La Sierra University
HISTORY
La Sierra University is a Seventh-day Adventist coeducational institution that began as La Sierra Academy in 1922, on acreage that had been part of an 1846 Mexican land grant known as Rancho La Sierra. It is now part of the city of Riverside. In 1923, with the addition of coursework in preparation for teaching, the school became La Sierra Academy and Normal School. As the offerings continued to grow, it became Southern California Junior College in 1927 and La Sierra College in 1939. Accreditation as a four-year liberal arts college was received in 1946. In 1967, La Sierra College merged with Loma Linda University as its College of Arts and Sciences. The institutions separated in 1990, and four schools (the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Business and Management, and the School of Religion) and the Division of Continuing Studies became La Sierra University.
CHARACTERISTICS
Total Enrollment: 1,501
% Admitted: 52.6%
% of First-Years Receiving Pell Grants: 43%
Retention Rate: 74%
Six-year Graduation Rate: 26.9%
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
LSU’s best-practice based Sophomore Mentoring Program (SMP) builds on the research which has shown the influential role that a mentoring community can have for sophomores. The SMP will be housed primarily in academic departments where juniors and seniors in the major will mentor sophomores transitioning to their declared major. The mentors and mentees will meet a minimum of four times over the three academic quarters developing a personal relationship, and the mentor will pay special attention to signs of academic distress and low engagement in academic and social programs. Mentors selected, trained, and supervised by departmental faculty will share their knowledge and experience gained about the major, relate their understandings of the job/career options available within the major, share what they wish they had known as sophomores about their major, map out courses needed to graduate, and encourage participation in experiential learning opportunities within the major to increase mentees’ success.