WEBVTT

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Well, thank you. I'd like to welcome everybody, and I'm really glad that you came to hear

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my talk. A lot of it is a review from my dissertation, but it also

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speaks to how important retention really is, and it really is interconnected with

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everything on campus. So, hopefully, by the end of the presentation, we

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will have made those connections for you. But I'm going to start out first

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with an overview, so we're going to define what persistence, retention, and attrition are.

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Because they are all used interchangeable but all mean something different.

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Then we're going to talk about the importance of retention, the history of retention, then

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we'll move into retention models. I've got a couple that I'm going to show you that

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have kind of been the forerunners for the current research is. Finally we'll talk about

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why retention is important to us here on WOU's campus.

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First, let's talk about retention, persistence, and attrition.

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Retention is an institutional measure.

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Persistence is a student measure. As you can see, with these words being used interchangeably,

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they don't really mean the same thing because students persist,

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institutions retain. And attrition is the diminution in numbers

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of students resulting from lower retention rates. So attrition is the number of

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students we lose from not retaining them. So, then, why is retention

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important? As we know, it's a multi-facted, complex issue that

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there's no silver bullet in defining or solving this problem. It's been a problem throughout

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the history of higher education. It's taken on a stronger role

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since the nineties on. It's really taken a big role

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in how we look at our institutions and the student services we provide.

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But, what I'd like to talk to you about first is the

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cost to the student as well as the cost to the institution. So, say we got here and

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we didn't persist until the end of our degrees. What would maybe happen to us?

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One cost is the risk of developing an aversion to learning.

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This happens because the student perceives they had a bad experience.

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So, as you can tell, that has nothing to do with what we really do,

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because it's their perception of the experience here. So if they

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encounter a negative person, even

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on the phone, if they call the bookstore and they send you a million different ways,

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that could be a negative experience that students could end up leaving as a result of.

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Granted, it's probably not that low-level, but it is

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something to consider. Another one is a financial cost. Not only do they

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spend time going to get their education, but there's also the financial cost

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if they don't graduate, and the cost to that could be that they have huge amounts of

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student loan debt that they can't pay back because they don't have access to higher-paying

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jobs because they don't have the degree to let them in the door. So they're at a higher risk

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for defaulting on their student loans, and then of course at risk for not earning

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as much money as some other folks may earn. Continuing on, now let's talk about the

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institutional costs of student departure. What could be some

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immediate direct costs that an institution could have as a result of

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students not persisting. There's recruitment, financial aid,

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the loss of dollars for them having visitors come, and the

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money they would spend on tutoring, other resources that

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they may pay for, which, at Western I know that we provide a good bit so they're

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probably not spending a lot of money. But they're not purchasing there, they're not going downtown to eat

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at Yeasty Beasty, stuff like that. So it ends up being much more than we

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really think about when you break it down to three categories. The next category is

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the immediate indirect costs. Indirect costs

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are faculty staff salaries, because faculty staff salaries

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are based on enrollment numbers not students served, so

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that enrollment number is what we can then make a decision on when we hire

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and we do raises, that kind of thing. And then, last

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there's the long-term potential. This goes into students who don't

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complete, they don't become donors to the institution. They may also not refer

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others to the institution. So it kind of goes back to the power of nine in the customer service

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training, where you have a bad experience somewhere, so you tell

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nine people, they tell nine people, and before you know it, we could have an enrollment

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problem just simply from bad word of mouth. So it's very important that

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we do what we can to retain our students.

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Of course, an educated population is a productive population, and critical thinking skills

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are extremely important in this day of multimedia. We've got so many different things

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coming at us, and then college is an environment in which students can have that

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safe place to learn, so they can hone those critical thinking skills without a fear of failure.

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Institutional cost of attrition. But anyway,

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this was an example that they just did on the average tuition for in-state public

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college is seventy six hundred dollars.

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So, let's say eight hundred out of four thousand, using eighty percent

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tuition rate, drop out of school.

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Then, the gross amount of tuition lost is six million

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eighty thousand dollars. And then minus the four hundred thousand because that's

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the estimated cost that this example used of the amount the institution spent on financial aid,

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so we don't just get money from federal dollars,

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institutions also put their own money into financial aid to be able to have

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grants and scholarships and other ways to help close the gap of

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what their financial need is. That results in a net loss of

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five million six hundred and eighty thousand. That's a lot of money.

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Unless we can replace all of these students, which is becoming increasingly

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unlikely with flat graduation rates in the state of Oregon, and we've got

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a new institution competing with us that has a goal of five thousand really soon

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in Bend, and who would want to go do their college experience in Bend?

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Now we're going to talk about the history of retention and what happened as we

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got to where we are today. So the origins were in the sixteen hundreds to the mid eighteen hundreds.

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As we know, in the beginning higher education was for 

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the elite few. Degree completion was rare. Students

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went to college, got whatever skill they needed, and then went out to their job.

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The paper didn't matter. Institutions were also fairly new, so they were focused on their own survival,

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and not necessarily retaining students, and that sort of stuff.

