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Show Poor Planning: Cause of College Failures By ANDREA PEARSON Chronicle Feature Writer "Lack of a proper major, no major at all, excessive outside out-side work health and emotional problems are among the most frequent causes of college failure," Dr. Walter Hahn stated Fn- day' rR HAHN director of Probation for the Scholastic Stand-DR. Stand-DR. HAHN, oiretLO explained his statement. 8rdSGw!TS m t 0ren erycoa.i:gefUwithout I definite major more Uins seem w fa d ;te often select aaVrTn Tbasis ofTa.aTy prestige factors, but with disre-gard disre-gard for their own suitability. mamv STUDENTS try to work an outside job that is too ional problems which a some 01 , f the time, said Dr. Hahn. keePSnmrbaovsS fatl Si because they assume that the draftSwm S up tothem before they can go very far in col-lege. col-lege. RAn PROGRAMMING and parental pressure, to study In a fie!d ?or ShTstudent has no aptitude, are a deadly com- bination of factors. nrevent a situation where The committee's approach is to prevent one student continually fails A h nt he asked t0 do ASSZi. to leave until the quarter "DISMISSAL IS the last straw," Dr. Hahn said. "But the number of dismissals has increased sharply in the last few years. With rising enrollments, the University could not justify leaving failing students in school in large numbers, while being unable to accomodate students with academic potential." THROUGH THE combined help of other departments, the committee trys to help each student. Consisting of 20 teachers, the committee has one or more representatives from each college. col-lege. First, a student should have a solid elementary background before he goes onto more advanced work in a specific field. Tutoring is recommended if a student cannot obtain this background back-ground through his own efforts. A STUDENT'S record is throughly investigated to be sure that he has chosen the right major. Student personnel services that work with the committee are: the Counseling Center, the Health Service, Marriage and Family Counseling Bureau, Military Counselor, and the committee's commit-tee's "bread and butter," the Dean of Students Office. THE NUMBER of referrals to these and other agencies number over 1,000 each year. An average taken from four past graduating classes shows that 246 former probationary students have graduated each year. These include such fields as engineering, pharmacy, business, and secondary teaching majors. HALF OF these students were on probation more than once. The committee's aim is, "to help the individual, if possible, towards better academic success, and to otherwise guide him in the direction of training outside the University." |