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(05/08/15 9:07pm)
Dozens of students transfer to Elon University each year, but there’s no certainty they’ll finish their college career here.
Elon’s first-year student retention rate increased this academic year to 91 percent from 90 percent over the last four years. Slightly fewer students are transferring or dropping out within their first year. Elon’s registrar office is unable to pinpoint the number of students who’ve left Elon prior to completing their degree.
“This is a tough one to capture because we don’t know all the students that transfer out,” said Rodney Parks, university registrar. “Only within the last year did we start collecting electronic data of students who fill out the university withdrawal form that officially notifies us of their intent not to return to Elon.”
College students transfer for a number of reasons: changing majors, moving on from a community college to a four-year college or university, taking a gap semester, or because their school wasn’t a good fit.
The Elon registrar’s office is planning to explore new strategies in the coming months to collect data on students who leave Elon. By tracking these students and their reasons for leaving, Elon will be able to guide policy and resources for ensuring success for students in the future, Parks said.
Collin Campagne, a first-year Elon student who made the decision to transfer to the University of Vermont beginning in fall 2015, decided to apply for transfer within his first few weeks at Elon.
“I knew what I was looking for and wanted in my college experience, and Elon wasn’t it,” he said.
Campagne applied to Elon last year through the gap semester program while deferring his regular admission to spring 2015. During that time, he also applied for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course—a gap semester program that teaches wilderness and leadership skills in the Rocky Mountains.
A self-described nature-lover and born explorer, Campagne ended up choosing the NOLS program instead of Elon’s gap semester program and arrived at Elon Feb. 1 to begin his spring semester. Soon after the novelty of starting college wore off, he found himself struggling to find his place on campus, he said.
“I love my classes and professors, but I found myself drifting further away from the students,” Campagne said. “I am not preppy. I don’t own a single thing from Vineyard Vines. I despise Greek Life. I don’t drink, and I don’t do drugs.”
Eventually, though, Campagne began to make friends through Elon Outdoors and the Sierra Club, groups on campus dedicated to the advancement of outdoor ethics, leadership skills and nature exploration. But Campagne noticed a common thread among his new group of friends that eventually facilitated his decision to transfer out of Elon.
“Something [that] seems to be very resonant with the members [of these groups] is the desire to leave Elon, the displeasure toward other Elon students and how there were not enough opportunities to get outdoors,” he said.
Campagne is happy with his decision to return to his home state of Vermont where the surrounding college town is more suited to his outdoor lifestyle.
“The outing club there is also huge, and the nonconformist, eccentric culture is one that I identify with more than the preppy, upper-middle class culture here,” he said.
Campagne said he’s grateful to the NOLS program for changing the way he sees the world and making it easier to realize that Elon wasn’t right for him.
Allyson Enos, another student who began at Elon in February, chose to study at a community college in the fall after being deferred to the spring 2015 semester. Enos was one of about 20 total spring admits, said Kevin Napp, associate director of admissions and director of transfer and special admissions.
Napp said Elon has a program in place in which incoming and current transfer students are paired with spring admits to ease the transition.
“The mentors reach out via email a few weeks before classes begin to answer any questions, and we encourage them all to meet their mentee in person,” said Napp. “We try to facilitate a meeting with a meal and activity. Last spring, we did a dinner and basketball game.”
Enos discovered soon after arriving, though, like Campagne, that despite Elon’s efforts to assimilate transfer students, Elon wasn’t what she’d expected.
“It’s a very small school, and there is too much focus on Greek Life for my liking,” Enos said.
(04/26/15 7:15pm)
Construction is fully underway at the site next to Skids Restaurant on Haggard Avenue. The project, led by EDG Properties, LLC, is expected to be complete by June 2016, said project manager John McDonald. The Town of Elon Board of Alderman approved the $7.1 million project plans for Park Place at Elon last October.
(04/24/15 8:50pm)
West End Terrace will host “Crafternoon,” a spring fundraiser to benefit CrossRoads Sexual Assault Response and Resource Center, Saturday, April 25.
“Crafternoon” tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door and include craft beer and wine tastings, as well as a BBQ buffet. Local music group Love & Valor and Elon University’s Vital Signs will perform.
