Main: Undergraduate Student Experiences at Hunter College

INTRODUCTION
Founded in 1870, Hunter College has built a legacy around maintaining academic quality and providing populations which have been historically underserved (i.e. women, minorities, and the urban working class) an opportunity for higher education. According to its mission statement, Hunter College’s main goal is to, “encourage the fullest possible intellectual and personal growth in each student…. to inspire a zest for learning as well as to bring the recognition that learning is pleasurable and knowledge is useful.”

Statistics show that Hunter is having some difficulty in fulfilling its mission.In particular, Hunter experiences a below average retention rate. Fewer than 30% of Hunter's students graduate by the end of the sixth year of college, well below the national average of 45%.A 2001 study conducted by Hunter's Office of Institutional Research tracked retention rates for entering first year students from the fall of 1990 to the fall of 2000 and found that roughly 50% leave Hunter by their third year.

Academic dissatisfaction appears to be a primary reason that students leave Hunter. Another study conducted by the Office of Institutional Research (1995) found that 33% of 355 self-identified non-returning students stated that one of the reasons they were not returning to Hunter was that the courses/programs that they wanted were not available, 22% noted dissatisfaction with the learning environment, and 21% stated that they were dissatisfied with their own academic performance.

In the fall of 2001, The Teaching Learning Center (TLC) at Hunter College was institutionalized to promote more effective teaching and learning within the college. The TLC designs and implements programs to help ensure that students at Hunter are able to benefit as fully as possible from the education that Hunter provides.In an effort to explore some of the issues affecting Hunter College’s ability to meet its pedagogical and retention goals, the TLC commissioned a qualitative study to find out how students perceive their Hunter experiences. The study consisted of four focus groups and three one-on-one in-depth interviews with students.

This research project took place in spring 2002 and focused on students’ likes and dislikes regarding three areas of experience at Hunter College: 1) the academic environment, 2) the social environment, and 3) the administrative environment.It explored students’ opinions on a variety of topics such as: teaching, academic advising, classroom experiences, college culture, school clubs, the administration, registration, and the Orientation Seminar. In addition, the open-ended format allowed students to raise issues that were important to them.

The research project attempted to understand students' perceptions in the context of their own levels of academic achievement. As part of that effort, students were asked to describe academic behaviors and experiences and were then evaluated on the following dimensions: emotional and academic preparation for college, appreciation and enjoyment of learning, and ability to navigate college life. Based on the information gleaned from the focus group discussions and the one-on-one interviews, students were identified as belonging to one of three groups: 1) high achievers, 2) active adapters, and 3) low achievers.