1. Monroe Community College 1 Data Driven Retention Strategies for Online Students Dr. Jeffrey P. Bartkovich Marie J. Fetzner October 21, 2003 2003 League CIT

2. Monroe Community College 2 Purpose of Presentation Provide an overview of MCC’s online research agenda Review research that impacts online student retention –Services –Policies Discuss online retention strategies that are informed by research data

3. Monroe Community College 3 MCC’s Online Program Joined SUNY Learning Network (SLN) in 1997 Fall 2002: 1,716 non-duplicated headcount –44.2% FT; 59.8% PT –37.4% online only; 62.6% OL and other –OL represents 10.7% of MCC’s enrollment –71.3% Female; 28.7% Male Over 120 course sections

4. Monroe Community College 4 MCC’s Online Research Agenda Level 1 – Descriptive –Basic demographics –Basic production –Basic enrollment –Basic finance

5. Monroe Community College 5 MCC’s Online Research Agenda Level 2 – Evaluative –Basic performance –Student and faculty satisfaction –Integration with campus IR –Modify existing surveys “to fit”

6. Monroe Community College 6 MCC’s Online Research Agenda Level 3 – Comparative –Statewide benchmarks –National benchmarks –Complete surveys-–be a case study Level 4 – Theoretical –External – in the literature –Internal – on the campus

7. Monroe Community College 7 Data-Driven Retention Strategies Part I – Services Characteristics and Attitudes of Non-Retained Online Students Office of Educational Technology Services Monroe Community College Jeff Bartkovich and Marie Fetzner

8. Monroe Community College 8 The Problem Why are certain MCC online students (those with grades of F/W) not succeeding in their online courses?

9. Monroe Community College 9 MCC’s Online Retention Research Archival Data Analysis –Past three years’ grades and demographics for students in online courses retrieved from student records database Student Survey –Survey created and administered to sample of students who received an “F” or “W” in an online course for the Fall semester in 2000, 2001 and 2002

10. Monroe Community College 10 Study Limitations Overall response rate is low—difficulty in obtaining responses from the target population (contact information) Small sample size (especially for Hispanic and Asian students) Ability to generalize Good News: feedback was received from non- retained online students

11. Monroe Community College 11 Basic Student Demographics OL and Site-based, By Percent* Spring2002Fall2002 OLSite-basedOLSite-based Female68557155 Male32452945 Minority20251924 Non-Minority80758176 Less than 2018271530 20-2433 3532 25-2916111511 30 and over33293427 *SOURCE: MCC Institutional Research Office

12. Monroe Community College 12 Overall Grade Distribution OL vs. Site-based, By Percent* *SOURCE: MCC Institutional Research Office **Includes + and - Spring2002Fall2002 Grade **OLSite-basedOLSite-based A34.532.834.028.7 B20.526.119.726.2 C10.015.310.615.2 D3.95.03.75.1 F12.98.214.17.4 W16.311.414.510.7

13. Monroe Community College 13 Grade Rates OL vs. Site-based, Fall Semester 1999200020012002 OLN9701,4171,9162473 C and Higher69.7%65.8%65.3%63.6% F/W24.8%26.4%29.7%30.2% MCCN43,77945,23548,28852,428 C and Higher70.3%69.7%70.7% F/W20.0%21.3%20.6%20.5%

14. Monroe Community College 14 Success Rates in Comparable Online and Traditional Courses % C orBetterPercentage OnlineTraditional Point Difference Total65.369.6-4.3 Full-time Part-time 56.3 74.1 70.3 66.7 -13.9 7.4 1 st time FT 1 st time & at risk 1 st time & not at risk 40.7 44.4 66.3 72.2 66.6 74.0 -31.9 -22.2 -7.7 Under 25 years of age 25 year of age or older 55.0 76.3 67.8 75.7 -12.8 0.7

15. Monroe Community College 15 Top 10 Reasons for MCC Non-retained OL students When asked to identify the one reason why they were not successful in their online course, students reported that they: 1.Couldn’t handle the balance between school and other responsibilities (15%) 2.Got behind, couldn’t catch up (13%) 3.Course was too unstructured (13%) 4.Lacked the needed computer skills (13%) 5.Personal problems (10%)

16. Monroe Community College 16 Top 10 Reasons, con’t 6.Course was too hard (9%) 7.Lacked motivation (5%) 8.Course took too much time (5%) 9.Space opened up in a campus-based class (5%) 10.Didn’t like the instructor’s teaching style (3%)

17. Monroe Community College 17 Reasons for Taking an OL Course* Reasons for Taking Course Online: –Conflict with Personal Schedule 49% –Family Responsibilities 23% –Distance or Transportation 10% –Other 10% –Course Not Offered on Campus 5% –Interest in Technology/Internet 3% *Retained Students

