 2007, Latinos made up nearly 12 percent of the 12th-grade class and less than 6 percent of freshmen in the university system. About 20 percent of first-graders that year were Latino.

All the universities have increased their numbers, but educators say that hasn't been enough to keep pace with the students on the way and the state's need for an educated workforce.

"We're depending on these graduates to fill jobs to let Oregon compete with a global marketplace," says John Minahan, Western's president. "They need to be educated to help move our economy. Without that, it's just not gonna happen."

Western, a 5,654-student university in Monmouth, is leading the way.

Since 2004, Latino enrollment has gone up about 73 percent to 451 students, the biggest percentage increase in the university system. And more Latino freshmen returned for a second year at Western this fall than any other ethnic group.

View full sizeThomas Boyd/The OregonianAndrea Arce, coordinator of multicultural recruitment for Western Oregon University, helps Annalisa Sanchez, a senior at Forest Grove High School, after speaking to a club at the school. Western is making progress in recruiting and retaining Latino students, a fast growing student group.

University leaders say they are reaching out more to the Latino community by visiting schools and bringing students to campus, hiring more bilingual staff and providing more financial and academic support.

Minahan, who was the first in his family of Irish immigrants to go to college, says the university's mission is to serve first-generation college students in Oregon, and a growing number of those students are Latino.

"If we don't do these kinds of things, I wonder what a public school ought to do, then?" he says. "That's more than a rhetorical question to me."

Arce tells students at Forest Grove High to apply for scholarships, keep track of their activities and write their best essay ever for their applications.

Occasionally slipping into Spanish, she assures them that Western is a welcoming place for them and their families.

"People at Western really, really care about you and they show it," she says.

Arce, a 2008 graduate of Western and its coordinator of multicultural recruitment, didn't think she had the grades or money to go to college. But a high school counselor encouraged her to apply and helped her through the process.

"I had never seen anyone like me go to college," she says. "That's just not what people did in my family."

After the meeting, Annalisa Sanchez, a 17-year-old senior, says she plans to apply to Western because it's small and close to home. But Oregon State University is her first choice, because she's visited several times and it has a pre-med program.

Sanchez was born in Hillsboro, but lived in Mexico until three years ago, when her parents brought her back to attend high school. Her father, a landscaper, and her mother, a factory worker, did not go to college.

"They wanted me to get an education so my life can be different from theirs," she said. "I'm studying really hard because I want to go to college and get a career."

There's no question that Latino families value a college education, but they sometimes don't know what it takes to get there, said David McDonald, associate provost at Western Oregon.

The university has worked to demystify the college experience by hosting more students on campus, including 1,500 Latino students at an annual leadership conference and about 500 students at a day-long "Making College Happen" event.

Western has also worked to make college more affordable to everyone by guaranteeing the same tuition price for four years and increasing financial aid.

Other Oregon universities are trying similar strategies. The state Board of Higher Education has set improving the college completion rates of Latino students as a goal for the entire Oregon University System.

Last week, Chancellor George Pernsteiner tapped Alicia Ortega, Oregon State's associate director of admissions and recruitment, to lead the charge.

Nationally, the focus is shifting from getting more Latino students into college to getting more of them to graduate, said Deborah Santiago. She is vice president for policy and research for Excelencia in Education, a Washington D.C.-based group focused on Latinos in higher education.

"It's not enough to get them in," she said. "To really get the benefit of their going, you've got to get degree completion."

The six-year graduation rate for Latinos in the Oregon University System was 54 percent in 2007, compared to 60 percent for all students.

Laura Perez, an 18-year-old from Woodburn, is one of the Western students who might help improve those numbers.

She almost dropped out of high school in her freshman and sophomore years. But she transferred to an alternative school and worked full-time to save for college.

She credits Arce with helping her apply to Western and get a $3,500 diversity scholarship.

Perez said Arce made "a huge difference" by sharing her experience as a first-generation college student.

Now a freshman, she has gotten help from tutors and a free writing center. She's also taking an academic support class for recipients of the diversity scholarship.

