In a luncheon Monday at the downtown Jonathan Club, Pepperdine University President Andrew K. Benton unveiled an open letter to local college and university leaders. The 30-page letter was created by the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment, of which Benton is a vice chair.
Benton, whose vice chair position represents all private and independent colleges and universities, hosted the meeting to discuss strategies to increase student retention and graduation success.
“The purpose of Monday’s meeting was to ‘roll out’ the letter on the West Coast,” Benton wrote in an email. “The first such effort was in New York City last week.”
The open letter’s focus was on the issue of attainment on college campuses. It notes that too much potential is lost by students who do not make it to graduation.
The letter offers several solutions, including increased flexibility and cost-effectiveness of classes as well as better use of data to help students in need of extra assistance.
About two dozen college and university leaders from the greater LA area attended the meeting.
This included the presidents of Harvey Mudd, Loyola Marymount, Pitzer, Cal Lutheran, Biola, Whittier College, LaVerne, Scripps, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Moorpark among others.
Benton said it is important to have the opportunity to meet with others involved in the project.
“Each of us is engaged with one association or another, but seldom do those who represent Southern California institutions — public, independent, small and large — spend much time together,” Benton wrote. “It is important to know one another and to support one another.”
This opportunity was useful, according to Benton.However, the real value in the meeting rests in seeing these ideas in the letter executed.
“This meeting went well, but we will know that for sure when we observe direct engagement on the issue of student success and attainment, school by school,” Benton wrote.
The NCHEA will have another regional event in Austin, Texas, but Benton’s next gathering is in March when he will serve on a panel in Washington, D.C., at the American Council of Education’s annual meeting.
Despite working on attainment issues in broader strokes for campuses across the U.S., Benton also sees areas for Pepperdine to grow.
“At Pepperdine, our graduation rates are strong, but I see room for improvement, and we will work on that.”
___________________________________________________________________________
Follow Andrew Kasselmann on Twitter: @AFKasselmann
