Matthew Leone, a junior business major at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY, presented his research paper on college student retention at the Business Research Consortium of Western New York (BRC) on April 25, 2009 at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.
In the paper, Leone and his professor, Dr. Robert Guang Tian, identified major push and pull factors that may influence the student retention at colleges and proposed some meaningful suggestions for higher education administrators to consider for maintaining and increasing the student retention rate.
Leone was the only undergraduate student to present an academic research paper at the conference. The BRC, originally founded by five schools in western New York accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), fosters research opportunities and networks for pioneering research in business.
“I was the last speaker in the last session of the day,” said Leone. “I was nervous at first, but after reviewing my notes and my presentation I felt more relaxed and ready. Everyone who commented on my piece had nothing but nice things to say about it.”
“Dr. Tian really wanted to get the best out of me, and even though there were times that I struggled, he helped me out and explained things to help me get through it. I’ve discovered a lot of things about myself as a student and realized I can do so much more than I thought,” he continued. “I was happy to be a part of this and if I had the time I would definitely do it again.”