“The Board of Directors [of CrossRoads] was looking for a more relaxed atmosphere and all around fun event for the community,” said Austin Davis, a crisis intervention volunteer of three years and member of the CrossRoads Board of Directors We have such a strong connection to Elon University that it just made sense to have it here
CrossRoads is a local agency that serves child and adult survivors of sexual assault and trauma. The mission of the organization is to provide survivors with confidential counseling and treatment as well as community education and awareness.
According to data collected by the National Children’s Alliance, more than 6,400 children were served at accredited child advocacy centers (CACs) in North Carolina in 2011. CACs are specifically designed to protect child victims rather than to investigate and prosecute criminals. CrossRoads, a Burlington-based CAC, provides free services to adults and children in both Alamance and Caswell counties.
“[The most difficult part of volunteering is] understanding that the majority of survivors in our community don’t walk through our doors and get the help that they need or deserve,” Davis said. Still, it’s empowering to bring hope and light back into the lives of the survivors who choose to seek help, she added.
CrossRoads established a home in Burlington in 1976 as the Rape Crisis Alliance. Since then, it has grown from an all-volunteer team to include social workers, therapists and community members. The CrossRoads team is now large enough to manage a 24-hour crisis hotline for confidential counseling.
“The women that work at CrossRoads are truly heroes of this community, and I’ve learned so much from their wisdom, experience and passion,” said Lauren Berk, a senior who has been involved with CrossRoads since she was assigned an internship at the organization during a human services class her sophomore year. Berk has continued to help with court accompaniment and crisis hotline volunteering. She was recently recognized with the Governor’s award for outstanding service — an award given annually to 20 volunteers in North Carolina.
“We have a strong presence of volunteers and interns from Elon University, which is amazing,” Davis said. “Our relationship with Elon has been nothing but positive, and we’re looking forward to an even better future with them.”
(04/18/15 11:40am)
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national unemployment rate lingers at 5.5 percent, with 126,000 jobs added in March. But the unemployment rate for college graduates fell to 2.5 percent, the lowest in nearly six years — a bright outlook for the Elon University Class of 2015.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) said employers are expected to boost hiring 8.3 percent from last year because of an improving economy and an increasing number of baby boomer retirements.
Despite the number of jobs available, students often feel overwhelmed by the job market when they’re first starting out.
“It seems like every job you need experience for — even entry-level jobs,” said senior Katharine Fredricksen. “I feel like it’s really hard sending applications out into this void.”
The U.S. job market is yielding more employment prospects for college graduates across most areas of study, including architecture, social science, education and law. But a study released in February by Georgetown University revealed journalism and communication majors were the only two to post higher unemployment rates than previous years.
Still, college graduates have a much better chance of finding work than their peers — even those with experience — without college degrees. According to the study’s analyses, about 18 percent of young workers with only high school diplomas were unemployed — a 15.5 percent increase from their counterparts with college degrees. These numbers indicate a major shift in economic times. Additionally, the higher number of job openings for college graduates demonstrates the increasing importance of technology in the economy and the value of college-learned skills.
“I think college students are becoming more competitive, and thus some jobs are becoming harder to attain,” said senior Megan Porter, who will work in MetLife’s recruiting department after graduation.
The NACE survey also shows that recruiters are putting stronger emphasis on using technology to reach graduates. This year, about 65 percent of respondents plan to use more social networks, and a little more than 60 percent plan to use more technology in general.
Elon’s Student Professional Development Center provides several resources for students seeking internships and jobs. According to Elon’s website, 87 percent of students complete an internship before graduation, increasing their chances of landing a job that requires previous experience.
Simply Hired, a California-based technology company, used its own research and analytics to report that the fields with the most permanent, full-time openings for recent graduates are sales, marketing and public relations, customer service, human resources and engineering.
But some of these fields are seen as luxuries to companies, said Susan Martindill, director of demand generation at Simply Hired. The fact that companies are hiring anyone for these positions — let alone recent college graduates — indicates a strengthening economy.
The survey also showed that Still, the rate varies among the major worker groups — the unemployment rates for adult men is 5.1 percent, adult women 4.9 percent, teenagers 17.5 percent, whites 4.7 percent, African Americans 10.1 percent, Asians 3.2 percent, and Hispanics 6.8 percent. These numbers showed little or no change in March.
