Purdue News
Purdue News
|
|
March 13, 1998
Horizons celebrates 20 years of helping Purdue students excelWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- For the past 20 years, a program at Purdue University has been helping first-generation students make the transition between high school and college.The Purdue Horizons program is designed for first-generation, low-income and disabled students. Since 1978, the program has offered classes on study skills and provided tutoring and counseling in its center on the second floor of Schleman Hall. Ninety percent of all freshmen in the program during the 1996-97 school year returned for their second year. Purdue as a whole retained 84 percent of all its freshmen. "These are very powerful figures, and it shows that we are doing our job. Our students are staying in school," said Dean Ballotti, a Horizons staff member. When the first student enrolled in 1978, the Horizons program had three staff members and offered no classes. This year, the staff numbers five and the number of students enrolled has nearly tripled, to 341. In 1982, the program received its first computers and the staff decided to make computers an important part of the program. The computer lab is maintained for exclusive use by Horizons students to help them learn computer basics. "This is a way to ensure our students have the opportunity to use computers and understand them," Ballotti said. "By offering our course in computer basics, we are helping students who may not have had experience catch up with the rest of the campus." Tameka Jackson of Indianapolis , a senior majoring in nursing, said: "The computer lab is excellent. Before I came to Purdue, I hadn't used a computer very frequently, and I was not familiar with some of the software. It is always here for us to use, and we can get help on how to use the computers if we need to." Many students say they find the help they receive from the Horizons center invaluable. "Tutoring is so expensive. If you have a hard class, you get help right here on campus for free," said Miranda Johns of Columbus, Ind. , a freshman majoring in biology. "The tutors are fellow students or grad students, and they can help you understand difficult material." Ballotti said one of the most important things about this program is that it gives students a place to come to if they have a problem. "These students know they have a home here," he said. "It gives them a place to come to, a place where we feel like family. Sometimes we are problem solvers, other times we just listen." Horizons is always busy with students attending classes, using the computers, or stopping for a chat with a staff member. "The staff here is great," said LaTonya Dickerson of Gary, Ind. , a senior majoring in medical technology. "They are very down-to-earth. I come to the center frequently because it has a comfortable atmosphere, and there is always someone to talk to." Horizons also sets up all of its freshmen with a faculty mentor, whom students can go to with career questions. "The mentioning program is a great way to meet a faculty member in your major," Jackson said. "We meet with our mentor three times throughout the semester and interview with them. It encourages us to speak with a professor about our course of study." Many of the students say this program has helped them succeed at Purdue. "It has helped me raise my grade point average and helped me make the transition from high school to college faster than I would have on my own," Johns said.
Sources: Dean Ballotti, (765) 494-7094
|
