TSU’s low graduation rate focus of NY Times story
 
The New York Times published a story last month on Texas Southern University’s worst-in-the-state graduation rate and what TSU President John Rudley is doing to improve it.

The story was written for Reeve Hamilton of the Texas Tribune and it is an odd news story in that it doesn’t focus on what’s new – the academic and financial turnaround that Rudley, now in his fourth year as president, is accomplishing.

The top of the story dwells on the sad figures – such as the 3 percent four-year graduation rate – that makes the ongoing efforts so crucial. Though it takes its time getting there, the story evets around to mentioning recent improvements.
TSU, the story says, is “a far cry from six years ago, when campus grounds had been neglected and buildings sat in disrepair. The center of campus, which was once only concrete, is now lined with grass and trees. And the university has gotten its financial house in order.”

The story doesn’t mention until near the end, however, that one of the first things Rudley did when he arrived from the University of Houston was introduce admissions standards.

“In the past,” the story says, “anyone could enroll.” That might have had something to do with the low graduation rates. You’d think that new admission standards and such initiatives as the new academic village would figure higher in a story on this subject.

I’m not sure how I missed this when it appeared on March 3, but you can read it here.

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TSU’s Sandifer-Walker gets New York Times mention
 
Serbino Sandifer-Walker, who teaches multimedia journalism at TSU, was featured in a 3/1/2012 New York Times story about the growing importance of social media as a business tool, particularly for people in the media. Ms Sandifer-Walker, an alumna of Columbia University, spent a weekend as a “social media doctor” at a Columbia conference that drew 500 people. She provided one-on-one help to mid-career professionals who wanted to bone up on social networking.
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Rudley touts TSU accomplishments
 
Texas Southern University celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. TSU President John Rudley used the occasion to comment on the university’s recent accomplishments in a recent column on the Houston Chronicle’s op-ed page. He wrote about the school getting its accreditation renewed, the recent upgrade of the university’s debt level by Moody’s, plans for new student housing and parking garages, expansion of economic programs and science research and the Urban Academic Village pilot program.
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TSU’s Urban Academic Village
 
Much of the talk that you hear on campus about TSU’s Urban Academic Village is shrouded in jargon. You have to peel back the layers to grasp what the gated freshman apartment complex is designed to accomplish. Monica Rhor of the Houston Chronicle peeled back the layers in a story last month that described the dorm as an innovative attempt to “tackle the school’s most pressing problems: low retention and graduation rates.”

The students attend weekly lectures on social and academic topics, go on cultural field trips, share the same course schedules as their dorm-mates and have 24-hour access to four faculty members who live on-site. They also get supplemental assignments to boost literacy skills, extra tutoring, school-issued laptops, and close monitoring.

The goal is to immerse the students in a structured academic setting and guide them through the often difficult transition to college, said James Douglas, executive vice president at TSU, who first had the idea about 10 years ago.

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TSU law students sue the law school

Two former TSU law students are suing the school and their former professor, claiming the final D grade that the students received was “arbitrary and capricious.”

The students, Karla Ford and Jonathan Chan, were both dismissed after getting the low grade. Law school policy requires first-year students to maintain a C average.

The Houston Chronicle wrote about the lawsuit here.

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John Rudley gets credit for turnaround at TSU
 
Texas Southern University is getting recognition for sweeping changes that have taken place under President John Rudley, changes that have made TSU more academically rigorous, improved the look of the campus and now are going a long way toward improving Texas Southern University’s national reputation. Surveying the transformation, a front-page story in the Houston Chronicle finds that the school is on solid ground after years of turmoil and scandal. You can read the complete Dec. 18, 2011 story here.