Retaining Students: One Registrar’s Perspective Across Public and Private Institutions Dr. Brad...
-
Upload
valerie-mccoy -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
3
Transcript of Retaining Students: One Registrar’s Perspective Across Public and Private Institutions Dr. Brad...
Retaining Students: One Registrar’s Perspective Across Public and Private Institutions
Dr. Brad Burch
IACRAO
October 29, 2015
My Higher EducationWork History
1986-1989 Dorm Residence Hall Director, EKU
1993-1995 Graduate Assistant, UNCGreensboro
1995-1997 Academic Advisor, UNCGreensboro
1997-2002 Registrar’s Office, UNCGreensboro
2002-2003 Admissions, UNCGreensboro
2003-2011 Registrar, Guilford Technical CC
2011-Present Registrar, DeVry University, Addison, IL
Why the need for this presentation?
Easier and cheaper to retain students than to recruit new students
Persistence: semester to semester
Retention: year to year
Retention makes a difference in students’ lives!
Who Is Responsible For Retention?
Student – hey, you should not be here if you are not ready to go to class and do the assignments
Faculty – it is your responsibility to nurture students so that students are taught/engaged and not just lectured at
Staff – it is your responsibility to make persistence/ retention programs work
Administrators – it is your responsibility to find funding and create programs which enable student success.
Students Are Responsible for Their Own Retention
Sink or Swim
Weed out classes (size, difficulty)
Student’s responsibility
Is this correct? Yes but Not Entirely
Yes – students need to be accountable for their education and be motivated and ready to make the commitment
Not entirely – the educational institution should take some responsibility for aiding student success (processes, study skills, motivation, campus activity engagement, faculty engagement, etc.)
NOTE – data show that students are most open to institutional intervention in the first year (Tinto, Completing College, 2012).
Faculty Are Responsible For Student Retention
What are the credentials required to teach at your institution? What is required for promotion and tenure? Is quality of teaching, advising and/or student retention in the mix?
What is your institution doing to aid instruction on campus? Is there a Faculty Teaching and Learning Center or some similar vehicle?
Faculty are not just in front of a class to “Profess”
Faculty should always be “On Stage” and engaging
Is this correct? Yes but Not Entirely
Yes – faculty are hired to teach as at least a part of their contract. Teaching means pedagogically conveying information to students.
Not entirely – faculty are hired to teach but that is just a small portion of their commitment to the educational institution (research, funding, college service); division of duties depends on the college/university.
Staff Are Responsible For Student Retention
An office is responsible for student retention
Academic Advising
Office of Enrollment Management
Does your school have an office with this responsibility? What are the titles?
Is this correct? Yes but Not Entirely
Yes – it is good to see schools place an emphasis on retaining students, to place dollars behind those efforts, and create programs that target student retention.
Not entirely – student retention is not the responsibility of one office. Enrollment management should be a culture that permeates throughout the college. Every student encounter is a moment of truth – or to paraphrase Disney: every encounter is an opportunity to WOW the student.
Administrators Are Responsible For Student Retention
Create policies and procedures that are “retention-friendly”
What is an example of a retention-friendly student policy or procedure?
One example from Guilford Technical Community College
Are there portions of your academic policy that positively reflect an emphasis on student persistence and success?
Is this correct? Yes but Not Entirely
Yes – it is good for institutions to recognize that academic success is an issue that can be affected by student-friendly policies and procedures
Not entirely – these policies/procedures need to be consistently implemented which requires college-wide buy-in; the best retention policies/procedures are little without complete implementation.
A Pattern?
All groups affiliated with students need to be involved in retention:
Students
Faculty
Staff
Administrators
Academic Reasons Students Stop (drop-out, stop-out, transfer, reverse transfer, etc.)
Poor study habits
Poor academic or non-academic preparation
New degree program not offered at institution
Do not ask for help
Poor professor communication
Want to take General Education courses elsewhere
Failed elsewhere and cannot (does not) change prior habits Change: Remember The Titans: http://
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=remember+the+titans+change&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=06892784B66FEF312EE406892784B66FEF312EE4
Academic Dismissal
Completed certificate, diploma, associate’s, bachelor’s, graduate degree
Others?
