Dispatches

By Ruta Patel

Editor’s Note: The follow article originally ran in the May 2006 NYIT Chronicle.

NYIT stands for New York Institute of Technology, however if you were to ask students, you would hear that it stands for “Next Year I Transfer”. Year after year, students joke about this phrase, but it seems to be a valid statement. Nearly 30% of students transfer out of NYIT after freshman year. Is this a large number? Why do these students choose to go to a different institution? Is this acceptable for NYIT?

To find the retention rate at NYIT Dr. Carol DeVictoria, Director of Institutional Research and Assessment was contacted. Dr. DeVictoria was able to supply the percentages of full time freshman retained each year. These percentages were then compared to both the New York state and national retention percentiles, they measure up as follows:

NYIT New York State National Average
Fall ‘99- Fall ’00 66% 77.5% 74.1%
Fall ‘00- Fall ’01 68% N/A N/A
Fall ‘01- Fall ‘02 73% 78.3% 74.1%
Fall ‘02- Fall ‘03 71% 80.9% 73.6%
Fall ‘03- Fall ‘04 71% N/A N/A
Note: Information obtained from HigherEdInfo.org

NYIT consistently fell below average, which seems to indicate that there may be a problem. If these numbers don’t increase, NYIT will continue to gain a negative reputation with its current students, as well as other schools.

After questioning students currently enrolled, many answered that they feel that the quality of their NYIT education is not worth the price they pay. They pay nearly $30,000 a year, but when they need help, they generally do not receive it – at least not right away. Students feel that they get the brush many times and that they have to go around in circles to find a simple answer. There are two general thought processes when it comes to the professors. The first is that even though some professors are knowledgeable in their field, they do not possess the skills to pass the information on. The other is that the professor knows very little about the subject, and relies too heavily on the textbook to provide information. Rarely do you hear a student compliment a professor.

Students run into problems with advisement, competent professors, and inadequate resources. Ashley Goldsmith, a Business major, stated that “[her] program was not what she expected; the professors were not very helpful. [She said] one professor went as far as to tell her to find a tutor.” Tutors are generally for students who need additional help; they’re not there to do the professors job. If a student reaches out his/her professor, the professor should not turn his/her back on the student. NYIT promotes their small classrooms and intimate settings; however what good are small classes if professors aren’t willing to help.

Some of the academic problems addressed by students can be easily addressed. NYIT already has in place a system to assist in determining which professors are doing their job or not. Each semester students fill out an evaluation form, which gets sent to the Office of Research and Development in Old Westbury. All schools are to return the collected course evaluations to the office no later than two weeks after the end of the semester. Once all of the forms are in, they are shipped to a vendor who scans the forms and
produces reports. That step can take about three weeks. When the reports are done the
vendor sends the reports back to NYIT for each faculty member and student comments are attached to each report and they are then distributed to each school. It is then up
to NYIT to notify professors that they can pick up both their comments
and evaluations. Some students feel that the evaluations have no effect on whether the professor returns or not, especially when a professor returns and their teaching methods and behavior is the same as the previous semester.

Students also feel that it is sometimes hard to find help in general around NYIT. A major concern is academic advisement; students are finding it hard to talk to someone that not only can help them plan their college path, but help them with related information such as graduate programs, where to go for jobs, how to prepare for the field, and other career related information. A Behavioral Science major, Penelope Sovaras, explained that when she asked her advisor about finding an internship, [the advisor] told Penelope that she would know more than [the advisor] does. How is it possible that an advisor wouldn’t know something about the field in which they work? It is no wonder that NYIT loses nearly one third of their freshman population. As far as advisement is concerned, maybe an evaluation should be set up for students to fill out to make sure they are doing their job and keeping up to date.

Currently, NYIT has several programs in place to help increase retention rates. Mid – semester evaluations have been re-instituted to help students who are having academic trouble. There are steps being taken to help students understand what is happening around campus including number of enrollment service events and providing financial aid packages to students earlier. Furthermore, academic departments should have been given a list of students who have not yet registered for the fall. It is the hope of the institution that the advisors will reach out to students. The most important program might be a college-wide Strategic Planning process that’s underway, with a report expected by May 15th that will help to outline the goals and vision for NYIT through 2030. Although NYIT has all of these programs, the retention rate has not significantly changed. When asked how long these programs have been in place there was no response to the request from the Chronicle for comment. Maybe the programs should be made stronger, because if they’re not “Next Year I Transfer” will not be something used in jokes, it will define NYIT.