18. Monroe Community College 18 Reasons for Taking an OL Course MCC vs. all other SUNY Students* PRIMARY ReasonMCC* SUNY* –Personal Schedule Conflict 49% 31% –Family Responsibilities 23% 16% –Distance or Transportation 10% 20% –Other 10% 12% –Not Offered On Campus 5% 15% –Interactive Technology 3% 7% *Retained Students

19. Monroe Community College 19 Retention Data Conducting further analysis to investigate the relationship between online student reasons for non-success, and satisfaction variables for successful online students Services that were implemented as a result of the retention study to be discussed after information is presented in Part II

20. Monroe Community College 20 Data-Driven Retention Strategies Part II - Policies An Analysis of SLN Students’ Performance and Differentiation Office of Institutional Research Monroe Community College Angel Andreu

21. Monroe Community College 21 The Problem It is observed that the failure and withdrawal (F/W) grades for online students are increasing in number and percentage.

22. Monroe Community College 22 The Observation Percentage of F/W Grades, Fall Semester 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Online*19 25 26 30 30 College17 20 21 21 21 *N in 1998 was 409; 2002 was 2,473

23. Monroe Community College 23 The Research Previous research identified characteristics of students at risk of F/W grades in online courses. These were: –First time students –Full-time students with less than 30 earned credits –Students under the age of 25 –Minority students

24. Monroe Community College 24 The Research The MCC “Andreu” study affirmed these characteristics and looked specifically at: –Time of registration –Basic academic skills

25. Monroe Community College 25 The Data: Time of Registration Only 7% of the “C or better” students registered during the first week of classes, compared to 16% of the “F/W” students Students who registered during the first week of classes had a 50/50 chance of earning a grade of C or better The odds of getting C or better decreased by 13% for each week closer to the first week of classes

26. Monroe Community College 26 The Data: Age 65% of the F/W grades were among students under the age of 25 Between the ages of 21 and 22, a student had a 50/50 chance of earning a C or better

27. Monroe Community College 27 The Data: Age

28. Monroe Community College 28 The Data: Age and Time of Registration Age and time of registration are each significant contributors to grade performance Their interaction is not significant The best chance of getting a C or better –Register 5 weeks before the start of the semester –Be age 25 or above

29. Monroe Community College 29 The Data: Experience (i.e. number of accumulated credit hours) The rate of F/W grades between first and second year students is significant Experience is not significant when combined with age or time of registration

30. Monroe Community College 30 The Data: Part/Full Time Status Part/Full time status is not significant The interaction of status and age was significant

31. Monroe Community College 31 The Data: Part/Full Time Status

32. Monroe Community College 32 The Data: Basic Academic Skills MCC’s ACCUPLACER tool –The variables used included reading and sentence scores –The metrics are placement scores at the college English level (78 for reading, 83 for sentences)

33. Monroe Community College 33 The Data: Basic Academic Skills For students to have a 50/50 chance of earning a C or better in an online course, their basic academic skills should be at the college English level

34. Monroe Community College 34 What Does the Analysis Show? Factors important to success in online courses: –Time of registration –The age of the student –The academic preparedness of the student

35. Monroe Community College 35 What Does the Analysis Show? Factors in the decision model: –College is enrollment driven –The online program is supporting enrollment growth –The demographics of enrollment growth for the College are the same demographics of non-success in online courses

36. Monroe Community College 36 What Does the Analysis Show? Policy Factors: –Should policy account for motivation –At what “odds of failure” do we restrict enrollment –Should online growth be allowed to continue to support college enrollment growth –What is the balance between student success and online enrollment growth

37. Monroe Community College 37 Policy Development 1 In all cases, a student with an ACCUPLACER score below 78 (reading) and/or 83 (sentence) is prohibited from taking an online course at MCC. This prohibition is lifted at such time that the student successfully completes the Transitional Studies coursework appropriate to address the deficiency. All online sections will be closed to registration one week before the start of class. Qualified students (see definition on next slide) who wish to enroll after this date will be allowed to “green slip” in until the College’s ‘Add’ deadline.

38. Monroe Community College 38 Policy Development 1 Qualified students include mature students with a record of success in college-level coursework. Student must also have satisfactory ACCUPLACER scores to have successfully completed the Transitional Studies coursework appropriate to address any deficiency. Students who have successfully completed an online course previously are also considered qualified. Note that data indicate that students 22 years old or older have a significantly greater chance of success in online coursework.

