HELPING
AT-RISK
COLLEGE
STUDENTS
SUCCEED
BY
JOSEPH
W.
WARREN
AND
BRUCE
CLOSSER
il*
15
typical
of
an
at-risk
col-
lege
student.
A
likable
fellow,
he
is
involved
in
various
cam-
pus
organizations
and
in
many
ways
seems
to
be
the
image
of
success.
He
attends
class
regularly
and
appears
to
devote
adequate
time
to
studying.
However,
very
early
in
his
freshman
year,
Bill
1s
in
trouble.
Although
his
midterm
grades
arc
low,
Bill
feels
sure
that
he
will
have
no
trouble
raising
them.
But
at
the
end
of
his
first
semester
of
college,
he
has
carned
a
disappointing
1.6
grade-point
average
(GPA)
and
isn’t
quite
sure
why.
All
semester,
Bill
had
confidently
assured
his
parents
that
he
was
doing
fine,
Now,
faced
with
their
ire,
he
promises
to
do
better
the
next
semester,
but
fishes
the
year
with
a
cumulative
1.3
GPA
and
thereby
ends
his
college
career.
At-risk
college
students
like
Bill
share
three
major
traits.
First,
they
are
sleep-deprived.
The
most
important
cause
of
poor
aca-
demic
performance
is
improper
and
irregular
sleep.
Sleep
depriva-
tion
results
in
missed
classes,
dozing
in
class,
unfinished
assign-
ments,
poor
health,
and
a
host
of
factors
that
affect
academic
performance.
Second,
at-risk
students
arc
unable
to
set
and
keep
a
daily
schedule.
At
almost
any
suggestion
by
practically
anyone,
at-risk
students
like
Bill
will
drop
whatever
they
are
doing
and
run
oft
to
the
mall,
take
in
a
movie,
attend
a
ball
game,
or
join
a
party.
They
consistently
underestimate
the
time
required
to
do
assign-
ments
and
overestimate
their
ability
to
complete
assignments
by
required
deadlines.
dents
to
change
their
life
values
is
fundamental
to
their
success.
*Not
his
real
name,
Finally,
at-risk
students
have
incomplete
scif-tmages.
They
have
not
been
exposed
to
prolonged
image-building
activitics,
relation-
ships,
experiences,
books,
or
audio-visual
pro-
gramming.
They
enter
college
unable
to
visual-
ize
thetr
gifts,
talents,
abilitics,
or
strengths.
Because
they
cannot
“see”
where
they
are
going
or
what
they
want
to
become,
many
at-
risk
students
randomly
follow
life/career
paths
that
seem
interest-
ing
at
the
moment
but
for
which
they
may
be
ill-suited.
Gener-
ally,
at-risk
students
have
trouble
choosing
academic
majors
and
minors
and
therefore
sign
up
for
many
unnecessary
courses.
Nat-
urally,
they
run
into
repeated
dead
ends,
thereby
confirming
their
poor
selt-image.
Learning
to
Say
Yes,
No,
and
Maybe
Faced
with
a
growing
number
of
at-risk
students,
college
and
university
administrators
and
instructors
have
two
choices:
(1)
They
can
abandon
these
students
to
the
consequences
of
their
in-
adequate
study
habits,
or
(2)
They
can
work
with
them
to
help
them
succeed.
Professors
who
teach
freshman
classes,
and
are
therefore
uniquely
positioned
politically
and
pedagogically
to
help
at-risk
students,
agree
that
the
most
valuable
skill
any
college
stu-
dent
can
have
is
time
management.
However,
time
management
is
not
some
set
of
tricks
to
be
mastered.
It
is
a
manifestation
of
one’s
basic
life
values.
Therefore,
helping
at-risk
students
to
change
their
life
values
is
fundamental
to
their
success.
Regardless
of
the
curriculum,
textbook,
presentation
style,
or
theoretical
framework,
time
management
properly
taught
and
understood
in-
volves
a
clear
understanding
of
when
and
how
to
use
three
key
words:
No,
Yes,
and
Mavbe.
Universally,
students
who
manage
their
ume
productively
say
ADVENTIST
LDUCATION
=
APRILAMAY
2000
33