• Freshmen will be asked to complete a survey this week regarding their first-year experience.
• Faculty have already completed a survey regarding first-year students, which had a good return rate.
• Applications for next SOA period are due Friday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m.

Senior Associate Dean of Student Development Stephanie Quade addressed the retention of first-year students at Thursday's Marquette Student Government meeting.

The Offices of the Provost and Student Affairs are making a joint effort to improve the freshman retention rate, Quade said.

"We have a good 90 percentile retention rate," Quade said. "We are looking on improving."

The focus is on freshmen since students are more likely to stay at a university if they stay through their first year, Quade said.

Freshmen will be receiving a survey this week regarding their first-year experiences at Marquette, Quade said. She told MUSG senators to encourage their constituents to complete the survey.

Marquette is one of 24 universities working with Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year, a program that sets goals schools should meet to improve retention of first-year students. The year-long program began in July 2008.

The study also looks at the experiences faculty have with first-year students.

Staff that teach freshmen were given a survey a couple of weeks ago. Over 70 percent participated in the survey. Quade said she expects a good return rate from students.

The survey provides a look into first-year experiences both inside and outside the classroom, Quade said. The feedback will be used to find gaps and redundancies of Marquette's first-year experience.

"We are trying to leave the jargon behind and focus on self-study," Quade said.

The next step in the process will come in the spring semester.

The university will form eight committees to look at survey feedback. The committees will be focused in the following criteria: philosophy, organization, learning, faculty, transitions, diversity, roles and purpose, and improvement. Students will sit on the committees, Quade said.

She told senators the university might need the assistance of MUSG in getting students to serve on the committees.

The next step is to self-study the experiences of all students, from sophomores to seniors, Quade said.

In other news, applications for the next SOA period are due Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. This period will be for both sport and non-sport clubs, according to Jimmy Schott, a senior in the College of Business Administration.