Editor's note: This is the first of a weeklong series of stories detailing the connections between Ohio University and Athens as a snapshot of the student-resident relationship.
The campus is beautiful. The people are nice.
But freshman Liz Yazbek of Youngstown still is not sure if she'll come back to Ohio University next year.
I just miss the city
she said.
Yazbek is not alone. Athens' small-town atmosphere is the No. 1 major reason freshmen did not return to OU after the 2003-04 school year, according to an Office of Institutional Research study.
When I first heard it I thought 'Wow
maybe we're not making students aware of where we are and what we do
' said Tammy Kahrig, the director of retention initiatives in University College and an academic adviser.
The university mailed a questionnaire to the 563 students who chose to leave, excluding 86 students who were suspended for academic or disciplinary reasons. Thirty-two percent of the 563 students responded to the questionnaire, which listed 48 major and minor reasons for leaving.
The top reasons tend to be more social - students having trouble making friends or adjusting to life at OU. Most of the other reasons for leaving fall into an academic category, Kahrig said.
Students come to the campus and are taken by its beauty, but they don't take into account Athens' remoteness, she said.
Visiting and living here are two different things
she said.
A lot of first-year students don't have cars and have to walk everywhere, and the absence of shopping malls and restaurants like Panera Bread and Chipotle can throw kids from the city into culture shock, Kahrig said.
Those are real things for students
she said. It depends on what they've been used to.
Senior Erin Roesch said she is from Cleveland, so Athens took a little adjusting. But the campus was pretty and had a friendly atmosphere, and she enjoyed her biological sciences program - and the social scene, she said.
It's always a good time on the weekends
Roesch said.
It took a while, but she grew to love the campus. I would never leave
she said.
But because the things that students, like Roesch, love about OU are distinctly Athens, the university might not be able to help those for whom OU and the city that surrounds it are just too small, Kahrig said.
I don't know how actionable that is
she said. We may not be the best fit.