39. Monroe Community College 39 Policy Development 2 Considerations –Forget policy, make it a course prerequisite –Must be programmable –Cannot rely upon faculty involvement for exceptions due to availability –Does resolution of the online problem become a standard

40. Monroe Community College 40 Policy Development 3 Draft X –Students in remedial English courses are prohibited from enrolling in online courses –All registrations for online courses are closed on the first day of classes

41. Monroe Community College 41 Research to Inform Practice: Student Advice Question to online students who received F/W grade on their online course: “What advice would you give a fellow student considering registering for an online course?”

42. Monroe Community College 42 Research to Inform Practice: Student Advice Results – Top Five Topics –Be ready for independent learning. Must be self- motivated. –Once you get started, stay on track. –Online courses require lots of reading, homework and research. Get ready for the demands. –Must develop a schedule to go online, must manage your time. –Talk to other people, other students before you take the class and during the class

43. Monroe Community College 43 Research to Inform Practice: Student Advice Practical Use of Online Student Advice –Integrate into brochures, orientation seminars –Do mock testimonies for video displays –Share with Counseling and Advising staff –Share with Faculty

44. Monroe Community College 44 Research to Inform Practice: Managing Services Manage the Expectations –Additional pre-start information sharing –Additional orientations offered Manage the Support Services –Greater integration with support team –Additional points of access to services Manage the Academics –Faculty course design issues and training –Emphasis on multiple interactions

45. Monroe Community College 45 Research to Inform Practice: Managing Services Manage the Expectations –Welcome Letter from Academic Vice President has been expanded –Face-to-face student orientations offered* –MCC Online Orientation CD distributed –Phone Calls made to all Fall 2002 Online Students and 1 st -time Spring 2003 Online Students *additional analysis conducted

46. Monroe Community College 46 Research to Inform Practice: Managing Services Manage the Support Services –Student Services web page expansion –Revisions made to the service gateway to online learning web page –Brochures at Records and Registration and at the Counseling Center

47. Monroe Community College 47 Research to Inform Practice: Managing Services Manage the Academics –Retention strategies integrated into faculty trainings –Discipline-specific retention studies –Discussions on other academic support— online tutoring, writing centers, etc. –Pilot test CourseSpace (use of online template for web course enhancement)

48. Monroe Community College 48 Research to Inform Practice: On-campus Orientation Question: Is there value to an on-campus orientation course for online performance?

49. Monroe Community College 49 Research to Inform Practice: On-campus Orientation On-Campus Orientation Results: –Most students felt they had the necessary skills to be successful –Skill preparation is not related to performance –Students who attended the on-campus program were more likely to earn a C or better C/BetterF/W On-campus Orientation 78%18% Online Orientation only 64%30%

50. Monroe Community College 50 Research to Inform Practice: On-campus Orientation To Continue the Course –Practice Demonstration Course –Structure not Skills –Market the grade differential –Keep faculty involved in the program to provide “authentic experience”

51. Monroe Community College 51 Research to Inform Practice: On-campus Orientation Question: How do you define retention? It depends: –Research–two basic presentations  As an enrollment statistic  As a performance indicator –Policy  Be consistent, clarify your statistics

52. Monroe Community College 52 Defining the Retention and Withdrawal Rates All SLN CoursesFall 2002 Annual 2002-03 First day enrollment18514154 First week enrollment18574225 Census day enrollment17143847 Last day enrollment17163832 Retention as an enrollment statistic

53. Monroe Community College 53 Online Retention Rates Fall 20021 st WeekCensus DayLast Day 1 st Day1.02.94.95 1 st Week.92 Census1.00 All 2002-031 st WeekCensus DayLast Day 1 st Day1.02.93.92 1 st Week.91 Census1.00

54. Monroe Community College 54 Defining the Retention and Withdrawal Rates Retention as a performance measure (All SLN Courses) GradeFall 2002 Annual 2002-2003 A to D1,2532,755 F, W, Other4631,077

55. Monroe Community College 55 Withdrawal Rates: All MCC and Online Fall 2002 F&W Grades Spring 2003 F&W Grades 2002-2003 F&W Grades All MCC20.5%19.6%19.5% Online Only30.0%29.5%28.1%

56. Monroe Community College 56 Next Steps: Things to Consider Services Policies Definition of “Retention” for data collection Replicate studies at other institutions

57. Monroe Community College 57 Contact Information Dr. Jeffrey P. Bartkovich jbartkovich@monroecc.edu jbartkovich@monroecc.edu Marie J. Fetzner mfetzner@monroecc.edu mfetzner@monroecc.edu –MCC Web Page: www.monroecc.eduwww.monroecc.edu –MCC Online Learning page: http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/distlearn/index.htm http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/distlearn/index.htm