RETENTION

1
RETENTION

• Jalynn Roberts
• Evaluation Specialist
• Institutional Effectiveness

2
retention statistics

• Retention rates are much lower on college
  campuses than most administrators would like.
• Most reports state that approximately 25.9 of
  the nations freshmen at four-year institutions
  do not return to school the next year (Berger
  Lyon, 2005).
• According to Southern Misss Institutional
  Research website, only approximately 46 of the
  universitys incoming freshmen can expect to
  graduate within six years.
• The attrition rate for the nations graduate
  programs is 50 (Di Pierro, 2007 Nelson
  Lovitts, 2001).

3
FACTORS THAT AFFECT RETENTION

• Retention rates are directly proportional to an
  institutions academic selectivity because
  students who do well in high school also do well
  in college, and colleges that admit those
  students are more likely to have better retention
  rates (Mortenson, 2005).
• Students satisfaction with an institution also
  influences retention rates (Braxton Hirshey,
  2005).
• According to Beans Model of Student Attrition,
  the following constructs influence students
  satisfaction with an institution (Bean, 1983 as
  cited in Braxton et al., 2005)
• Routinization
• Participation
• Instrumental communication
• Integration
• Distributive justice
• Grades
• Practical value
• Development
• Courses
• Membership in campus organizations

4
More factors that affect retention

• Psychological characteristics, such as academic
  aptitude and skills, involvement, motivational
  states, and personality traits also affect
  college student retention (Braxton et al., 2005).
• Social, economic, environmental, familial, and
  pre-college academic experience also influence
  students persistence rates (Braxton et al.,
  2005).

5
EVEN MORE FACTORS THAT AFFECT RETENTION

• Formal and informal academic and social
  experiences, such as the involvement of students
  in class discussions, learning experiences that
  are collaborative, and contact with faculty, are
  factors that affect students adjustment to
  college, academic performance, and their
  decisions to remain enrolled until graduation
  (Nora, Barlow, Crisp, 2005).

6
Types of retention

• Institutional Retentionthe measure of the number
  of students who remain in the same institution
  from year-to-year.
• System Retentionthe measure of the number of
  students who transfer to another campus, another
  state, or another type of institution
• Retention within a Major or Disciplinethe
  measure of the number of students who change
  majors or disciplines but stay within the
  institution
• Retention within a Particular Coursethe measure
  of the number of students who complete a course

7
Questions for administrators to ask

• According to Bean (2005) there are several
  questions that administrators must ask when
  beginning to address the issue of campus
  retention
• What programs are in place to help students who
  come from academically or socially deficient
  backgrounds adjust to life on campus?
• Is there a balance between tuition and financial
  support?
• What resources are in place so that all students
  can succeed in their classes and are involved
  both inside and outside the classroom?
• Is there an atmosphere where students feel
  respected rather than simply a source for
  revenue?
• Do administrators, faculty, and staff know that
  their attitudes have a tremendous effect on
  student retention and students attitudes toward
  the college?
• Is the college as attractive as possible so that
  students who could transfer to another school do
  not want to do so?
• Are there traditions in place so that students
  feel they fit in and identify with the college?
• Are students who intend to leave asked if there
  are things the college can do to make them stay?

8
Seidman retention formula

• Identify a student in need of academic and/or
  social assistance as soon as possible.
• Assess student needs.
• Prescribe interventions
• Monitor, assess, and adjust interventions where
  necessary

9
early identification

• Identify students who may be unsuccessful either
  personally or academically in college at the
  earliest possible time. This can be done at the
  time of application in the following ways
• By examining academic records to analyze the
  types and difficulty of courses taken in high
  school, grades received, and scores attained on
  standardized assessments
• By reviewing written recommendations to shed
  light on non-academic or personal issues

10
intervention

• Once a student is identified as potentially
  at-risk, intervention should ensue.
• Intervention can occur while the student is still
  in high school or during the summer prior to
  his/her first term.
• Some students may require intensive intervention.
  This type of intervention is rigorous and
  includes a student spending five days a week with
  several hours each day in an intervention
  program.
• Continuous intervention persists until a desired
  change occurs.
• All interventions for at-risk students should be
  as individualized as possible.

