Remember that guy in your English 101 class? What about that girl with those deep emerald green eyes you met in your FYE? Do you remember the last time you talked to them? Sure you do, so why don’t you just put this paper down right now, go find them, and do some catching up? The problem you might encounter with this is that that guy you knew and that girl you stared longingly at might not have come back to Guilford.Student retention has been a growing problem at Guilford for several years now and there have been many schools of thought on why. However, the way I look at it, there are three reasons why students decide not to come back to Guilford. As a side note, the key word there is “decide,” because as many first-year students found out, you can lose just as many friends that could not cut the mustard grade-wise for one reason or another.
However, the majority of students who leave Guilford do choose to do so. Why has this become such a problem? The first reason I can think of, and this applies mostly to first-year students, is that the students already at Guilford turn off new students. They seem to be turned off by what they view as a faux-liberalism by Guilford students and view them as hypocrites. In this writer’s opinion, many of the students at this school who claim to be the most liberal and progressive are often times the most intolerant towards other people’s views, especially those views that lean to the conservative side. I shudder at the problems a student might have if he was openly pro-life on this campus.
A second reason I believe students leave is that Guilford has a hard time retaining its professors. This applies to all students, and is especially frustrating for students who are two or three years into getting their degrees. Departments are left scrambling to fill spots after a professor leaves. This not only leaves departments without experienced professors, but it also means that students lose advisors and classes.
The third and perhaps the most popular reason to leave Guilford is that Guilford is in Greensboro. Need I say more? The difference between some of the other problems facing Guilford and this one is that this problem is not necessarily the school’s fault. Students complain about the lack of things to do on the weekend and that Greensboro is boring. I am not saying that they are right or wrong, but the blame here lies on the students making these claims. When you came to visit Guilford, did you not notice the location of the school, what activities went on, and what other students had to say? Prospective students need to do more research on the school before they send in their deposit.
Perhaps the best analogy of Guilford is that our school is like beer. (Keep in mind; beer is the analogy for Guilford here. Neither the paper nor I encourage drinking … especially by minors.) Like beer, Guilford is an acquired taste. For some people, the more they drink, the more they like it, and decide they want make beer a regular part of their diet. To continue the beer analogy a little further, people that drink beer need to research what makes a good beer: the more you pay attention to what you drink, the more satisfied you will be.
In closing, however, the problem of student retention is a serious one. When students leave for whatever reason, it causes a trickle-down effect that hurts every aspect of the school. A good example of this would be the budget deficit facing Senate right now. When a students leave, they take their student activities fee with them and that in turn is what causes Senate to end up in red ink.
The business of all colleges is educating students. When students leave, it hurts the business that the school is in. (Can I get away with one final analogy?) All of the members of this community should strive to make Guilford like a five-star restaurant: Come for the food, stay for the service.