The proposal should be more concrete by the end of October, Price said. Things are still up in the air and details have to be ironed out. If everything goes well, some parts of the plan could be implemented next year. But Price said until the results of the Program Review Committee are known, nothing is certain. Drake has been doing research for about eight years on first-year student retention.
Results show students benefit more in an intensive first-year environment.
Learning communities, situations where first-year students share common classes and living arrangements, have been implemented in small numbers at Drake. We want to tie the first-year students' living and academic experiences together better. An intensive first-year environment would serve students best. It would be better if we were all together instead of scattered. Sophomores and juniors could have their own rooms in G-K, and freshmen could get to know each other better and be grouped according to their major.