Bowling Green State University’s reputation for having a higher percentage of
students earn degrees than statistical predictors indicate, brought the Complete
College Ohio Task Force to campus Monday afternoon.
The 31-member panel is charged with finding ways to improve Ohio’s 38th place
national standing in the percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees in the
workforce.
"This is an issue I have talked very passionately about. It is important to
Ohio," Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro said. Since 1969 the U.S. has
fallen from leading the world in college graduates to 15th, he said.
"This has hindered America. In the next three months we will be looking at
strategies and ideas and approaches to recommend steps that may enhance
completion," he said.
Petro cited a report by Complete College America that American colleges offer too
many choices and cost too much, among other issues. "We don’t want students
to leave college with excess debt but we want them to leave and have
opportunities," he said.
Petro said from his own experience as a parent he agreed with the idea that colleges
offer too many choices.
Between now and the annual Ohio Board of Regents meeting Nov. 13, the full committee
will visit the University of Akron Sept. 18 and Sinclair Community College Oct.
23. In between those sessions, several sub groups are concentrating on issues
and gathering data.
The "No Time to Waste" group is looking at strategies to reduce the time it
takes to get a degree and ways to minimize students drifting through college
without earning a degree.
The "Ready for College" group is looking at ways the secondary and
postsecondary institutions need to work together to ensure students have the
academic foundations to be successful in their certificate and degree programs.

The "Help Me Cross the Finish Line" group is exploring approaches that will
reward student progress and identify incentives that can increase completion.

In addition to BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey’s program on BG’s initiatives, the
task force also heard a report by Bruce Vandal of the Education Commission of
the States, and a Completion by Design report from Dr. Scott Markland of
Sinclair State, that looks at the issue from a community college perspective.

During Vandal’s report, Petro said the state will start making 10th grade assessments
this fall, rather than wait until 2015. The assessments are intended to show how
students are learning and target those who need additional work to help them be
successful.
"There’s no reason to wait," Petro said.
Mazey said she found BGSU well-placed with its completion initiative when she arrived
on campus 13 months ago.
An Ohio Business Roundtable report showed BGSU best in the state for predicted
graduation rate vs. actual graduation rate using indicators established by U.S.
News and World Report. BGSU’s 65 percent graduation rate is higher than West
Virginia University (50 percent) and Auburn (60 percent), where Mazey was
previously an administrator.
By comparison, BGSU’s entering freshmen had a 3.2 high school grade point average and
an average ACT score of 22, while Auburn students had a high school GPA of 3.7
and an ACT score of 27. BG’s rate is third in the nation behind Penn State and
Michigan State.
Six Ohio public colleges rate among the top 30 nationally (BG, Kent, Miami,
Cincinnati, Ohio University and Ohio State).
"We recruit students and their parents," Mazey said. First contact is made
in the seventh and eighth grades and there is a call center for students and
parents. BG’s freshman class averages 38 percent first-generation college
students.
Mazey said incoming freshmen will be kept busy this weekend, are being encouraged to
connect with at least one faculty member and become involved in extra-curricular
activities.
A Learning Commons that opened last year as a tutoring center in Jerome Library has
attracted "not just D and F students but students who are getting a B and
want to get an A," Mazey said. "The culture here is tied around the
success of students. I have not seen that at all of the other places I have
been."