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Then we have the Morrill Land Grant of 1862, which is really what

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was one of the first things that opened higher education to the masses.

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So we're taking a big jump from the 1800s to the 1930s, which is the next big time

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that stuff happened. The first studies on retention began.

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John McNeely in 1938 was the first one to start looking at

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factors that influenced whether students persist or don't. So he looked at

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demographic characteristics, social engagement,

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reasons for departure, and, again, he was our groundbreaking study

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and the precursor to what went on in the sixties. Then the G.I. Bill happened,

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and that had an impact on higher ed in that we had all these World War Two veterans coming back and getting educations,

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so, again we see access explode, we see higher education institutions

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being built, a lot of growth in this area.

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Then we have the Higher Education Act of 1965, which allowed

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for even more access to higher education. It created support services to

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ensure academic success as well, and institutions

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at this time started developing research and programs dedicated to the understanding

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and supporting of student retention. They were starting to see that this was a big deal.

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Now come the seventies. The Study of College Student Retention

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is born. William Spady did the first study in 1970.

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He looked at a sociological model

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of student drop out. It was based upon Emil Durkeim's suicide

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theory. Then we had Vincent Tinto in 1975.

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Tinto also used Emil Durkheim's suicide theory to build his

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but he also added the student integration piece. A model helps

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us to understand and explain the student departure process, and also what we can do

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to mitigate students leaving college without completing their degree.

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Spady, 1970. Based on Emil Durkeim's suicide theory.

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First widely accepted retention model.

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Had five variable indirectly related to student departure decisions.

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Those were academic potential, normative congruence,

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grade performance, intellectual development,

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and social.

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Spady found that the formal academic

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performance was the dominant factor for student attrition.

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Here is Spady's model. As you can see, it takes

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family background into consideration.

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It also has your academic potential and your normative congruence. And then from

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there, we lead into grade performance, intellectual development,

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friendship, social integration, and then

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based on all the stuff going on, they either decide to drop out

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or they decide to commit to the institution. So as you can tell there are a lot of factors

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going on here. So now Tinto. It's partially based on Durkeim's suicide model.

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Student attrition is linked to both formal and informal

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academic experiences and social integration. And this is really

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what sets Tinto apart. He really figured out that

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academic experience plus social integration were critical to student success.

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His model has been revised and expanded; the last revision was in 2014.

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In the expansions of his model, he has included the alignment of

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student experience with student expectations, and then supporting student transition 

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as they move through their college experience is another important experience.

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And here's Tinto's model, and it basically again takes your

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pre-collegiate factors. It really is taking a holistic look at

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the student and pretty much every aspect that could influence them.

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Based on all of the decisions and where they're going, they either

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commit to their goal and stay at the institution, or they may drop out.

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Alright, so now we move to the 1980s. We've got the declines in enrollment,

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enrollment management is born. Enrollment management takes a university-wide

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approach, so that's where you start to see the different areas collaborating, and that's where student affairs

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gets to do deeper work and really cross-collaborate

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with other student affairs folks on campus. And the facilitation

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across academic and student affairs as well. The retention literature grew

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and it became a focal point of institutional strategic plans. The theories

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of the eighties also began stressing the importance of prior academic experience,

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distance from home,

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socioeconomic status, student satisfaction,

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and influence of peers on student involvement.

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And then how students develop during their college experience.

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Now fast-forward to the nineties. Literature now

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began focusing on retaining students of color,

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underrepresented populations, individuals from disadvantaged

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backgrounds, and the research focused on how institutions

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can embrace diversity and promote multiculturalism on campus.

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Tinto 1993 is where he finally

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figured out that different students with unique experiences require specific

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interventions and policies. So this is where you start to feel a lot more

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push at meeting individual needs of the student based on background

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and characteristics, as well as how they're adjusting to college.

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The second half of the decade, student transition periods began being

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studied. So, the fact that students do transition from high school to college.

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And then they also transition as they're here. So a freshman needs much

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different support than a senior does. The first year experience

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became popular. Providing quality support services to 

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all students. So it wasn't just like 'we have this thing' but really starting to

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educate students that 'here, we offer these services, we're here to help you. We want to have you

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succeed. Also campus-wide collaboration so, again, breaking

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down the silos, really starting to work with one another to promote

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the best student experience possible for our students. And then Anderson 1997,

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advising is imperative; it keeps students motivated.

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Wykckoff 1999, interactions students have with all institutional

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members influences their decision to stay. Earlier I talked about

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the person picking up the phone and the bookstore sending you a million different

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directions. That's not a good experience. We don't have to have that happen.

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We want to make sure that we have the right people in the right places, but

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also that the people answering the phones know where to send that person so you're not sending them six different

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places and they have to tell their story six different times and they wasted thirty minutes.

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And Tinto 1999, advising should be an integral part of

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the first year and of their development, because your relationship with your academic

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advisor is so key. I don't know how to

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stress that, but it really is a key relationship. Because most times your academic advisor

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is your first point of contact on campus. You may have the admissions folks, but

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when it really comes into 'okay, how am I going to adjust to college, what's here for me?'