Additionally, there were 738,000 discouraged workers or persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.
(04/16/15 6:44pm)
If you’re a journalist, a college student, a professor, a college administrator, or any participating member of society, you’ve probably heard about the epic misstep made by Rolling Stone’s editorial team in the reporting of a University of Virginia campus gang rape.
“A Rape on Campus” was published in November 2014, and within weeks major news outlets like The Washington Post were seriously and publicly questioning the validity of Rolling Stone’s reporting. It was obvious not all characters in the story were equally represented. The presence of pseudonyms was concerning. And, to top it off, sources who were never contacted for comment by the writer publicly disputed facts reported in the story.
But there’s much to be learned from Rolling Stone’s mistakes.
One of the few positives to come out of this scandal is the swift watchdog action taken by The Washington Post. It should be the intent of journalists to be truthful in their reporting but, like any other aspect of life, human error sometimes trumps those intentions. It’s up to others in the industry to blow the whistle.
Shortly before Christmas 2014, Rolling Stone enlisted the help of Columbia School of Journalism to investigate the facts in their story using the writer’s notes, call logs, emails and contacts.
The magazine published the lengthy report last week. Its findings included a number of oversights and failures at every level of the editorial team — writer, editors and fact-checkers. It also promptly stated Rolling Stone’s failure was avoidable.
The Columbia report makes clear a journalistic truism. It’s imperative to allow all parties a fair say in an effort to uncover the truth, not to protect a source so definitively as to avoid fact-checking critical elements of a story.
At the end of the report, Columbia provided a list of areas that “should be the subject of continuing deliberation among journalists” when reporting on sexual assault and rape: balancing sensitivity to the victims and demands of verification, corroborating survivor accounts and holding institutions to account.
A few groups will undeniably suffer setbacks from this scandal: survivors of rape and sexual assault and the journalists who report on these cases. Not only does it disgrace these groups, it jeopardizes the reputation of the university, the fraternity against which hasty and detailed allegations were made and a number of sources to which the subject of the story inaccurately attributed damaging comments.
Now, because of the subject’s seemingly fabricated details, it’s possible rape and sexual assault survivors will be less likely to speak up for fear they won’t be trusted. This is a true atrocity — a giant leap backward after years of legislation and procedural changes have equipped colleges with the tools to work toward providing a supportive and healing community for survivors.
I’ll represent the minority opinion and be thankful for the lesson learned — from both an audience and journalist’s perspective. Rape and sexual assault stories are no different from any other story: fact-checking and source contact is an absolute necessity. To make nominal attempts to contact sources for comment who play such an integral part in a story, and whose reputations are very much on the line, is unacceptable. If these decisions were made to protect the main source of the story from her alleged attacker — as Rolling Stone stated they were — then maybe it wasn’t the right story to tell.
(03/09/15 12:07pm)
Elon University will celebrate its 126th birthday Tuesday with the largest alumni involvement in university history. About 60 Elon students, faculty and staff and over 700 alumni volunteers worldwide have been working to make Elon Day a success.
(03/07/15 6:44pm)
Elon University welcomed nearly 600 families on campus March 6-7 for Fellows and Scholarship Weekend, a time when admitted students considering fellows programs completed interviews, attended seminars and engaged with current Fellows.
(03/06/15 4:48pm)
Ben Carpenter, author, entrepreneur and finance-industry CEO, visited Elon University Tuesday to share with students his tips for success: be aggressive, do what you’re good at and stay happy. His talk was hosted by the Student Professional Development Center, in conjunction with Greek organizations Delta Upsilon, Sigma Kappa and Alpha Omicron Pi.
(02/25/15 11:10pm)
Elon University awarded the Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership to Guy Harvey in a packed LaRose Digital Theatre Monday night. Harvey — a renowned marine life artist and scientist and conservationist briefly summarized his near 30-year history as proprietor of Guy Harvey, Inc. and how he quickly discovered the value of wildlife conservation.
“I learned early on conservation is good for business,” Harvey said.
