10 questions colleges should ask to understand their ......– admissions and international...

10 Questions Colleges Should Ask to Understand Their

Retention Challenges

Brian Galloway

Director of Student Retention Services

Villanova University

10 Retention Questions, Session T2.1133, #SEM2018 #SEM18

Biography

Brian Galloway

– More than 12 years at Villanova; more than 13 in higher ed

– Admissions and international recruitment for seven years

– Student retention for six

– MA in Strategic Communication; MBA both from Villanova


Presentation Format

10 questions you should ask to better understand retention at your institution

Five minutes per question

I will leave time for questions at the end

Question 1

What does 1% look like at your institution?


The 1%

1677 / 100 = 16.77 ≈ 17

NTR of $42,700 x 9 = $384,300NTR of $42,700 x 17 = $725,900

NTR* of 1 student = $42,700

17 more students retained will increase retention rates by 1%

9 more students would increase 0.5% and allow you to round up

*Net Tuition Revenue assumption of $61,000 total cost and 30% discount rate


The 1%When evaluating projects, be specific about goals and assessments

Take a nuanced approach to your numbers

TERM

Fall

FTFT

PAST Retention

Rates

# returned

students

# lost

students

FA 2008 1602 94.93% 1521 81

FA 2009 1601 94.13% 1507 94

FA 2010 1640 94.87% 1556 84

FA 2011 1648 93.93% 1548 100

FA 2012 1644 94.23% 1549 95

FA 2013 1640 94.14% 1544 96

FA 2014 1659 93.67% 1554 105

FA 2015 1668 95.86% 1599 69

FA 2016 1699 94.82% 1611 88

90

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Average Number of FR-SO Leavers with St Dev


The 1%

Threshold for engaging in new project or purchasing new product

Standard Dev + 1 + Additional Desired Outcome / Time frame

10.33 + 1 + 1% (17) = 28.33 ≈ 28 / 3 yrs

NTR of $42,700 x 28 = $1.2 million


The 1%

1% is Great For…

1. Presidents and Provosts2. Boards and Bond Raters3. Rankings and Revenue4. Financial Aid

1% is Challenging For…

1. Housing and Dining2. Classroom Space and Faculty3. Support Services4. Financial Aid

Question 2

When do your students leave you and what can that tell you about how to structure your

retention efforts?


When do your students leave you?

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Term left AV Gpa at departure

1st yr 2nd yr 3rd yr 4th yr



337 333

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Left during/after term 2 Left all other terms

Average GPA at Time of Departure

3.25

Average GPA at Time of Departure

2.76

Students attending “better” schools:

36% (121 students)

Students attending “better” schools:

8.7% (29 students)



Two groups, two distinct strategies.

– Earlier leavers are:

• More mobile (financially and academically)

• Did not have Villanova as their first choice

• Ended up some place “better” more often

– Later leavers are:

• Struggling academically (and possibly financially)

• Rarely landed somewhere “better”

• Bouncing along the bottom 10% of their cohort by GPA



96.18%

94.49%93.93%

97.78%

94.35% 93.91%

96.83%

93.48%

92.10%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

Honors Non-Honors Like Honors

FR-SO Retention Rates

2011 2012 2013

Question 4

Have you done a self-assessment of your academic

support landscape?


Academic Support

What we learned from a self-assessment

Graduating students of color were both more likely to seek support and less likely to be satisfied

University was only spending about $15/student/year but…

Patchwork of at least 8 offices

92% of grads in 2015 found support

adequate but…

some students received as much

as $60/yr

only 56% of them ever sought

support


Academic Support

Our plan.

