Building a Comprehensive Retention Plan

Selma HaghamadNACADA Middle East Conference, DohaNovember 19th 2014Time: 2:45-3:45Room: Alareen 4

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Retention Definition

• Graduation rates of specific cohorts• Persistence rates from one semester to the next• Successful transfer rates from one institution to the other• Recovery of students from academic probation

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Retention Definition

• There is no agreement on the definition of retention.• How do you define retention in your institution?

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Attrition Phenomenon

• Dropping out voluntarily from an institution• Dismissal for academic reasons• Dismissal for other reasons

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Definition of Attrition• Attrition includes both voluntary withdrawal from a course

or a semester and involuntary leave such as academic dismissal.

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What! Why are we talking about retention?Only 59% of full-time, first-time Bachelor degree seeking students who are enrolled in fall 2005 at a 4-year institutions in United States completed their degree by the year 2011

(Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2012)

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What is the importance of Retention?• Accountability• Assessment of effectiveness• Reputation of the institution• Attracting more students• Increasing and improving human resources

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Overview of the Workshop15 minutes• Institutional Mission, the role of data and setting goals• Write your goals based on data15 minutes• An example of an ideal retention program• Polish your goals15 minutes• Another example of a retention program • Leave with the first draft of your plan:

• Write your key performance indicators• Write your targets• Think of the responsible parties in your retention initiative

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Role of Institutional Mission in Retention• Are you a private institution?• Are you a public institution?• What kind of students do you target and admit?

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Role of Data in Retention Planning

• Does your office of admission provide you with any data about the incoming cohorts?

• Institutional Data• Institutional Surveys• Early Alert Programs

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Institutional Data

• Examples:• High school GPA• Cumulative GPA• DFWI Courses• Participation in Programs and Services• Student Characteristics: gender, age, employment

outside the institution, first generation students

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Sources of Data

Institutional Surveys

• National Survey of Student Engagement NSSE• College Student Inventory CIS• Student Satisfaction Survey SSS C

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Sources of Data

Early Alert Programs

• Ellucian Course Signals• Grades First• Star Fish• Appointment Manager

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Using Data

• Cleaning and polishing data• Analyzing and interpreting data• Examples of Software

• Microsoft Office Excel• Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS)

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Retention goals

• Short-term goals• Long-term goals

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Examples of Retention Goals (1)

• Increase the rate of students recovering from academic probation from 42% to 52% by:

• Identify gap between expected rate and actual rate and normalize first year lower performance

• Gather data during the first term on students on probation and institutional resources that could help them

• Connect students to resources

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Examples of Retention Goals (2)

• Increase first year retention rates from 73% to 83% by:• Increase high school GPA admission requirements• Create bridge programs for those below GPA

requirements• Increase student participation in academic advising• Increase opportunities for students to meet and/or visit

with faculty

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Steps for Turning Data Into ProgramsThus far you know:What data you have and what you still might need

- Are the data polished and high quality?What programs you have in place

- Which are working and which are not?What is the data showing you

- Who really needs to be served?What your goals for improvement are

- What is realistic?

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Some Thoughts• Are your retention goals related to your institutional

mission and priorities?• Do you collect data to inform your institutional goals or

do you tailor your institutional goals to the data that was previously collected?

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Write your own Goals!

What Do You Need To Consider When Designing An Effective Retention Program?• Which students will it serve?• What resources will it require?• How will the program impact retention rates?• How will it fit with your other programs?

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Example of An Early Alert Program

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Which students did the program serve?

• Students performing poorly in high D / F / W / I rate courses

• Primarily for first-year students and also provides resource referrals them

• The focus was both on-campus residents as well as commuting students C

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What resources are required for such Programs?

• Data analyses to determine high D/ F / W /I rate course• Collaboration with: Academic advisors Faculty and department headsRegistration DepartmentOffice of Admission Enrollment ManagementGraduate teaching assistants Departmental learning centers Academic resource centers Residence hall coordinators (RHCs) Success coaches Parents

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Importance of Academic Advising to Student Retention• Academic advising represents a referral hub to other

institutional resources. However, surprisingly it is the single most underestimated service in higher education institutions (Light, 2001). The importance of academic advising to student retention is yet to be explored and institutionalized through effective retention programing.

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How does the program impact retention?• Provides information and referrals to help students perform better in

high D / F / W /I rate courses• Helps faculty in large classes to maintain focus on at risk students• Increase involvement of different stakeholder in student’s learning• Indirect impact:• Increase in GPA• Increase in student satisfaction• Increase in retention• Increase in retention rates

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How does the Early Alert fit with other programs?

• New student orientation• First-Year Seminar• Residential education/living learning communities• Parent relations units• Probation programming

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LET’S HEAR FROM YOU

• What program/s are producing the most success on your campus?

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Define KPIs, Targetsand Responsible Parties

• Key Performance Indictors are realistic and measurable• Targets: You define targets by looking at previous data• Responsible parties: who are they? C

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The Role of Retention Theories in Strategic Planning

• Famous theories• Famous practitioners

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Retention Theories that are closely connected to Gulf-Arab Institutions

• Reasons for student departure from institutions of higher education

• Commuter students needs• Challenges faces by first generation students• Who are the non-traditional students and what are their

needs

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Conclusion and Final ThoughtsThe two most important contributors to student success

and engagement were the amount and effort students put into their studies and extracurricular activities and the way the institution rally its resources to provide meaningful experiences to student

(Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt and Associates , 2005)“Students are most likely to persist and graduate in

settings that provide academic, social, and personal support.”

Vincent TintoDistinguished University ProfessorSyracuse University

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Thank you! Cen

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