Ball State hired a new freshman retention and graduation specialist after former adviser Mitch Isaacs left in May.
Dillon Wyatt began the position in early August and was a welcome help to the retention office after spending the summer short one specialist, said Gloria Pavlik, Retention and Graduation Specialist.
The retention and graduation specialty began in 2011 when Gloria Pavlik, now a retention and graduation specialist, held the position. It was expanded in 2013 when Isaacs was hired. Both positions focus on keeping students at Ball State long enough to get a degree, but Wyatt will focus specifically on freshmen, while Pavlik focuses on transfers and sophomores.
Prior to becoming a retention specialist, Wyatt worked as a hall director in Bottford-Swinford and Kinghorn Halls for four years. That’s where Wyatt said he learned to love working with students first-hand.
“I really liked ... being able to develop relationships with students that may have been struggling or may not have found their place and seeing them succeed and grow into a successful person,” Wyatt said.
The retention program is relatively new to Ball State, and the housing department was originally in charge of working with students to keep them eligible and on track to get a degree. It’s referred to as the “front line” of student success and it is common that those who work in housing are interested in retention, Pavlik said.
The center uses a program called MAP-works, a survey for new students that pinpoints what they need in their university. MAP-works is one of the most valued resources of the retention center, Wyatt said.
“We help students become aware of the resources available to them so they won’t feel like they made a bad decision or they don’t fit in,” Wyatt said.
If a student has not registered for classes or their MAP-works indicates they are not comfortable at Ball State, the retention center will reach out. If a student says they may drop out, the retention center will reach out and set up a mentorship or other action plan, he said.
Ball State has implemented programs to give students of all sorts a connection to campus beyond their course load, Pavlik said. One of the most recent additions began in 2012 with a Transfer Student Ambassador program, which mirrors the commuter ambassador program, Pavlik said.
The program allows for student ambassadors to speak to new students about their particular experience and the differences they have as a non-traditional student.
“We now hire students who will serve as ambassadors to students in their first semesters, we designate the student groups by whether they live on campus or if they’re also a commuter,” Pavlik said.
Pavlik says transfer student retention has
increased since the ambassador program began. All student retention statistics will be available Sept. 5.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story misspelled Dillon Wyatt's first name. We apologize for the error.
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