COLLEGE STARTS CAMPAIGN TO KEEP STUDENTS IN SCHOOL.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

About 50 Moorpark College instructors will go back to school Friday to learn techniques that can be used to combat the 50 percent drop-out rate among college freshmen nationwide.

The one-day teach-in is part of a campaign to keep students on track by helping them clarify their career goals, take relevant courses, get career information and feel welcome, said Diane Sukiennik, who is coordinating the program at Moorpark College.

``Some of the factors that increase the retention and success of students are related to giving the students a sense of mastery as lifelong learners, and that, in fact, is the main object of this course,'' she said.

Instructors in disciplines ranging from dance to computer science will learn techniques in career guidance and mentoring.

Officials said about half of U.S. college freshmen don't make it to their sophomore year, and the faculty wants to prevent that for 2,500 of the 5,000 freshmen now enrolled at Moorpark College.

Later, the instructors will meet with professors from universities to which many Moorpark College students transfer for upper-division work, such as California State University, Northridge, to ensure that courses are compatible.

The college has been awarded a $141,000 state grant toward training about half of its 500 instructors in counseling techniques and toward offering a new course called college strategies, Sukiennik said.

Amanda Severyn, 24, of Thousand Oaks is among more than 40 students getting a trial version of the course.

``I wish I'd had this type of studying-for-success program in high school because I would have learned to be a good student a long time ago,'' she said.

``It doesn't just teach you how to be a good student, but to apply goals and not to be overwhelmed, and how to overcome procrastination and take notes when a professor talks too fast,'' she said. ``It teaches you all the things you need to know in school but that you aren't taught in junior high or high school. And it teaches critical thinking and how to have relationships with other people, and it even talks about health issues and . . . eating right.''

Severyn is a sophomore at Moorpark College and wants to transfer to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks next year. She eventually wants to become an elementary school teacher.

``When I first got out of high school, I didn't know how to be a student. At high school, you're just kind of shoved around and told what to do,'' she said. ``And in college you're left alone, and you're really kind of lost. Students don't know where to get information from, and this is why this class has been so good.''

AT A GLANCE

Moorpark College will hold an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 25-26 for students interested in the College Strategies course that will begin next spring. For more information, contact Diane Sukiennik at [phone] Ext. 1549.

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