Tarleton to change the first-year experience, Duck Camp still on tap

For years Tarleton State University has been a university synonymous with tradition and spirit. Two of the better-known traditions for first-year students are Texan Orientation and Duck Camp.

However, rumors surfaced at the beginning of the fall semester of 2011 that Tarleton’s administration was looking to do away with what students consider time-honored traditions. Student Life Vice President Rusty Jergins said this is not the case, however, there are changes looming on the horizon for the first-year experience.

The driving force behind revamping the program is retention, according to Jergins. During the past five years the retention rate at TSU has been around 65 percent.

“We’ve got to find out why students are leaving,” Jergins said.

To help answer this question, Tarleton recruited the help of Noel-Levitz, a higher education consulting agency.

“In visiting with Dr. [Lew] Sanborne, our consultant, decisions were made that we needed to look at what we were doing,” said Jergins. “Through these discussions, Dr. Sanborne and a group of faculty and staff have come together and recommended that we put together a pre-semester experience.”

The plan for the pre-semester experience is to condense events like orientation and Texan 2 Texan into one program required for all first-year students wanting to attend Tarleton. The idea is to combine the two programs into a two- to four-day event held just before classes begin.

“What you’re really concerned about in June is ‘I want to get advised and I want to know what classes I’m going to be enrolled in,'” Jergins said. “If you live on campus you’re going to want to know where you’re going to live, who you’re going to live with and at the end of the day you want to know how much you’re getting from financial aid because you’re interested in how much it’s going to cost and you have to figure out how you’re gonna pay for it.”

The pre-semester experience will only happen once per semester and there will be no make-up days for those who miss it.

“It’ll be a university expectation,” said Jergins. “This’ll be one of those things that people just need to plan if they’re going to go to Tarleton.”      

Duck Camp will remain an off-campus event that is not tied to the pre-semester experience. Student Life is considering adding a third camp date, but nothing has been finalized. The dates and location of the 2012 Duck Camp have not yet been determined.

Student reaction to the proposed changes have been all but agreeable. Tarleton students came out in force at three meetings where the changes were being discussed.

“It’s a little disheartening that folks don’t trust us,” said Jergins. “We’ve been doing it for a number of years and if we see that there are needs that need to be addressed, folks have got to be responsible enough and mature enough to say, ‘OK, there needs to be changes.'”

Although not all of the details have been ironed out and there are still some specifics that have not been agreed upon, the decision has been made that there will be some changes to Tarleton’s summer programs for new students, including a pre-semester experience.

“I think that one of the things that we as an institution, we as individuals, we have to develop behaviors and strategies to tolerate change,” Jergins said. “While that is difficult, change is inevitable.”