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Our October newsletter highlighted the program's 92% retention rate from spring to fall 2012. Left unsaid was that achieving those results sometimes requires determination on the part of the campus program coordinators to keep scholars engaged. The following case study from fall 2012 demonstrates the positive impact resulting from the First Scholars program providing a dedicated staff member to maintain personal contact with scholars throughout the semester.
In mid-October, a freshman student disclosed to Martina Martin, First Scholars Coordinator at the University of Kentucky that she had concerns about her choice of attending UK. The student wanted to withdraw and return to a community college near her home. The scholar explained she was unhappy, felt the classwork was difficult and that she could not keep up with the professors' pace. With the support of her mother, the scholar wanted to transfer to the community college and had already initiated canceling her housing, financial aid, and another scholarship she received for spring 2013.
Martina encouraged the scholar to continue to come to the freshmen community building class and all other program activities and service projects with the hopes that she would see the benefits of the First Scholars program and continue to build connections with other scholars. She maintained individual meetings with the scholar during the semester and continued to encourage her to complete the fall semester.
In December, student the admitted she made the wrong decision and wanted to stay at UK for the spring semester. After much thought she realized it was not the university, the classes or her professors that she was having concerns with - it was her major. Her initial choice was an option her mother pushed, so she opted to make her mother happy.
Martina informed the student about the First Scholars freshmen career exploration workshops in the spring and how attending could help her make the right major choice. Martina worked with the student to register for spring courses, created a to-do list to aid in her reinstatement process, and intervened with financial aid to make sure her funding and scholarships were intact for the spring semester.
The availability of the First Scholars coordinator as a point of contact and the open communication she encouraged enabled this scholar reflect on the root of her concerns, work through her doubts, and redirect her actions toward new goals. | 