Her parents, who left school after the eighth grade and got laid off recently, think she chose a really good school, she said.

"They're really proud that I'm going to school and that I kept going in my education."

-- Suzanne Pardington

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Story tags: andrea arce | latino students | recruitment | western oregon university

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Statesman Journal

Four-year public schools all see increases in student population

MONMOUTH -- Western Oregon University's enrollment hit another record high this year with 5,654 students, 305 more than a year ago.

The school's 5.7 percent growth mirrors a trend throughout the Oregon University System, which on Tuesday announced a record-high total enrollment of 91,580 students and a 5.8 percent overall increase from 2008. It's the system's highest percentage increase since a 6.3 percent rise in 2001.

WOU has 1,476 new students this fall: 967 freshmen and 509 transfer students.

All OUS schools saw enrollment gains: Eastern Oregon University increased 291 students, or 7.9 percent; Oregon Institute of Technology 402 students, 11.4 percent; Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1,649 students, 8.1 percent; Oregon State University, Cascades, 101 students, 19.8 percent; Portland State University, 1,385 students, 5.2 percent; Southern Oregon University, 22 students, 0.4 percent; University of Oregon, 879 students, 4.1 percent.

Of WOU's freshman class, 831 are from Oregon, with most of the rest hailing from Western states.

"These significant enrollment increases show the great demand in Oregon for higher education as students of all ages seek the skills and experiences they need to be successful in the workplace and in life," said OUS Chancellor George Pemsteiner about the statewide numbers.

Of the 5,654, WOU listed 4,697 full-time equivalent registered during the fourth week of fall term. By comparison WOU had 5,349 and 4,412 at the same juncture in 2008.

International student numbers are down slightly at WOU, 283 from a high of 305 last year, but WOU Associate Provost David McDonald said the school still maintains a strong presence of international students on the campus.

"Our enrollment of 5,654 was right on target," McDonald said. "We are growing the enrollment at a pace that allows WOU to maintain its small class sizes while also serving more students. We have hired new tenure-track faculty and invested in key support areas to ensure that students continue to benefit from a personalized education."

The school's graduate student population increased about 20 percent, largely attributed to a new master's degree in history and expanded programs in teaching and information technology.

Pemsteiner applauded Oregon's universities for accommodating growth.

"Despite the budget cuts taken by our public universities, the campuses have kept their priorities in the right place, which is on student instruction and support," he said.

Statesman Journal

MONMOUTH - Western Oregon University's enrollment hit another record high this year, officially numbering 5,654 students, 305 more than a year ago.

The school's 5.7 percent growth mirrors a trend throughout the Oregon University System, which also announced a record-high total enrollment of 91,500 students and a 5.8 percent overall increase from 2008.

WOU has 1,476 new students: 967 freshmen; 509 transfer students. The school noted that 831 of the freshmen are from Oregon, with most of the rest hailing from Washington, Hawaii, Alaska and California.

The school's graduate student population increased about 20 percent, largely attributed to a new master’s degree in history and expanded programs in teaching and information technology.

Of the 5,654, Western listed 4,697 full-time equivalent registered during the fourth week of fall term. By comparison WOU had 5,349 and 4,412 at the same juncture in 2008.

All OUS schools saw enrollment gains: Eastern Oregon University increased 291 students, 7.9 percent; Oregon Institute of Technology 402, 11.4; Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1,649, 8.1; Oregon State University, Cascades, 101, 19.8; Portland State University, 1,385, 5.2; Southern Oregon University, 22, 0.4; University of Oregon, 879, 4.1.

KEZI-TV online

SALEM, Ore. -- The Oregon University System reports that the state's public univerisities have reached a record high enrollment of 91,580 students for fall 2009, 5.8% over last year.

Some of the increases are as follows:

Eastern Oregon University: 7.9%

Oregon State University-Corvallis: 8.1%

Oregon State University-Cascades: 19.8%

Portland State University: 5.2%

University of Oregon: 4.1%

Western Oregon University: 5.7%

KEZI 9 News Reporter Heather Hintze will have more information on this tonight at 6.