RETENTION Old Wine in a New Bottle OR…An Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come? Symposium on Student Retention │ January 13-14, 2015 │ Costa Mesa, CA jngi.org © 2015, John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

Looking back over a four decades’ odyssey

Colleges and universities were not designed for the students who now predominate

And many of us weren’t made for these students either…challenges of empathy, understanding, relevance

So what do we do? a)change us b)change our institutions c)change the students d)change public policy e)all of the above

Importance of … a manageable focus - individual and institutional locus of control

Staying the “course”… vs. fads and administrative ideas de jour

Retention is all about… “institutionalizing” innovation and improvements= “sustaining” hard work, long term systemic change, no quick fix, no panacea, no silver bullet, sound educational practices

It is more than “completion”… “Completion” for what? Being intentional about our mission and having “foundational” experiences to attain the mission Most common response? “Develop a program.”

It is more than “completion”… Program focus on sub populations vs. all students What works in America: what we do for the critical mass— as close to all students as we can get

Which programs seem to yield the greatest impact? first-year seminars learning communities Supplemental Instruction Orientation Early alert interventions Enhanced advising interventions On-campus employment

Key decision: engage the faculty /avoid the faculty

Need for partnerships The academic/student affairs divide Need for new models Integration is new normal/new mantra

Is the creation of a new role and profession the answer? Student Success

After a half century of programs, and the evolution of Student Affairs, and, most recently, technology solutions, there is still not enough progress.

21 st Century next steps…

Next steps Programs are necessary but not sufficient What’s missing is a comprehensive plan (example: Foundations of Excellence ®, Retention Performance Management™) Have to execute that plan More Student Affairs professionals necessary—but not sufficient

Next steps Have to engage the faculty Specifically, have to focus on gateway courses Need a plan to do so (e.g. Gateways to Completion ®, G2C ® ) Need to execute that plan

Next steps Hardest thing of all: have to change the rewards structure Must improve partnerships, affect greater integration Need to mine the data we have Inform wider campus community of what we know

Next steps Actually use the data to make decisions for educational improvement (e.g. Retention Performance Management ™) Need campus policy audits Shift focus from “access” to “success”

Going forth (some basic assumptions)

Going forth Student Success”/”College Success”/ “First-Year Experience”/“Transition Studies” is now an established field of research and professional endeavor

Going forth We know what to do and know how to do Need for campus and national political will Lack of money is a cop out (on part of students and institutions) There are sufficient resources

Going forth Need to bring pilots and boutique programs to scale—e.g. “high impact practices” Need disruptive change and redesign

Going forth There are many inspirational examples— some old, some new: TRIO, Alverno, Elon, University 101, Guttman Community College, Valencia College You can leave with a plan to be one!

Now let’s get back to getting on with that!