11
Implementing the seidman retention formula

• Form a college-wide retention committee a
  respected senior faculty member should chair the
  committee.
• Formulate a retention reading list for committee
  members.
• Gather accurate information about students and
  track them until they leave the institution
  prematurely or graduate.
• Use the schools mission statement as the guide
  for all educational processes, programs, and
  services.
• Ask and seek to answer the following questions
• How do we define retention and attrition?
• How do we compare with our peers?
• Are we satisfied with our results?
• How long do we want to track students?
• Do we include part-time, nontraditional, and
  distance learning students in our definitions?
• Assign responsibilities within the committee.
• Design an evaluation plan.
• Keep the college community informed of the
  committees efforts.
• Change any part of the plan necessary after an
  evaluation period.

12
LEARNING COMMUNITIES

• Implementing learning communities is one of the
  most effective ways to ensure student success
  because of the following reasons
• Students develop supportive peer groups in
  learning communities.
• Students spend more time together both inside and
  outside of class.
• Students in learning communities learn more,
  become more involved in activities, and persist
  more than students in traditional formats.
• Learning communities require that a group of
  students (usually 10-25) enroll in two or more
  classes together.

13
Retention in graduate school

• Little research has been done on retention in
  master- and doctoral-level programs.
• Nelson et al. (2001) and Di Pierro (2007) suggest
  that administrators do the following to retain
  students in graduate programs
• Prepare undergraduates for the graduate
  environment.
• Give students accurate information about graduate
  programs, requirements, and job placement in
  their field of study.
• Expect all graduate students not working in a lab
  to teach at least one course per year.
• Provide a living wage to all research, teaching,
  and graduate assistants that is adequate enough
  for them to survive through the year without
  going into debt.
• Offer full healthcare coverage to all graduate
  students and their dependents.
• Facilitate meaningful advising relationships and
  provide advisors who have a history of
  supervising dissertation research and show a
  strong commitment to graduate students.
• Provide training for graduate advising faculty.
• Get students involved in their field as much as
  possible by encouraging participation in
  conferences, seminars, and professional
  development in their field of study.
• Create a hospitable departmental environment.

14

• Describe in detail each phase of the doctoral
  process, including an average length of time
  required for each process, so that students are
  aware early on about the level of commitment they
  should demonstrate.
• Arrange detailed, ongoing orientations for all
  students to encompass each phase of doctoral
  study.
• Encourage development of a dissertation topic
  early in a students doctoral career.
• Establish a program in which students and their
  dissertation committees openly discuss the
  efficiency and effectiveness of their
  interactions.
• Prepare students for the oral defense portions of
  the dissertation (both proposal and the actual
  dissertation itself).
• Measure completion rates for comprehensive exams
  as this is one of the first places where students
  encounter difficulty in the graduate educational
  process.
• Establish a departmental lounge with comfortable
  seating, journals and books, bulletin boards
  advertising news and upcoming events, and
  recognitions of student achievement.
• Conduct exit interviews with all departing
  studentsboth graduating and non-graduating.

15
Final thoughts

• According to Tinto (2005), there are five
  conditions that must exist within an institution
  of higher learning if student success is to take
  place
• Institutional commitment
• High expectations
• Academic, social, and financial support
• Continuous and frequent feedback regarding
  student performance
• Academic and social involvement on campus, and
  more importantly, in the classroom

16
references

• Bean, J. (2005). Nine themes of college
  students retention. In A. Seidman (Ed.),
• College student retention A formula for
  success. (pp. 215-243). Westport
• Praeger Publishers.
• Berger, J., Lyon, S. (2005). Past to present
  A historical look at retention. In
• A. Seidman (Ed.), College student retention A
  formula for success (pp. 1-29).
• Westport Praeger Publishers.
• Braxton, J., Hirshy, A. (2005). Theoretical
  developments in the study of college
• student departure. In A. Seidman (Ed.), College
  student retention
• A formula for success (pp. 31-60). Westport
  Praeger Publishers.
• Di Pierro, M. (2007). Excellence in doctoral
  education Defining best practices.
• College Student Journal, 41(2), 368-375.
• Mortenson, T. (2005). Measurements of
  persistence. In A. Seidman (Ed.),
• College student retention A formula for
  success (pp. 31-60). Westport Praeger
• Publishers.
• Nelson, C., Lovitts, B. (2001, June 29). 10
  ways to keep graduate students from
• quitting. The Chronicle of Higher Education,
  47(42), B20.
• Nora, A., Barlow, E., Crisp, G. (2005).
  Student persistence and degree attainment
• beyond the first year in college The need for
  research. In A. Seidman (Ed.),
• College student retention A formula for
  success (pp. 129-153). Westport