| You can do this!
Office of Student Success at Milligan College
First generation college graduate Leslie Glover
struggled through college. Now she makes sure
others don't do the same.
 Seventeen years old and the first in her family to attend college, Leslie Glover didn’t know what to expect when she arrived on the campus of her state university. Unfortunately she received some bad academic advising her first semester, took the wrong courses, and didn’t understand the university’s academic policies and guidelines. It cost her greatly — her grades suffered and she wasted a semester taking classes she didn’t need.
She also didn’t know what it meant to be “on your own” as an independent adult. She found dorm life interesting and new, but challenging sharing her living space with unfamiliar faces.
“I found myself asking a lot of questions, because the support from the university just wasn’t there those first few months,” said Glover, who seems to have an endless supply of energy. “They didn’t have a vested interest in who I was, why I was there, and what I was doing. No one was there to tell me, ‘You will graduate! You can do this!’”
With her parents’ strong support, Glover eventually figured out college life and went on to become a first generation college graduate. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business education and later a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction/multicultural education.
Her early struggles in college are one of the reasons Glover has now devoted her life to working with students in higher education. She has coordinated federally-funded student service programs at universities in Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee.
“I love student services,” said Glover. “You get a chance to help shape a student and be instrumental in his or her personal and professional growth.”
 In March, Glover was called by Milligan’s academic dean, Mark Matson, to lead a new “Student Success” program at Milligan. The college had been examining its retention records in recent years and knew that it needed to develop a program specifically geared to helping students succeed, stay, and graduate. A grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund made the program possible.
“Student success encompasses everything from a student’s decision to attend Milligan, to physically coming to campus, and then ultimately graduating, and even beyond that,” said Glover, who said that coming to Milligan was an answer to her prayers.
“Leslie is helping us develop programs and initiatives to improve student success, reduce attrition rates and increase retention and graduation rates,” said Matson. “It’s more than just ensuring that students receive a quality education, but that they develop as a total person, get involved, and develop a sense of community responsibility.”
Initiatives Glover is already working on include a freshman mentoring program, a tutoring program, and a new student orientation program. She will also present two sessions this fall in the freshman Intro. to College and Careers, and she’s working with Dr. John Paul Abner on career development and academic advising issues.
For Glover, a student success program is the best of three worlds. It involves enrollment management, student development and academics.
“It’s all about ‘service excellence’ — it’s looking at and addressing academic and development needs of the students,” said Glover. “How do you do that? By talking to students. I’m daily out talking to the students on campus to get their perspective on the big picture.”
In many cases, the students come directly to Glover, as was the case on her first day in the office, when she found a student waiting to talk to her. The student requested that they have a study spot on campus that was open 24 hours a day, and a way to get to Johnson City to shop for those students without cars. Glover responded to requests immediately.
“Sometimes it’s the simple things that make a difference,” said Glover.
“Everybody at the college — the faculty, staff and administration — has a role to play in retention. We have to ask ourselves some really tough questions. Are we really serving the students in every way possible? Are we doing all we can to facilitate student-faculty interaction? How do we seek to develop students as Christians? You can’t address retention unless you’re willing to change behaviors.”
According to Glover, Milligan is already doing exceptionally well in many areas of student services, but she said it’s about continually striving to do better.
Glover expects a lot from the faculty and staff, but she also expects a lot from the students.
“The ultimate responsibility falls back on the students. The students are the driving force behind their experience at Milligan,” she said. She tells students that they must get involved, they must attend class, and they must engage in the formal and informal community events at the college. She also tells them that they can do this and they can graduate.
“There’s an extra challenge to a liberal arts education. It’s academi-cally tough here, but it can be done. And I’m a strong believer that any student can do it, but they must make an effort. And we’re here to help them all make the best of that effort.”
Research has shown that it’s within the first six weeks of school that freshmen make the decision whether to stay or leave college.
“If they don’t get connected, they won’t make it to their second year,” said Glover, who explained that colleges too often focus only on helping students during the first week of school. “It’s not over after the first week of orientation. There’s work still to be done throughout the student’s entire college experience. It’s a continuous process for me.”
Glover knows she’s at Milligan for a reason and is excited about her role.
“You have to look at individual needs, individual concerns, and the individual as a total person,” said Glover. “I’m constantly thinking about things that would have made a difference and made it easier for me to succeed in college.”
—by A. Lee Fierbaugh (’94)
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