Although he has long been committed to marine life conservation, it wasn’t until 2008 that Harvey established the now-thriving Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. The foundation funds scientific research and educational programs to ensure a mutually beneficial future for marine life and their ecosystems.
“As the population grows, [society] places more and more pressure on limited resources,” Harvey said.
Most recently, Harvey partnered with Richard Branson and his company Virgin Group in the effort to conserve the world’s oceans and marine life.
The Entrepreneurial Leadership award, of which Harvey is the sixth recipient, honors industry leaders who exemplify Elon’s values of integrity, innovation and creativity, passion for lifelong learning and a commitment to building a dynamic community. Elon chose Harvey to receive this award because of his unique blend of expertise in the fields of entrepreneurship, science and art, said President Leo Lambert, who presented him with the medal.
“I really don’t deserve this,” Harvey said upon receiving the award. “I really have a team of people who help me do this.”
Harvey first signed commercial licensing for his artwork in 1986 in Florida when he was still teaching at a university in the West Indies. It was then, he said, that he first learned the importance of copyrighting his work. From there, Harvey spent his time at trade shows and consumer shows trying to gain momentum for his artwork and ideas.
In 1999, in partnership with the Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University, Harvey launched the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) to research deeper into the world’s marine life and their ecosystems. The institute, he said, acts as a strong liaison for collaborating with universities in marine life education and has produced 80 peer-reviewed papers to date.
An eleventh generation Jamaican, Harvey said he draws inspiration for his artwork from his roots in the Caribbean. The island of Panama is an optimum setting for Harvey, he said. It’s here — where the fishing is consistent and the film opportunities are plenty — that he is able to find inspiration.
“The bigger animals are the ones I really love to paint,” Harvey said.
He has experience with pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic and oil painting as well as underwater photography and cinematography.
Still, Harvey credits much of his recent success to his social media team.
“It’s good to remain highly visible on the road all the time... Social media has become a very important medium,” said Harvey, who has over 760,000 likes on his Facebook page. In addition, Harvey’s team compiles and publishes a quarterly print magazine that features visually rich photography and artwork, he said.
Ultimately, Harvey said he would like to bring attention to marine life.
“Wildlife artists are kind of considered the red-headed stepchild of the artist community,” Harvey said.
But, he advised aspiring artists to make use of modern social media tools to promote their artwork.
(02/25/15 9:00pm)
Elon University’s second-annual TEDx pushed the ideal that changing the world starts with the individual.
Nearly 125 students, faculty, staff and community members gathered in Yeager Hall Feb. 22 as six speakers presented ideas on a range of topics pertaining to this year’s theme, “Waiting on the World to Change.”
The event, directed by Elon students Johanna Rosen and Meredith Berk, was organized to bring TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading” to Elon.
“We live in a society where so much change is either not happening at all or is happening much too slowly,” Rosen said. “So I felt having a wide variety of speakers address some of these issues would make a powerful statement. And if you ask me, it definitely did.”
The afternoon’s first speaker, Jennifer Thompson, a New York Times best-selling author and judicial reform advocate, recounted the story of her brutal rape as an Elon senior nearly 30 years ago. The man Thompson accused — Ronald Cotton — was tried, convicted and jailed. Ten years later, DNA proved Cotton was innocent, so he was exonerated and released from prison.
Together, Cotton and Thompson now lobby to abolish the death penalty and revise police eyewitness line ups, as well as fighting for rights for the wrongly convicted. The man whom she wanted to die for what she thought he had done to her, Thompson said, was the only person who could help her heal and begin to fight for change.
“What are we waiting for? Who are we waiting for?” Thompson said. “The time is now. [The person] is you.”
Joining her in the effort, Duke University professor of law Theresa Newman took the stage to discuss her love of law and her fight to eliminate the hundreds of wrongful convictions that occur every year in the United States. Because of DNA testing, Newman said, about 325 people have been exonerated to date. This fact is something prosecutors must accept, she said, because the justice system is changing.
“We’re all waiting on human nature to change, but the change is a return to justice and a return to truth,” Newman said.
According to speaker Emily Greener, co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit I Am That Girl, the only way to make change happen is to be a leader.
“If we’re going to be champions of changing the world, we need to go first,” Greener said. Her nonprofit exemplifies this through its dedication to inspiring and empowering girls to become their best selves while leading others to do the same.