Financial Reasons Students Stop
Personal finances
Not enough financial aid (grants, loans, etc.)
Unemployment/Student needs a job
New job
Two jobs
Campus housing too expensive so moving back home
Students might forget that wealth increases two ways:
Increased income
Decreased expenses
Aggregate Loan Limits
Use refund checks to live on
Don’t want to take out loans with interest
Balance prevents registration
Others?
Social Reasons Students Stop
Poor time management
Lack of motivation
Homesick – want to live closer to home
Transportation – and no OnLine option
Work is a higher priority than education
Lack of family support
Don’t feel like they fit in
NOBODY CARES
Not enough clubs/activities
Want a residence hall if attending a commuter school
Campus too big or too small
Life
Move
Birth in the family
Death in the family
Medical for self or family
Vacation
Others?
Retention Ideas Professors calling students that are absent (John Roueche, retired professor
at the University of Texas at Austin’s CC Leadership Program, speaks about teachers using the phone) – or other means of communication for students that do not attend (texting, e-mails, others?)
Faculty Alerts
Students calling students
Deans calling students
Academic advisors calling students
Finding students who miss the first class; first two weeks of attendance are critical
First semester GPAs
CC COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM – IL adopting a common course numbering system might aid students transferring and decrease student loss of credit; programs like the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) aid those students in transition (The Transfer Handbook)
Some Ideas That Require Predictive Analytics
Can we predict in advance those students that are more at risk and therefore target that population? A predictive first semester GPA?
Big Data is already being collected by schools – but the challenge is sorting and using the data High school GPA Age Gender Ethnicity High School Previous college or other educational institution Program First Year
Where are the gaps in retention? (Burch, 2015)
Academic Support
The Library makes a class or small group presentation on library services, Ask A Librarian, using select resources and citing your sources
Academic Support Center (aka Tutor Center, etc.) visits to showcase tutor and paper review services. These are FREE services on most campuses
Faculty tutors
Peer tutors
Writing Center (proofreading services)
Supplemental Instruction
First Year Program/class
Pro-active (intrusive) academic and career advising
Discussion of school’s academic integrity policy
Others?
Financial and Social Support
A Personal Finance class required for all programs
Student job board (virtual)
Lunch and Learns (time mgt., study skills, etc.)
STUDENT CARE permeates campus
Public transportation student discount
Day care
New student clubs/organizations
Others?
A Possible First Year Persistence/Retention Plan
New Student Orientation (One hour to one day to one semester; faculty/peer engagement)
Classroom Experience (Professional development for teaching; faculty-to-faculty mentoring)
Advising (pro-active)
FYE class (time management, study skills, Go to class, complete all homework on time, etc.)
Supplemental Instruction (Student mentors; high-impact/gateway classes)
Campus Engagement (Student activities, athletics, etc.)
Assess and Revise
Continuing Student Review
Faculty
Deans/Administrators
Academic Advisors
Financial Aid advisors
Review current grades, academic, financial, social issues
Where Do We Go From Here?
What would it take at your institution to increase persistence and retention?
Will it involve a cultural shift at your school?
Who needs to be involved?
Is there a cost? Where does funding come from?
If your institution increased retention by 5% from the First Year to the Second Year, how many students would be
affected?
One Final Thought
Help your students find their verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_zsMwCOoEs
Dead Poets Society
References
Burch, B. (October, 2015) Using Student Data To Improve Persistence. E-Source For College Transitions. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. The University of South Carolina.
Black, J. (2001) The Strategic Enrollment Management Revolution. AACRAO. Washington, D.C.
Pascarella, E., & Terenzini, P. (1991) How College Affects Students: Twenty years of research. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.
Pascarella, E., & Terenzini, P. (2005) How College Affects Students (Volume 2): A third decade of research. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.
Tinto, V. (2012) Completing College. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
The Transfer Handbook (2015) AACRAO: Washington, D.C.