Gathered all support offices

together; partners in change

Benchmarked against other

colleges

Provost installed an AVP for

teaching and learning

Everyone signed off on the report’s recommendations


Academic Support

43.59%

40.00%

22.64%

15.22%

20.00%

34.15%

33.33%

32.73%

41.51%

58.69%

54.55%

43.90%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

I Found Easy Access to Academic Support

Strong Agreement Agreement

Our Outcomes

• Consolidated delivery methods

• Co-located offices

• Increased budgets

• Hired FTE

• Predicted demand and targeted courses


Academic Support

SUBJECT Percent

“not Ideal”

Number

Enrolled

Number

“not ideal”

Intro to Micro 23.01% 591 136

Gen Chem I 20.27% 587 119

Intermediate Spanish I 18.49% 384 71

General Psych 24.73% 364 90

Calculus I 27.30% 337 93

FMR II 33.66% 306 103

FMR I 36.60% 306 112

Organic Chem I 30.89% 246 76

Gen Bio I 22.78% 237 54

Business Calculus 24.31% 218 53

SUBJECT Percent

“not Ideal”

Number

Enrolled

Number

“not ideal”

Intro to Macro 19.53% 599 117

General Psych 26.93% 375 101

General Chem II 27.74% 310 86

Corp Resp and Reg 18.42% 304 56

Business Stats 21.69% 272 59

Calc II 27.21% 272 74

GPE 16.74% 239 40

FMR I 43.38% 219 95

Organic Chem II 50.46% 218 110

FMR II 27.19% 217 59

FALL midterm SPRING midterm

Question 5

Have you assessed some of your special population

programming?


Special Population Assessment

80.00%

89.89%

85.54%

90.29%

83.13%

89.16%87.64%

86.21%

87.25%

87.05%

87.50%

89.37%

74%

76%

78%

80%

82%

84%

86%

88%

90%

92%

FA 2009 FA 2010 FA 2011 FA 2012 FA 2013 FA 2014

CASA 4-yr grad rate UNIV 4-yr grad rates Linear (CASA 4-yr grad rate)



97%

92%

68%

57%

57%

51%

48%

46%

11%

CASA - Center for Access, Success and Achievement

Writing Center

Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Math Learning & Resource Center

Office of Education Abroad

Learning Support Services

Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowship

Tutoring Services

Academic Support for Athletes

Dark Blue = CASA Seniors reporting participation rates at least 10% higher than comparison group



Closing the GPA gap

3.04

3.183.14

3.22 3.233.28

3.293.30

3.35 3.36 3.373.38

0.25

0.12

0.21

0.140.13

0.10

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

3.00

3.10

3.20

3.30

3.40

3.50

3.60

3.70

3.80

3.90

4.00

FA 2009 FA 2010 FA 2011 FA 2012 FA 2013 FA 2014

Average of CASA Average VU GAP



85%

77%

60%

58%

32%

28%

23%

Villanova University-sponsored service event/activity

Cultural/ethnic group or organization

Racial/cultural awareness programming

Leadership training

Performing arts

Sophomore year learning community

Student newspaper, literary or campus media

Dark Blue = CASA Seniors reporting participation rates at least 10% higher than

comparison group



83%

66%

63%

52%

51%

49%

46%

42%

I feel part of the Villanova community.

At Villanova, men and women are valued and respectedequally.

At Villanova, people of different religions are valued andrespected equally.

Villanova has prepared me to work in a diverse society.

Villanova is a welcoming community for all individuals, nomatter their background.

At Villanova, people of different sexual orientations are valuedand respected equally.

At Villanova, people of different races are valued and respectedequally.

At Villanova, people of different economic backgrounds arevalued and respected equally.

Orange Bars = CASA Seniors reporting satisfaction rates at least 10% lower than comparison group

Question 6

How do you connect with students who demonstrate

no “at-risk” behavior?


Demonstrating No “At Risk” Behavior

Transcripts tell us who is interested in possibly transferring and where they are applying

334352

437

132 138

160

2.53 2.55

2.73

2.4

2.45

2.5

2.55

2.6

2.65

2.7

2.75

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

TX requests Students Requesting # per student

26.95%

36.65%

34.10%

63.77%

53.13%

54.00%

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

LESS MORE



Pull requests together every Monday

Email students to come in for confidential chat

Identify Troubleshoot

More than 50% come in

Listen



50% of those who request a transcript actually stay enrolled

We held focus groups with these students to see why they stayed

Dear Mr. Galloway,

I spoke to you in your office a few months

ago about some of my concerns regarding

the university and why I was thinking of

transferring. I just wanted to let you

know that after much thought and

consideration of other options, I decided

to stay at Villanova. I wanted to thank

you because your receptive and

understanding nature played a part in

my decision to stay.

