UW-Eau Claire’s learning environment is doing well in several areas especially when compared nationally, according to an annual university report.

Enrollment targets, study abroad opportunities, faculty and student collaborative research and the use of technology are some of the areas Eau Claire measured well in an annual accountability report compiled by UW System officials.

“Overall, the news for UW-Eau Claire is very good,” said Chancellor Donald Mash, adding that the university met or exceeded its target goals for a number of areas measured in the report.

“We are always looking for benchmarks as a school to compare ourselves with,” Mash said.

The UW System report of Eau Claire is part of its annual “Achieving Excellence” accountability reports for all of the system’s schools. Their findings were presented Feb. 7-8 to the Board of Regents.

The report is a measure of how involved the university’s students are in the overall learning process, said Vice Chancellor Andy Soll.

Compared to other UW schools, Eau Claire seems to be doing well, Soll said, especially with study abroad and community service.

“We compare very favorably,” Soll said.

According to the report, close to 15 percent of Eau Claire students participate in study abroad programs, which is above the 3 percent national average.

Eau Claire’s study abroad program has the most participants in the UW System, Soll said.

The report also noted that almost 90 percent of the university’s students do community service or volunteer work, which is above the 58 percent national average.

That figure for the school is expected to climb, Soll said, as its service-learning requirement applies to more students.

“We come out way ahead because of the requirements we have in place,” Soll said.

In the area of student access, the university exceeded its target enrollment of 9,371 full-time students for the 2001 fall semester. The school took in 9,547 full-time students, exceeding the target by 1.9 percent, the report stated.

While the university has exceeded its target enrollment goals over the last two years, its retention of first-year students into their second year at the school has not met expectations, officials said.

For the past fall semester, school officials wanted to retain at least 80.2 percent of its first-year students from fall 2000, Soll said.

Instead, 78.3 percent stayed at the school, which was lower than the previous school year’s retention level of 79.7 percent, he said.

Retaining students is an area of concern for the university because it’s a “critical element in student success,” Soll said.

UW-Madison retains the most students in the System, Mash said, but Eau Claire isn’t far behind.

“We do very, very well and we’re right up there at the top,” Mash said.

The keys to increasing Eau Claire’s retention level, Mash said, are through simplifying the school’s general education requirement and improving its orientation program, freshmen experience program, course availability and advising.

Another highlight of the Eau Claire report is that over 78 percent of its students completed a practicum, internship, field experience or clinical assignment, which is 8 percent higher than the national average.

The school also had 69 percent of its students participating in co-curricular activities, such as organizations, publications or student government, the report stated, which is 17 percent higher than the national average.