UMD Chancellor Calls Town Hall Style Meeting

Faculty Discuss How to Keep Students at UMD

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University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor Lendley Black called faculty and staff together Wednesday for a “town hall” style meeting focused on student retention.

Nearly 35% of each freshman class will leave UMD before completing a four year graduation cycle. 

Around 20% of each class will leave between the start of their first and second years. 

Chancellor Black said students leave for a variety of reasons.

Those reasons include things like academic needs, maturity and college readiness, financial hardship, and other unforseen circumstances.

Black believes that number of students who leave each year can be brought down and faculty and staff are at the heart of the effort to keep students on campus.  

“Students are telling us that interactions, positive interactions, with faculty members are one of the most important things to them,” Black said. 

That’s why Black brought the faculty and staff together, Wednesday, to share best practices on keeping students engaged.

Black said that the administration doesn’t expect faculty to do more work, but hopes they will find new ways to work through their interactions and brainstorming sessions.