One of the top reasons why students leave the university before they complete their degrees is because their major was not offered, according to survey results that were discussed at a retention forum Thursday in the Charleston/Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

A survey was conducted by Jane Wayland, professor of marketing, to determine the primary reason a student would choose not to return to Eastern and to determine how strongly students feel about housing, available social activities, the size of the campus, academic considerations and faculty and staff.

Seven members of Eastern’s faculty and staff led a panel discussion. Panel members were Stephen Laribee, Frank Hohengarten, Lida Wall, Jill Nilsen, Kelly Miller, Kimberlie Moock and Doug Bock. Student Body President Katie Cox also was in attendance.

The survey found that only 29.3 percent of the students actually responded to the survey. The first survey was mailed out in November, and the second was mailed in December. One hundred and sixty-three surveys were returned because of inaccurate addresses, leaving a total of 230 responses.

The survey also showed that students left Eastern because it was not where they wanted to go because of personal or family reasons or because they wanted to live closer to home.

One complaint discussed was that the students believed there is nothing to do in Charleston. Bock passed around a list of activities for students to do in town, including campus clubs and recreation at the various parks.

Cox said the discussion was successful. She said people should listen to the students because they will say what they don’t like on campus.

“Some students feel they’re not treated the way they should be on this campus,” Cox said. “(The discussion) was a good beginning, but I wish we’d covered a lot more.”