In order for any university-related program to be successful, it first must begin with a clearly defined mission and have the means by which its effectiveness can be checked. The way to determine if a program’s mission is being accomplished is by studying its effectiveness—or lack of it.

The mission of NIU’s CHANCE program is to recruit minority and other students who do not otherwise meet university entrance standards and to provide support services during the first year of college to help those recruits stay in school.

Currently, the program has about a 20 percent retention rate. This means 80 percent are dropping out.”

Although both the average ACT score of CHANCE hopefuls and the number of support staff has supposedly increased in the past six years, the retention level has not. Instead, it has declined by one-third.

Already, Board of Regents member Clara Fitzpatrick has voiced her displeasure with the retention rate, observing that any funded program should be closely monitored in order to determine its effectiveness.

But, according to NIU Provost Kendall Baker, “there has not been a retention study done (by NIU) in over 10 years.

It is about time that CHANCE representatives address this issue and find out exactly why these recruits are leaving NIU. This can be done simply by talking to those who have dropped out, and asking what could have been done to keep them here.

The program can not be improved until it is determined where NIU is going wrong. Studies of this sort must be conducted on a regular basis.

Not all the students in the CHANCE program are minorities, but most are. If NIU wants to increase its number of minority graduates, more should be done to improve the existing program before more CHANCE recruits lose out.

It is more than a small oversight that retention studies have not been done at NIU. Studies of this type are the key to making the retention rate what it should be—80 percent success, not failure.