UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHES MINORITY MENTOR PROGRAM

Southeast Missouri State University will establish a minority mentor program, effective next fall, to recruit academically talented minority students.

The university plans to offer 10 beginning freshmen students a work-study arrangement in which they would receive $1,000 each for the 1993-94 academic year in exchange for working in various university departments, said Admissions Director Juan Crites.

"Most of it will likely go to help pay for their tuition, but a small portion will go to the students," she said.

Applications are already being accepted. The students will be chosen on a competitive basis.

"We are trying to identify students who are qualified academically and show potential leadership," said Crites.

Ellen Moss, program coordinator, said the program is not just for black students. "It's for all minorities."

She said students must have an ACT score of 21 or higher, demonstrate good academic performance in high school and involvement in extra-curricular activities, and have financial needs.

Moss said the program was developed by the admissions office to provide a means of attracting quality minority students. "We needed to come up with something for minority students because minority students are a tough commodity to get these days because they are in demand."

Colleges and universities nationwide are competing to attract such students.

"A lot of them that were in financial need were going elsewhere," said Moss. Part of the problem, she said, is that many universities offer a large number of minority scholarships. Southeast, on the other hand, offers few minority scholarships.

Last fall, Southeast had an undergraduate enrollment of 7,774. Of that total, 541 were minority students, enrollment records show.

The minority enrollment consisted of 480 blacks, 34 Asian Americans and 27 Hispanics. International students are not counted as Asian Americans, university officials said.

Minority students accounted for 6.9 percent of undergraduate enrollment last semester, officials said.

The overall retention rate for students at Southeast is 66.4 percent. For white students, it's 67.4. percent. But for minorities, the figure is 56.2 percent.

The latest retention rate is calculated on the basis of students who began taking classes at Southeast in the fall of 1990, completed their first year and returned in the fall of 1991 for their third semester.

Crites said the university wants to increase its enrollment of minority students who will do well in school. "That is what we are looking for. We are looking for students who can graduate."

A key part of the new program is the mentor aspect. The students will be assigned mentors, who they can turn to for advice.

"Besides guaranteeing a student a job, the student's boss or someone in the department will be their mentor so it involves more than just an on-campus job," said Moss.

Crites said the mentor program was patterned after one established by the university for Governor's Scholars.

She said the mentors give students someone to turn to for advice. "Can you recommend a travel agent? Where can I find a part-time job? There are so many reasons that you would want to have someone that you could turn to," said Crites.

Both Crites and Moss hope the new program will prove successful and ultimately be expanded.

"We thought we would try this for a year and see how it works," said Moss.

In the past, she said, the university has had little to offer minority students in comparison with many other schools.

"They did not have a lot of incentive to come here," she said.

Moss said that the university is looking for minority students that are not only academically talented, but also will give something back to the university by being involved in campus activities.

"We don't want someone who will excel in the classroom only," said Crites, adding that it's important for the students to be involved in campus activities.

"When students are involved, there are studies that show that they are more likely to stay. They buy into the university," explained Crites. "They have a reason they want to stay."