Proactive Advisement Methods Lead to Student Success Presented by: Samantha Henrikson and Eileen Young Excelsior College School of Business and Technology

Who is Excelsior College? Located in Albany, NY Private not-for-profit learning institution for adult learners 39,000 students with an average age of 37.5 Students all over the county and the world Strong military student population School of Business and Technology is the second largest school in the college

What’s the Issue? Online learning has been the fastest growing area in education in recent years. Along with this increasing popularity there is “a growing concern about the significantly higher student dropout rates of students in online courses compared with those of conventional courses” (Clay, Rowland & Packard, 2009) Research Indicates that retention for online courses are roughly percent lower then face to face courses (Hanover 2015).

What Can Be Done? Students in the online learning environment still need support. One study of students surveyed showed that “Online students should be provided with adequate and ongoing institutional support” (Heyman, 2010).

SBT Project Historically, Excelsior College has provided educational opportunity to adult learners with an emphasis on those historically under represented in higher education. A chronic and complex issue at Excelsior College (and other colleges respectively), is finding ways to increase student persistence/retention. SBT developed a Student Success Project to determine the impact of early intervention strategies on students who are highly motivated to complete their degrees early on.

Who were our target population? First Time Course Takers- To reach out to SBT students taking SBT courses as their first course and help them if they were struggling.

First Time Courses Takers: Actions/Strategies Identify first time course takers Hold SBT student orientation webinar first evening of the course Inform instructors of first time course takers in their courses Code students with special Activity Code Send to students with return receipt on afternoon of first Tuesday; welcome, etc. Check activity first Thursday of term; participating? Monitor weekly activity reports Provide targeted outreach (phone/ ) This type of outreach continues throughout the term.

Preliminary Outcomes

Outreach Type of Outreach Conducted Most Commonly Cited Reasons for Challenges with Coursework Phone message/ Job Obligations Military, duties Military, connectivity Technology related issues Health/illness Vacation Struggle, wanted to transfer Talked to directly/ Unable to leave message/ Just Student proactively contacted us

“I just received your and voic . I apologize for not responding sooner to you and the instructor. I have been absent the last few weeks from BUS233 due to some major medical issues with my wife that have been ongoing for over a year now. There are good days and bad and lately more bad days with it which has required much of my time. I would like to continue with the course and will login and start getting caught up his week. I do not plan on withdrawing but wanted to let yall know of my current situation. Let me know if there is anything else you need from me.” Real Student Stories of Challenges “Thank you, I am about completely settled in here at Fort Bragg and should get back to Excelsior tomorrow to continue Accounting. Thanks again for your concern.”

What do you think of this ? Hello Joseph, I'm writing to let you know our computer system is showing us that you were not active in BUS 323 Business Ethics last week (8/24 to 8/30). If you feel this is an error, please contact us because if a student shows no participation for three consecutive weeks, the College automatically withdraws the student from the class. Like you, we would not like to see this happen. I see you were active in EC Success Seminar though; that's great. A student shows activity in class by posting a message on the discussion board, submitting an assignment, or taking a test at least once a week. If you've already logged on and completed one of these for this week, that's great. If not, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. If you know you’ll need to be absent for a period of time because of other commitments, please contact your instructor ahead of time. That way, you won't appear inactive. I wish you success in your program and encourage you to contact me or your advisor if you have questions or concerns. Please call and press after the automated greeting, send a message through your “My Message Center” (located on your MyExcelsior Home page), respond to this , or use the Live Chat feature on the Excelsior College Web site ( Have a nice weekend and thank you for your service to our country! Sincerely, Marjorie DerGurahian Retention Counselor Technology Advising Team School of Business and Technology and press after the automated greeting, send a message through your “My Message Center” (located on your MyExcelsior Home page), respond to this , or use the Live Chat feature on the Excelsior College Web site ( Have a nice weekend and thank you for your service to our country! Sincerely, Marjorie DerGurahian Retention Counselor Technology Advising Team School of Business and Technology What types of outreach do you think would work for students at your home institution?

What is next? Using the data from this and other similar pilots done at the college, the college recently launched the EC Student Success Center. Strong Start Coaches - personal outreach to newly enrolled students to help ensure the connect with their advising team; register Student Success Coaches – Students at risk Developmental Advising – commitment to reduced case loads, proactive outreach.

Questions? Thank You!

Works Cited Clay, M., Rowland, S., & Packard, A. ( ). Improving undergraduate online retention through gated advisement and redundant communication. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 10(1), Heyman,E. (2010). Overcoming student retention Issues in higher education online programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 13(4), Hanover Research (2015). Best practices in online student retention. Arlington, VA: Hanover Research Center.