Rethinking Retention
The
impact of the Success Challenge initiative on student retention levels
by
Bill Koch, Editor, Higher Education Digest
What
keeps you going back to your favorite retail stores? Most likely, they have the
products you want at prices you can afford. But beyond that simple metric, how
do they keep you as a customer?
They
may offer incentives such as coupons, advertised sales or, even better, great
customer service. Over time, regular employees may recognize you as a regular
customer and give you personalized attention. You’ll also become so familiar
with the stores that you can find obscure items quickly.
In
much the same way, colleges and universities across the country have recently
had to expand and are trying to improve their retention efforts. While the
incentives they offer are different than drugstores that sell products like
aspirin or frozen buffalo wings, there are some similarities. At the core, it
all comes down to relationships.
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“After World War II, the GI Bill changed everything,”
says Caroline B. Miller, associate vice president for enrollment management in
Student Affairs and Services at the University of Cincinnati. “Suddenly,
college was affordable and attainable for students from a wide variety of
backgrounds.”
In
the decades after World War II, more students worked to pay the rest of their
way through college. Miller says, “We saw the beginning of a large number of
students working while attending school, with the added stress and time
constraints.” She adds, “The phenomenon of one semester in school, one semester
off working to pay for school, also started at this time.”
Even
more interesting were the families these students came from. “You now had
people entering college who were first generation collegians. Their parents
hadn’t gone to college,” Miller says, “and thus couldn’t understand firsthand
the pressures and frustrations of completing a four-year degree.”
With
all these new factors in play at colleges across the country, retention grew to
be a bigger issue at the highest levels of administration. In the past 15
years, most colleges have added retention programs to their strategic planning
efforts.
Why worry about
retention?
“Retention
is a measure of satisfaction,” Miller says. “Any retail store uses the same
measure. Do customers come back to your store? Why or why not?”
For
higher profile colleges, such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Yale,
retention is a matter of prestige. While their admissions standards are stringent
enough to nearly guarantee any student who gets in will work hard stay there,
even the big names must focus on retention. “If students get into their schools
but can’t stay afloat academically,” Miller says, “then they are either not
screening well enough or not providing services to counsel able-but-frustrated
students.”
Beyond
the ethereal notion of prestige, more practical matters have forced colleges to
focus on retention. “At the most basic level, there’s the financial bottom
line,” Miller says. “Colleges want to have students pay to go to their school
for four years.”
Other
issues that have forced retention to the foreground are planning for staff and
facilities. “You have to hire staff with some sort of idea of your future
student population,” Miller says. “You’d like to assume that everyone will stay
at your school — and then staff accordingly. The same goes for classrooms,
housing, library facilities and recreation facilities.”
Retention
takes on an added layer of urgency for public institutions, like the University
of Cincinnati. “At a public institution,” Miller says, “you are accountable to
the taxpayers who help fund your school’s services.” This means that public
university administrators must demonstrate to their elected officials that they
are admitting and retaining the right students.
Overcoming the challenge
With
a complex mix of issues holding down retention levels, the state of Ohio knew a
more emphatic and focused solution was necessary. In 2000, Ohio started the
Success Challenge. They took resources (i.e., money and people) out of
state-funded college budgets and redirected them to retention strategies.
“They
didn’t say exactly how each college should improve its retention efforts,”
Miller says, “but they did make it clear — by reallocating resources — that it
should be a key part of our strategic plans.”
In
the last five years, the University of Cincinnati has developed a two-pronged
approach to the retention issue. The first focuses on academic support
solutions. The second focuses on student resource initiatives.
“Our
broadest goal with the academic support solutions,” Miller says, “was to create
a ‘learning community.’ We wanted to ensure that students — especially freshmen
— didn’t feel alone in an unfamiliar academic setting.”
Putting programs in place
Miller
says, “One of our most successful programs — a learning community for freshmen
students — was initially developed for nursing students.”
Since
a typical nursing student takes five base-level courses like chemistry, English
and a social science in the first quarter, the University of Cincinnati’s
nursing program now places as many students as possible in the same classes for
each course.
“It’s
easy for a freshman to get lost in a big university,” Miller says. “The idea of
a learning community is not only to bolster the students’ academic progress,
but also give them an easier way to bond with other students. The common
experience of sharing your first college classes makes for lasting
relationships.”
Another
successful retention program, the “co-op” program, focuses on academics. It
started with “co-op calculus” for engineering students. Now, students are
automatically registered for an additional hour beyond their regular classes every
week in a classroom setting with a junior or senior engineering student.
“It’s
much better than just offering an advisor,” Miller notes. “By requiring
students to spend this additional hour, they get solid advice and problem-solving skills from someone who has been there.”
