Ricky Stakem's experience at Towson University didn't have a happy ending.
He had planned to graduate in August 2006 after taking one last class for his major over the summer.
But he was in for a surprise when he arrived home at the end of the spring semester.
"A 'graduation checklist' had been sent to my home basically saying I'd be ready to graduate after that semester and wouldn't have to take the summer course," he recalled. "Because they sent the notice to my house - and not my on-campus mailbox or e-mail - I didn't get the notice in time, and therefore wasn't able to go to commencement."
Stakem's diploma was mailed home by the end of the summer. But he left TU with bad feelings about the school. "A lot of my experience… was just one major headache," he said.
Adding insult to injury, last year's diplomas contained a spelling mistake in the provost's title. Alums received new diplomas in the mail.
The University would say that Staken should have met with an advisor earlier, and used PeopleSoft's degree progress report, and changed his mailing address. Still, data shows that many students have an unsatisfactory experience in their last year at Towson.
Every two years Towson participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement. The 2005 data shows that the student experience sours by the time senior year rolls around.
"There was a quite a difference between the satisfaction of first year students and seniors," Kathryn Doherty, the director of assessment for the division of academic affairs said.
At Towson, 81 percent of first-year students would probably or definitely enroll again, but by senior year, 69 percent would. Nationally, 82 percent of seniors said they would re-enroll.
While most students evaluated their "entire educational experience" in a positive light (88 percent), only 19 percent of seniors said it was excellent - compared to 41 percent nationally.
According to the data, transfer students have a worse experience than their peers who started at Towson.
Academic advising is a common cause for complaints. At Towson, 53 percent of seniors rate advising as good or excellent, compared to 71 percent nationally. Only 17 percent of Towson seniors called it excellent.
Towson administrators say they are responding to the data by strengthening the advising process, creating a "senior experience" for graduating students, and gathering all the groups interested in seniors around the same table.
The NSSE data shows that Towson's first-year experience succeeds in welcoming new students.
"We really focus on freshmen and sophomores, and on juniors as leaders. We really haven't focused on the seniors," Teri Hall, associate vice president for campus life, said.
She said the division of student affairs is trying to think more broadly about the senior year.
"How do we work with students to have capstone experiences? How do we have the kind of things for students' senior years that are going to form great memories and connections?" she said.
Nicky Everette, campus life's assistant director for marketing and communication, is charged with creating senior experience programming.
The first senior event was a tailgate held on Nov. 18 before the last home football game of the seasons. Seniors received a souvenir bag and a "VIP pass" to dine on food provided by Damon's Grill. The band Fool & Horses played. Everette said about 75 seniors attended.
Low attendance at the tailgate may suggest that the University is facing a significant challenge. Hall pointed out that many seniors' focus is off-campus. By senior year, most students have moved out of the residence halls and are thinking ahead to future employment.
Bill Reuling, assistant to the provost and co-chair of the commencement planning committee, put it this way: "Most of the people we see are happy to get out."
But that's not necessarily because Towson doesn't deliver a good senior experience, he added. A student's level of happiness is largely in his or her own hands. The University's data shows that students who are active on campus are usually happier about their overall experience. According to the NSSE results, 60 percent of seniors don't participate in any co-curricular activities - compared to about 40 percent nationally.
During senior week in April, campus life delivers a final series of programs to engage soon-to-be-alums.
This year, the events will be held April 23 through 27, with Tigerfest serving as a final celebration on April 28.
Events include an etiquette dinner, a mixer for senior leaders and graduates since 2000, and a senior BBQ at Friday's baseball game. Details will be available at http://wwwnew.towson.edu/campuslife/SeniorWeek.asp.
"We've done things in the past. Now we're trying to make sure that it's more purposeful and aligned with things seniors will encounter on their way out," Everette said.
New this year, a senior experience committee meets to discuss ways to smooth the experience. It includes representatives from the career center, campus life, the University Store, alumni relations, and others.
On the academic side, students are encouraged to apply for graduation early to confirm that all the requirements have been met. The University is in the midst of implementing mandatory advising for all students.
"Hopefully if they have a great senior year, they're going to want to come back for alumni events and they're going to want to recruit new students to come to the University," Hall said.
A positive senior experience would benefit the division of university advancement as well. The University's development arm hopes alums will leave Towson with a positive feeling so they'll stay connected and donate money in the future.
According to data Towson provides to the Board of Regents, the average undergraduate giving rate has stayed steady at 7 percent for the past four years, slightly lower than the peer institution average of 8 percent. The University's documents say the giving rate measures how alumni "view the quality of their undergraduate education."
Jennifer Pawlo-Johnstone, associate director of alumni relations, said alums tend to get involved with the TU Alumni Association about five years after graduation.
She is working with the office of technology services to offer alums a lifelong e-mail address through the association's online community, TU Tiger Tracks.
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