4 • Arizona Summer Wildcat
Police
Beat
by Hannah Plotkin
Arizona Summer Wildcat
A mellow marijuana bust
University of Arizona Police Department officers observed a non-UA affiliated man walking out of the Student Union Memorial Center at approximately 6:30 p.m. on June 30. Upon spotting the officers, the man turned about face and walked back into the student union. Officers made contact with the man, who said he wasn’t trying to avoid the police, but that he was trying to get a drink of water. Officers told him to get a drink and talk to them if the man didn’t mind. Upon returning from getting drink, the man spoke with officers. He told them that he was going to a friend’s house. Officers asked the man if he had anything illegal on his person, and the man admitted to having possession of a plastic bag of marijuana and a joint in his front pocket. Officers confiscated the drugs and paraphernalia and cited the man, noting that the man was very cooperative and honest throughout the interaction.
DUI 101
UAPD officers observed a man driving erratically at 2 a.m. on June 27. The black Honda was seen swerving into the bike lane while traveling eastbound on Speedway Boulevard. The vehicle then corrected itself and suddenly cut across three lanes to turn left onto Mountain Avenue. Officers pulled over the vehicle and made contact with the driver. The officer noticed the man’s eyes were bloodshot and watering. He was slurring his speech and the officer noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath. The driver admitted to police to having had one drink earlier in the night. As the driver exited the vehicle he swayed while walking. The officer administered a Standard Field Sobriety Test. The driver showed numerous cues of inebriation during the test. Officers read the driver his Miranda rights and placed him under arrest. In custody at the police station, the driver blew a .101 on a breathalyzer test. Officers secured the vehicle and seized the driver’s license before releasing the driver to a friend.
News • Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Pima and UA partner to aid in transfer student retention by Meredith Morrissey
Arizona Summer Wildcat
The UA and Pima Community College have collaborated to ease student transitions to the university and increase PCC transfer student retention rates at the UA. Many PCC students have difficulty getting socially adjusted to the UA, said Paul Miller, associate director of UA transfer enrollment services. “It’s a very large institution, so it can be intimidating for a transfer student. There’s kind of a culture shock,” said Shelley McGrath, senior director for UA academic programs and transfer coordination in the Office of the Provost. Ed Doran, a professor and counselor at PCC, noted that many students struggle with the shift in coursework expectations. “We really try and prepare them for the fact that U of A courses are likely to be more difficult, but overall I think that the data says that the average grade point [average] drops about one point from a community college to a university,” Doran said. Doran teaches STU 210, a PCC course designed to teach transfer strategies to prospective UA transfer students. UA faculty members help write the curriculum and the course continues to evolve with student feedback to better address these social and academic issues. According to McGrath, overall retention rates of PCC transfer students at the UA have
savannah douglas/Arizona Summer Wildcat
Jabril Thomas, a math and psychology junior, transferred from Pima Community College to the UA. Since Thomas came to the UA, the Transfer Student Center has been his "little home."
increased in recent years. In 2006 there was approximately a 77 percent retention rate for fulltime transfer students from PCC, whereas in 2012 there was an 84 percent retention rate, McGrath said. She and the Student Affairs and Enrollment Management staff feel confident that there is
a relationship between its efforts and the increase in retention. The UA recently developed a “Two Plus Two” plan with PCC to ensure that students at the community college are able to get associates degrees, but also fulfill major requirements once they transfer to the UA,
McGrath said. “Essentially what that means is for almost every major that we offer at the UA there is a pathway laid out for prospective transfer students to see exactly what they need to take during their first two years at PCC,” McGrath said. The number of transfer students going on academic probation has also decreased 5 percent since 2010, according to McGrath. Doran said many PCC transfer students struggle in adjusting to the higher tuition at the UA as well as satisfying all academic requirements in a shorter amount of time, especially for honors students trying to complete their honors thesis. Miller recommends students contact the Transfer Student Center and speak with academic advisers even before applying to the UA to help smooth the transition. He said there are many resources available that students should take advantage of as early as possible. “I think we haven’t … done a good job of advertising what we do, so we’re in the process of changing that and that’s the only thing I think we need to really work on in the future,” Miller said.
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