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But Xavier cannot wait until its students arrive at college to prepare them to be health care professionals and scientists. By then many would be too far behind to catch up with biology majors elsewhere. So Xavier starts working with prospective students much earlier. The university's main connection to high school students is through its Summer Science Academy. The academy begins between eighth and ninth grades with a two-week program known as MathStar. More than 100 students from in and around New Orleans attend class seven hours a day, learning the skills they will need to succeed in high school mathematics. Daily quizzes test the previous day's progress, and students have at least two hours of homework each night. The next summer students attend BioStar, a three-week program to prepare for high school biology. The summer after that is ChemStar, another three-week program. Finally, the summer after their junior or senior years, 150 to 200 high school students enter SOAR (Stress on Analytic Reasoning), a residential program on the Xavier campus. For four weeks they attend class from 8 to 5, with two hours of mandatory study hall on Sunday through Thursday evenings. Most of each morning is devoted to laboratory work, where students gain experience in chemistry, biology, and physics. "That is a very important component of the program," says biology professor and dean of arts and sciences Deidre Labat. "It's the first time many of those students have ever been into a lab." All of the summer programs are carefully structured to mix academics and social activities. After a morning of laboratories and lectures, students break into groups that are often led by a Xavier undergraduate. The group leaders organize academic and social competitions, such as talent shows and group performances, to promote peer support. They also phone participants who are late or absent, provide tutoring for those who need special help, and serve as role models. Renee Markham, who went through the entire academy sequence and later served as a group leader while a Xavier undergraduate, emphasizes that the role of the group leaders is to make the summers fun as well as challenging. The groups both compete and cooperate, preparing students for the mix of social pressures they will face in college. "It's always friendly competition," says Markham, "but enough so you want to be number one." The same combination of academic rigor and social support follows students into their first year at Xavier. (The SOAR program serves as a powerful recruiting tool for Xavier, with more than three-quarters of its participants matriculating at the university.) Freshmen at Xavier spend twice as much time in mathematics and science courses as most freshmen elsewhere. To help them cope, the school has an intensive tutoring program in these subjects and a writing center for help with papers. Faculty members also encourage freshmen in chemistry and biology to join or form study groups. "We try to get students to buy into the peer support network," says chemistry professor and pre-med adviser JW Carmichael. "The way we do that is by integrating social and academic life. We have parties and dances and go to football games--we just don't do it before a big organic chemistry test." For Xavier the formula works. More than half of its approximately 2,000
undergraduates major in mathematics or science. In recent years 20 percent
of its graduates--about 100 students a year--have gone to medical, dental,
or graduate school, and over 90 percent of those students have received
or are on track for receiving their professional degrees. |
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pon entering the new science building at Xavier University of Louisiana,
students encounter rows of photographs of the previous year's graduates
with a listing of where they were accepted to professional or graduate school.
The message is unmistakable: stick with it and your photograph will be here,
too.
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