Elon University’s I Am That Girl chapter boasts more than 550 Facebook likes and has a weekly meeting attendance of more than 50 girls, said Katherine Korol, an Elon sophomore and member of I Am That Girl Elon who attended TEDx to hear Greener’s talk.
Leading with vulnerability is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves because it establishes connection and trust with others, Greener said.
“We’re a follow-the-leader society,” Greener said. “Will you choose to be a leader? Will you choose to be known?”
There are two types of leaders in our society, said speaker Harry Cohen, a psychologist who works with management leaders and organizations to teach the principles of “heliotropic” leadership. The term, often used in reference to plants, means the growth or movement of a fixed organism, Cohen said.
“The heliotropic effect tells us that all living systems tend to move toward self-sustaining systems, not depleting ones,” he said.
His experience with company executives has proven the more positive and gratuitous leaders are, the more their employees and their company succeed.
When people make an effort to be positive energizers — attentive listeners who are compassionate and encouraging — it’s contagious, Cohen said.
“Be the sun, not the salt,” Cohen said.
Innovator, application designer and recent Vancouver Film School graduate Ian Brady is the leader of a platform he calls “Vision.” The idea began after he realized the college climate had changed drastically since the World War II era when college was for scholars and free thinkers alike. Colleges are standardizing everyone, Brady said, because they can’t keep up with the sheer number of students they’re admitting.
Brady created a graphic presentation illustrating the need for individualization of students and a return to a liberal arts foundation.
“The goal is to promote the individual and shape the future,” Brady said.
David Levy applied a similar argument to the financial sector. The Elon parent and chairman of The Jerome Levy Forecasting Center, a macroeconomic forecasting and consulting firm, positioned his talk around the question, “Where do profits come from?” Profits are rewards for innovation and raising standards of living, he said.
“You don’t have to be a mathematician or an economist to understand it,” Levy said. “The world needs to look at a new perspective.”
(02/14/15 5:00pm)
Fifty-four Elon University seniors are student teaching this semester in preparation for careers in elementary, middle and high school education. This year, principals have the opportunity to offer job contracts to student teachers prior to graduation.
“In the past, they’ve had to wait until the school board approved the budget in June or July, which meant we often lost a lot of the student teachers to other counties that were already hiring,” said Marna Winter, lecturer in education and director of education outreach at Elon.
Winter works closely with local, private and charter schools in Alamance and surrounding counties to build relationships with the schools to which Elon students are later assigned.
“The principals [in Alamance and surrounding counties] really want our students there,” Winter said. “They know they’re well trained.”
Last week, student teachers began their semesters at 21 different elementary, middle and high schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System, one high school in the Guilford County Schools and one middle school in the Orange County School System.
Elon’s student teaching program is unique because it places its students at one school for the entirety of their student teaching period. All programs begin in the fall with a practicum and an average of 100 hours in the classroom. When student teachers begin full-time student teaching in February, they’re already familiar with the schools, classrooms and students, Winter said.
“The way Elon structures student teaching is very beneficial in that you really get to immerse yourself in the process,” said Sally Day MacLeod, a senior who is student teaching a kindergarten class at Marvin B. Smith Elementary in Burlington.
Student teachers begin their spring semester by gradually taking over subjects from their cooperating teacher in their assigned classroom, MacLeod said.
She also said it’s important to plan for lessons thoroughly and have them approved by the cooperating teacher in advance, as the students thrive off of consistency.
“I come home from school each day and spend at least two hours working on all aspects of the lesson plans,” MacLeod said.
Eventually, student teachers take on the responsibility of teaching all subjects to their class. After about six weeks, they begin handing the responsibilities back to their cooperating teacher in preparation for the end of the semester and Elon graduation.
Although MacLeod isn’t set on teaching in North Carolina after graduation, students who choose to remain in state must apply for a teaching license after completing Elon’s yearlong experience of student teaching.
(02/12/15 6:00pm)
Danieley Center residents were notified Feb. 3 that construction was officially underway on two new facilities in the Danieley Neighborhood. In October, Board of Trustees approved plans for an expansion of the Violet Hoffman Daniel Commons Building, as well as a proposal for a 14,850-square-foot recreation center located on the north edge of Danieley Center, between University Drive and the residence halls.
