Retaining Students:

One Registrar’s

Perspective Across

Public and Private

Institutions

Dr. Brad Burch

IACRAO

October 29, 2015

My Higher Education

Work 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) already 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.