Retention 101: Student Outcomes & University Benchmarks LaMont Rouse Kean University, Union NJ Presented for Innovative Educators.

Retention 101: Student Outcomes & University Benchmarks

LaMont RouseKean University, Union NJ

Presented for Innovative Educators

Goal of the Presentation

1. Create a framework for studying retention in an ongoing fashion

2. Understanding the dynamics involved in student retention

3. Identifying best practices for increasing retention

4. Engaging the entire campus community in retention efforts

Defining Retention

Retention is defined as the ability of students to persist from Point A to Point B

* A common indicator of institutional effectiveness is measured by the ability of institutions to graduate an X percentage of first-time, full-time graduates within 150% of normal time (Six years for colleges and universities; three years for community colleges)

Limitations

1. Student behavior is often difficult to categorize

2. Students often do not fit neatly into the retained/drop out categories (Example: Stop outs)

3. Retaining students often mask students that are struggling

4. Leaving students often have very successful academic records

Why Study Retention?

1. Overall, it is an indicator of institutional effectiveness.

2. Retention has significant budgetary implications.

3. Retention is important because it allows for accountability to funders (federal, state, local, alumni, etc).

4. Provides insight into the efficiency of the institution .

Common Excuses

• Retention is unimportant because we have an open admissions policy

• Retention doesn’t tell the whole story

• We admit too many at-risk students, how can we have a quality retention rate?

• Success shouldn’t be defined by one measure

Rebutting The Excuses

• When an institution admits students, they are invested in their success. Appropriate resources should be dedicated to their success.

• Institutions should be accountable for supporting students.

• Students that aren’t retained and do not transfer are significantly more likely to default on loans. High default rates can jeopardize the ability to access federal and some state funding programs.

Common Cohorts

1. First-time, full-time students

2. Part-time students

3. Transfer, full-time students

4. Gender

5. Special Populations

6. Overall, institutional rate (all students)

Common Time Frames

• Fall-to-Spring• Fall-to-Fall (1 year)• Fall-to-Fall (2 years)

Tracked in an ongoing basis and reported annually.

Institutional Retention Rate Measures

• Measurement 1: All full-time students that are retained from fall-to-fall subtracting graduates.

• Measurement 2: This includes a weighted system. First, factor the FTE percentage of credit hours of full-time students to the overall FTE. Then determine the retention rates of both full-time and part-time students. Then factor the weight of full-time students. (For example, if full-time students make up 80% of the FTE and have a 80% retention rate and part-time students consist of 20% of the FTE and have a 60% retention rate then the overall retention rate would be 76%.)

The Retention Puzzle: Studying Leavers

Phase 1: Use Your Database • Demographics (Gender, ethnicity)• Social Economic Status• College Grade Point Average • High School GPA• High School SAT (Verbal and Math)• Attempted to Completed Credit Ratio• Graduating high school

Are there significant differences between your student profile?


Phase 2: National Student Clearinghouse

1) Each semester an institution should take their 10th day enrollment and explore the students they’re sharing with other institutions with a concurrent enrollment report. (Hint: If it is above 3%, there’s smoke.)

2) Run a Clearinghouse report on all leavers (Are there trends?)


Phase 3: Surveying Non-Returning Freshman

• Surveys should be distributed to first-time, full-time leavers at the first semester and at one-year intervals.

• Did you make the second sale?

• Explore Tinto & Swirl in the survey.• Did students feel connected to the campus? • Did students have divided loyalties?

Promoting Retention @ The College Level

Best Practices

1. Four year graduation plan (Two year graduation plan)

2. Quality advising designed to maintain momentum toward graduation

3. Course sequencing and offerings (Does your schedule serve the interest of the professors or the students?)

4. Identifying bottleneck courses

Promoting Retention @ The College Level

Best Practices

1. Course schedule is established and published as early as possible

2. Beware of “rolling over” the schedule from year-to-year

3. Have students register as early as possible for courses

4. Be strategic with summer enrollment

Promoting Retention @ The College Level Best Practices

1. Contact continuing students that have not registered. Have an active communications strategy that includes broad messaging via Facebook, student publications to individual strategies through email, text messages and phone calls (brute force methods still work).

2. Late registration after the first week is a losing proposition at most institutions (although it may generate revenue). This population has significantly higher failure rates.