The 4,000-square-foot addition to the east side of Daniel Commons will feature a larger common room, a possible classroom area, neighborhood offices, Einstein Bros. Bagels, a demonstration kitchen and an outdoor patio for residents and the existing Qdoba Mexican Grill dining area will stay.
The new multipurpose facility will house a 1,200-square-foot fitness center, staff offices and recreation space to be used for sports and social events, according to Brad Moore, university architect and director of planning, design and construction management.
Elon construction workers put up a fence around Daniel Commons last week that closes off all but one entrance to the building, but students aren’t bothered. For Danieley residents, the benefits outweigh the costs.
“The only inconvenience is really the noise literally right outside our windows in the HIJK area in the morning,” said sophomore Alexa Lowey, a Danieley Center RA. Still, despite the noisy construction, Lowey predicts residents will be happy to have a new common space that will enhance the community feeling in Danieley Center neighborhood.
“Being in Danieley, we all know the struggle of feeling like we’re on the other side of the world,” Lowey said. “I’m excited to be able to have more things happening on this side of campus, especially having somewhere to get breakfast.”
As long as neither project is delayed by winter weather, Moore said, both new facilities should be in use by the start of the fall 2015 semester.
(01/23/15 3:21am)
Elon University recently announced a record-breaking number of students, faculty and staff traveled around the country and world to participate in a range of global study experiences during Winter Term 2015. This month, nearly 1,000 students — about 15 percent of Elon’s graduate and undergraduate population — are participating in 36 international and five Study USA courses.
The courses fulfill Elon core credit requirements in the areas of science, civilization, society, expression, general studies, service learning and elective courses. This year’s increase in the number of participating students have something to do with the increase in available programs.
Some of the programs added since 2013 include “Austria: Sex and Violins,” “Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa” and “Discovering Dixie.”
“More programs mean more spots for students,” said Amanda Zamzes, business and data manager at Elon’s Isabella Cannon Global Education Center (GEC).
Last year, 932 students participated in 38 global experience programs around the world during Winter Term. According to data posted on Elon’s website, Winter Term at Elon is the most popular time to study abroad.
Elon reported that 72 percent of 2014 graduating seniors participated in at least one global study experience during their time at Elon, which includes semester and Winter Term study abroad opportunities. As a result, the Institute of International Education consistently ranks Elon No. 1 in the nation in study abroad for a master’s-level university.
This year’s record comes at the tail end of the International Elon Plan created in 2010 and available on Elon’s GEC website. The plan proposes 100 percent access to study abroad programs for students by 2016 in accordance with Elon’s global citizen effort. The GEC successfully coordinated study abroad semester programs for at least 400 students in Fall 2014, more than double the number from five years ago.
“The majority of our new programs appeal to a certain part of the Elon student population,” Zamzes said. “The more programs we have, the more students we have participating.”
Elon’s Winter Term programs vary in cost — the average cost is about $6,000. These costs include international airfare, accommodations and transportation and cover most fees for course-related activities while abroad. A program’s average length is about three weeks — the same length as a Winter Term course on Elon’s campus.
“Winter Term abroad programs can be an opportunity for freshmen and sophomores to discover if they want to go abroad for a semester later on,” said senior Eugena Neumann, who traveled to Greece with Elon last year. “It’s an amazing experience Elon offers that few other institutions can rival.”
In addition to international courses, Elon offered five Study USA courses this year during Winter Term for students looking to explore domestically. Experiences in Hawaii, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, travel through the American South, as well as Elon Fellows programs along the East Coast, offered courses in a number of subjects from indigenous culture to filmmaking.
Zamzes said Elon plans to add even more Winter Term programs to the docket next year. Applications for 2016 Winter Term global experience programs will be available March 3.
(05/05/12 11:40pm)
Graduation is nearing once again and seniors must find jobs and a new place to call home. The choices graduates make about where to live fresh out of Elon University shape their careers — and lives — as they are tossed into corporate America. The once–promising career is now riding on the continually changing workforce and decreasing number of jobs, thanks to modern technology and difficult economic times.