I hope you have a great summer.

Question 7

Do you have an effective exit

interview process?


Exit Surveys

We record a response rate higher than 50% for surveys of our voluntary leavers

We do not survey students taking a leave or those who are dismissed

Our survey responses skew white, female, and financially/ academically mobile (measured by GPA and EFC)

Collected via Qualtrics


Exit Survey

Why are you leaving and where

are you going?

Community

Classroom

Extracurricular

Res Life

Financial Aid

Diversity


Exit Survey

Nuggets of learning throughout the years

VU’s academic reputation and the “best school” I got into now account for 78% of all #1 reasons for choosing to enroll at VU, up from 68% five years ago

Weak academics continues to rise as a reason students cite for leaving and was the second most cited as the #1 or #2 reason for leaving this year

Academic Reputation, 29.51%

Academic Reputation, 36.59%

"Best School", 39.34%

"Best School", 41.46%

2012-13

2017-18

10.91% 13.11% 13.73%

30.43%

18.56% 19.51%

weak academics

12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18


Exit SurveyNuggets of learning throughout the years

Social Dissatisfaction, 31.71%

Weak Academics, 12.20%

Location, 12.20%

Major not Avail, 9.76%

Other,9.76%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

#1 Reason for Leaving, 2017-18

Social Dissatisfaction23.91%

Weak Academics21.74%

Other21.74%

Weak Brand Image10.87%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

#1 Reasons for leaving 2015-16

Social Dissatisfaction, 34.48%

Other, 12.07%

Not Worth Investment, 10.34%

Major not Avail, 10.34%

Financial,8.62%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

#1 Reason for Leaving, 2016-17


Exit Surveys

“There was tutoring for math and writing for the whole school, but hardly anything for sciences, econ, or research classes.”

“Tutoring was very accessible, but the quality was not good.”

“Some professors were very helpful, one even agreed I was making right decision.”

“Many of the clubs create an elitist type of mindset-not an inclusive community.”

“Again, lack of diversity was a huge motivator for me to transfer.”

“Nightlife does not exist outside of Greek life and bar scene if 21”


Exit Surveys

Question 8

How do your retention and graduation rates differ across

academic colleges, departments, and majors?


Rates Across Departments or Colleges

94.42%

6.54%

82.79%

6.01%4.26%

5.34%

80.38%

3.80%

91.47% 97.37%

5.12% 4.99%8.23%

3.88%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

VSB ARTS SC EG NU

COHORT ENTERED FA 2015; RETURNED FA 2016

DID NOT RETURN

returned to NU

returned to EG

returned to SC

returned to AR

returned to VSB


Rates Across Departments or CollegesStudent who enter the Biology Department have been graduating from Villanova at higher rates

91% 88% 89% 91% 93% 94%

9% 12% 11% 9% 7% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

FA 2000 FA 2005 FA 2009 FA 2010 FA 2011 FA 2012

GRADUATED NO



But the percent of students who started in BIO graduating with a science degree has barely moved

61% 60%

77% 78%

61%71%

39% 40%

23% 22%

39%29%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

FA 2000 FA 2005 FA 2009 FA 2010 FA 2011 FA 2012

Graduated NO



What can we do to make this better?

Students who bring in lots of APs are better positioned

Must take an average of 18 CR

for first 6 terms

That means overloading from the

start

This disproportionally

affects students of color

College is hard enough to adjust to

Question 9:

How warm is your campus?


How Warm is your Campus?

What does this mean?

Our Black Cultural Society Leaders

First Generation Student Celebration Week

Question 10:

Is your office positioned to deliver nuanced

information related to outcomes?


Delivering Timely Information

Retention and

Graduation across science majors

Success of the Honors

program

International Student

outcomes

How much does your retention

contribute to the

University’s bottom line?

How do special

populations like athletes

and legacies

persist and succeed

What constitutes “at risk”?

BONUS Question 11:

Do you have a retention council?

Questions?

Brian Galloway

[email protected]

10 questions colleges should ask to understand their ......– admissions and international...

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