Course Retention & Success Rates

MATH 1*** Fall 2009 MATH 1*** Spring 2010

Final Grade # % Final Grade # %A 52 18.18% A 42 12.35%A- 20 6.99% A- 26 7.65%B+ 20 6.99% B+ 30 8.82%B 21 7.34% B 39 11.47%B- 14 4.90% B- 19 5.59%C+ 13 4.55% C+ 26 7.65%C 42 14.69% C 39 11.47%D 14 4.90% D 26 7.65%F 50 17.48% F 54 15.88%AF 6 2.10% AF 1 0.29%RF 0 0.00% RF 0 0.00%W 34 11.89% W 38 11.18%

Total N 286 Total N 340Overall Pass % 63.64% Overall Pass % 65.00%

Retention % 86.01% Retention % 88.53%Completion Pass % 73.98% Completion Pass % 73.18%


Three Measures from Every Course

1)Overall pass rate: Calculates the number of students that receive a passing grade against all students that attempt the course (Withdrawals are counted in the system)2)Course retention rate: Calculates the number of students that receive a grade A-through-F against all students that attempt the course. 3)Course pass rate: Calculates the number of students that receive a passing grade against the total number of students that receive a grade A-F (Withdrawals are NOT counted in this measure)


Best Practices

1) Distinguish between Fs (not all Fs are equal)

2)Monitor grade distribution of all general education courses (and other high enrollment courses)

3)Watch out for courses that tend to be “spring flings.” Some courses have significantly different outcomes in the spring compared to fall.


High Failure Rate “Killer” Courses

•VP of Academic Affairs and every Dean should have a list of all courses with an overall pass rate of sub-70% (n=>50).

Studying Killer Courses

A)Objective of the course; B)Appropriate text and supporting materials;C)Concept sequencing issues;D)Enforcing prerequisite issues;E)Focus groups;F)Who’s teaching?

Retention @ The Course Level

Best Practices

• Limit (eliminate?) late registrations. Second week is problematic; third week is just poor form on an institution’s part.

• At risk students NEED all 15-weeks to compensate for knowledge and skill gaps that may be exposed by a particular course.

General Rules on Late Registration

• No students after the 1st week (if the class meets only once per week)

• No students after the second class (if the class meets either two or three times per week)

• The more an institution violates this rule, the more risk they incur.


Best Practices

• The First Day

• Set the tone; • Have students engage each other;• Start learning students’ names;• Explain your teaching philosophy;• Ask students to write their expectations of the course;• Try to quickly ascertain their basic skills and knowledge levels (adjust accordingly)


Best Practices

• The Course Syllabus/Structure

1.Establish clear expectations;2.Strongly consider having an attendance policy;3.Include formative assessments as a significant part of the course (Feedback is crucial for students);4.Promote rubrics; 5.Don’t over rely on lectures;6.Email vanishing students;7.Provide a midterm grade (suggest methods of improvement )


Best Practices

• Syllabus Oversight

1)Collect syllabi (ask questions)2)Are they updated?3)Are there numerous errors? 4)Is the course in line with the goals of the program and university?5)Are there enough units of learning to adequately measure progress?

* While maintaining collegiality, discourage and eliminate poor practices in this area.

Retention & Student Activities

Best Practices

• At-risk students benefit from a first-year experience course. Embrace the boundaries of this often 1-credit course.

• Overall, a first-year experience program benefits all students.

• All students should be paired with an upper-class mentor.

• Vibrant student activities and government should be established and expanded.

• Target non-traditional groups (older students, working mothers, commuter students, etc)

• Establish yearly themes that promote a sense of community.

Final Words

• Retention is everyone’s responsibility from Admissions to Alumni, from financial aid to tutoring.

• Significant improvements can be made through decisions informed by data.

• Small changes, like an emphasis on customer service, can lead to a large rate of return.

• It is easier and usually cost-effective to retain students than to continue the revolving door of replacing leavers.

•Embrace the challenge of retention; don’t run from it. It’s not mission impossible.

Thank You.

Retention 101: Student Outcomes & University Benchmarks LaMont Rouse Kean University, Union NJ Presented for Innovative Educators.

Documents

retention puzzle

retention rates

ability of students

overall retention rate

study retention

weight of fulltime students

outsretaining students

strugglingleaving students