LA GRANDE — Never underestimate the importance of taking innovative steps when seeking to boost student retention at a university.

That’s one of the messages Kelly Ryan, the interim chancellor at Indiana University Southeast and one of Eastern Oregon University’s three presidential finalists, shared at a public forum on Monday, April 24, at Huber Auditorium.

Ryan said it is critical that universities never forget their students after they enroll and do everything they can to help them succeed. She stressed that student success boosts retention.

“We are not just interested in admitting students,” she said. “We are there to serve students.”

Ryan said student retention jumped 6% this year at Indiana University Southeast, likely due to a new student collaboration program. Through it, students take sets of two classes together. For example, students may take the same history and English classes, which helps students build connections with one another, a factor that can boost retention.

Other programs in place that may be elevating student retention include a focus on the mental health of students. Ryan noted many of the school’s students suffer from test anxiety. To address this, a full day was devoted to helping students feel less intimidated by exams.

During her career at Indiana University Southeast, Ryan has served in several roles, including executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, dean of the school of social sciences, coordinator for the department of history and professor of history. Ryan was appointed the university’s interim chancellor in July 2022.

Ryan said there are many things about Eastern that impress her, including the success of its Latino students, the magnitude of which she finds striking.

“This is pretty incredible,” she said.

Ryan said such impressive student achievement shows others how valued students are at EOU.

Ryan said she also is impressed with the number of nontraditional students Eastern serves and how the school reaches out to them. The needs of nontraditional students are a strong interest of Ryan’s. She said she appreciates the challenges they face and believes steps need to be taken to make sure the challenges of nontraditional students are addressed or universities will lose them.

She said nontraditional students often take longer to graduate and they may leave school early because many things on the higher education landscape keep changing, blurring their objectives.

“The goalposts keep being moved,” she said.

Ryan also expressed concern about the declining number of male students on campuses across the United States. The decline could be impacting EOU where there are significantly more women than men.

Ryan attributes the nationwide decline to a large number of men now entering skilled trade fields to take higher paying jobs. She said the absence of men is leaving a void on campuses.

“We cannot lose our men,” she said.

Ryan said one way of addressing the issue may be offering more mentorship opportunities.

Ryan is also very interested in meeting the needs of first generation college students. At Indiana University Southeast she is part of an effort to recruit more such students. She said the application process has been made less complicated and students have been given incentives to re-enroll if they leave early. She said in her cover letter to EOU that everything from scholarships to T-shirts have been offered to encourage first generation students to re-enroll. The school’s alumni have been called in to help.

“We’ve engaged our alumni as assets in the process too, asking them to help us market the university and target potential students,” Ryan wrote.

The presidential finalist has a doctorate of philosophy in history from the University of Maryland, a master of arts degree in history from Boston College and a bachelor of arts degree in history from George Mason University.

Awards she has received include the IU Trustees Teaching Award, which she has received four times, and the Indiana Zeta Honored Professor Award.

Ryan is one of three presidential finalists and the second to make a public appearance at Eastern. Thom Chesney, who served as the president of Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, from 2019 to 2022 and the president of Brookhaven College in Dallas, Texas, from 2011 to 2019, spoke at a forum at EOU April 21. The third finalist will speak at a public forum later this week.

EOU is searching for a successor to Tom Insko, who stepped down in 2022 to take a position as president and chief executive officer of Collins, a wood products company based in Wilsonville. Insko had served as EOU’s president since July 2015.

Lara Moore, Eastern’s vice chair for finance and administration, and Richard Chaves, who previously was the chair of Eastern’s board of trustees, are now serving as Eastern’s interim co-presidents. Moore is serving as EOU’s internal interim president, and Chaves is the school’s external interim president.

LA GRANDE — The third presidential finalist to visit Eastern Oregon University will be Rodney Scott Hanley, who is president of Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Hanley will speak Thursday, April 27, at a public forum from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Huber Auditorium. He will appear at a reception after the forum from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the foyer of the Badgley Science Center.

Prior to Lake Superior, Hanley served in numerous leadership positions, including provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; as provost and vice president with Lakehead University in Canada; and as dean of science at the University of Winnipeg, Canada.

— The Observer

EOU president finalist focuses on taking advantage of chances to make connections