Students
don’t have to undertake a special initiative — or feel singled out — if they
need extra help with this often challenging first-year class. “Besides,” Miller
notes, “sometimes an older student may seem more approachable than a professor
if you have a serious problem-solving issue.”
Additional student
services
As
part of its Success Challenge efforts, the University of Cincinnati also
provides additional student services such as their new Center for Exploratory
Studies.
“Surveys
have shown that only 25 percent of freshman students really know exactly what
they want to do with their lives — and then stick to it,” Miller says. “This is
a big area for losing students.”
Students
who decide to make a 180-degree career change midway through college may not
realize how strong the program at their current university is. They often
immediately look elsewhere, thinking they won’t find their specialty at their
current school.
At
the Center for Exploratory Studies, students can get help in finding out what
it is they want to do — and what they would be good at because the center is
staffed with special advisors who focus on career counseling.
Another
retention program at the University of Cincinnati is the Big Brothers/Big
Sisters program. This mentoring program has been particularly beneficial for
the diverse student population. “The Big Brothers/Big Sisters program addresses
the additional complications minority students face, both academically and
socially,” Miller says. “It helps them find academic resources and gives them
opportunities to bond with other students.”
The
University of Cincinnati also targets Orientation and the Welcome Week for
freshman as a time to boost retention. “It’s not something we can track
directly, but we feel it contributes to our success.”
During
orientation, the special academic and student support services are communicated
directly to students — and their parents — so that everyone is aware of the
additional support structures available to all students. “This is the time to
let students know that we’re aware of how difficult it can be to adjust to
college life,” Miller says. “We want them to know there are resources on campus
to help them adjust both academically and socially.”
Meeting students’ needs
The
range of retention programs offered at the University of Cincinnati
demonstrates that no two students are alike. By offering a variety of programs
targeted at what drives a lack of retention, the University of Cincinnati has
tried to address the needs of all students.
“In
our experience,” Miller notes, “students who come into college with a lower
level of academic preparation are more in need of the educational enhancement
programs such as co-op classes.” For these students, extra time with an
approachable and experienced older student helps them catch up to their peers
more quickly.
“In
contrast,” Miller says, “students with a higher level of academic preparedness
are more impacted by the social integration programs like the learning
communities.” The University of Cincinnati has found that these students have
little risk for academic failure but are dealing with expectations of college
life that don’t necessarily meet up with reality.
Financial aid for
students
Beyond
academic and social issues, another big factor in retention is money. As the
cost of a four-year college degree continues to climb, many students simply
can’t afford to stay in school. Others who try to work one semester, then
rejoin school during a later semester, often find the transitions too difficult
and the rewards not as apparent. They simply drop out of school and keep
working.
Not
surprisingly, there are no easy answers to financial need. “We try to meet
financial needs in a number of ways,” Miller says. “We provide grants for
students who have demonstrated academic ability and potential for continued
achievement. We get involved in fundraising efforts for future grants.”
Miller’s
team also provides “gap aid” for students who are considering taking a semester
off to work. Most often, these students have maxed out their financial aid and
have a small “gap” to close between what they can pay and their current
expenses.
“We
provide ‘gap aid’ on a case-by-case basis for students in good academic
standing and who are making good progress,” Miller says. “It’s a way to ensure
these students stay in school and don’t fall through the cracks when they are
forced to take a semester off.”
Giving students a great
start
Abstract
concepts like relationships, bonding and community are wonderful, but the
success of a retention program boils down to cold, hard numbers. The variety of
retention programs at the University of Cincinnati are a success by any
measure. During the 1998-1999 school year, its retention rate was 68 percent.
During the 2003-2004 school year, its retention rate was 78 percent.
The University of
Cincinnati has used the Success Challenge as a springboard to create programs
that address the academic, social and career-oriented needs of a variety of
students. By considering all the reasons that students from very different
backgrounds might choose to leave their school, the university has created
programs that meet the needs of different students at different times. Most
importantly, their solutions are helping students adjust to college life right
from the beginning, This ensures students start — and finish — their degrees at
the same school. It is the now the responsibility of each college or university
to build and maintain the relationships that will help these students achieve
their full academic potential.
Caroline Miller began her tenure as
Associate Vice President for
Enrollment Management at the University of Cincinnati in July 2004. During
her first year, she has teamed with other to develop a strategic
enrollment plan that is working in concert with UC|21 — UC's Academic Master
Plan. Prior to UC, Dr. Miller worked at The College of New Jersey and
UNC-Asheville, two campuses known for extraordinary accomplishments
in enhancing student retention.
Caroline B. Miller
Associate Vice
President for Enrollment Management
Student Affairs and
Services
University of Cincinnati
350 University Pavilion
PO Box
210159
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0159
Tel: 513-556-6004
Fax:
513-556-4178
Email: millec8@ucmail.uc.edu
