LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Georgia college says it wants to keep students and faculty in touch -- so it's bought smartphones for its faculty members and pays for their service plans.
Georgia Gwinnett College is offering its 300 full- and part-time faculty members smartphones to encourage them to respond to students' texts or calls within 24 hours in an attempt to lower the dropout rate, USA Today reported Friday.
Public, four-year, non-competitive admissions colleges such as Georgia Gwinnett have a historically low retention rate, and this part of a multi-tiered approach to keeping students in school.
It's working, the college says, to the tune of a 75 percent retention rate for sophomores -- double the rate for non-competitive admissions colleges in Georgia, the newspaper said.
Other efforts include small class sizes and a mentoring program involving professors advising students on academic, career and personal matters.
In college engagement surveys, students report "feeling that faculty care about and are accessible to them," said Tom Mundie, dean of the school of science and technology at Georgia Gwinnett.