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That's really where your advising folks come in, and can talk to them about the different

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supports available. So now 2000 to the present. Holistic approaches

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to undergraduate retention carried over. Programs and initiatives

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stress formal and informal student experiences, inside and outside

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of the classroom. So, not only what happens inside the classroom is super important,

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but also what happens outside of the classroom is also very important to a student's

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decision to stay or depart. Habley 2004

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talked about the sense of connection and ability to navigate the campus

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culture. Meet expectations, and also graduate.

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Tinto 2004 talks about easily accessible

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academic, personal, and social supports are a must.

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Because high expectations plus actively involving students in their learning

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equals an environment where students are likely to succeed, and at the end

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of the day, that's our goal. We want our students to stay, we want to retain them,

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we want them to succeed, we want them to become friends of the university. Factors

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influencing retention: academic preparation, obviously,

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academic engagement, social engagement,

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financing college, and demographic characteristics.

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The quality of prior instruction, so for example, we don't

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necessarily control the K-12 school that they came out of. Our students are coming from all over.

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They're coming from Hawaii, they're coming from across the country,

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we've got students from everywhere, so that's a lot of K-12 systems that we

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then get the product of. And then preparedness for college work.

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Completion of a strong high school curriculum is a predictor of

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undergraduate success. And then high school achievement indicators are:

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GPA, high school rank, and those positively correlate with

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undergraduate retention. How do we get students to engage in their academics?

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Through their connection with academic life, and if they have

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strong relationships with faculty, they're going to come in and ask you for help.

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They're going to feel more comfortable approaching you. Many freshmen

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are scared to death of us. They think we're these mean scary people, and the reality is we care

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about them. We want them to be successful. Come talk to me, I will help you

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with whatever I can help you with. Or if I don't know math very well, I know I can send

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you to Sylvia and she will talk to you about math, and she will help you,

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and that's great stuff, so as academic advisors or other

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student affairs professionals on campus, we can still have a positive impact by

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talking to students, normalizing faculty, and helping them see them as

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they are regular people just like us. And then, of course, faculty-student

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interactions. Taking advantages of resources that promote academic success.

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So, again, reframing the services we offer into 'this is a good thing for you.

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The writing center is great. They will help you learn to write better. It's not that

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you are a terrible writer, you don't have it right, you need all this skill-building, it's just

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always good to have another set of eyes looking at your work, proofreading,

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sometimes I don't always have my grammar in the right place so it's nice to have

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somebody else reading something that I can learn from.

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Another thing is learning communities, so linking courses with the student

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experience. And then, of course, any program that encourages faculty-student interactions

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is going to be great because the students are here to learn from the faculty.

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At Western, we promote that we are student-centered.

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There is that small faculty-to-student ratio, so we really have the ability to

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do a good job with this and help foster those relationships

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between our faculty and our students. So, failing to make satisfactory

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academic progress is one of the predictors of failure to graduate.

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I think that's important to keep in mind, especially if someone is having to do

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developmental work, if they're not having a positive experience with that, or they're

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being made to feel shameful of being in this class, that's going to impact

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probably how they do in that class, and they may not get that

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strong foundation they really know, and they end up failing the next level of class, and

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repeating and there's a lot of literature on the impact that failing

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classes actually has on students' self esteem, and that factors into their

00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.000
decision to stay or go.

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Social engagement. Humans are social beings. We want to be accepted; we want to 

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be in the 'in' crowd and move on to successfully integrate into the

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social life of our campus, because that will then help us be successful in our

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academic life. the important factors to student integration are: making friends,

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finding mentors, connections with faculty,

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and the act of social integration is a cumulative process.

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I think that's also something important to keep in mind.

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They're learning, and every semester they're here, and each week

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they're here longer, they learn more and more, and their whole college experience ends up being a cumulation of

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everything they've learned. And then, participation in student orgs and engaging in

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campus traditions positively influences institutional commitment and

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retention. Alright, so financing college. How do we pay for this monster?

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There are a few financial risk factors

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of students not completing colleges and those are: folks who have

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high needs when they come in, first generation,

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less rigorous academic preparation, and then students with

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high financial need are more successful when they are given grants and scholarships, but

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scholarships and grants are not a guarantee that they will persist.

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That's kind of important to keep in mind, too.

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Demographic characteristics. So, parents' level of education. First generations struggle a lot

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because a lot of the time they've got familial expectations and then they're trying

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to go to college, and they've got parents that don't understand what's going on with school,

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so they don't understand 'why can't you come home every night? Why do you have to live on campus?

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What's that about? No, you just go and come back. But we

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know that they need this holistic approach to really be successful

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in college. Gender. As we know, females are more likely to persist than males.

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Ethnicity, socioeconomic status, distance from hometown.

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First generation students attending four-year

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institutions are twice as likely to depart from the institution before the start of their second year.

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If you don't have parents that have been through this, you don't have that person at home like 'you can do this.

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I'm not saying first-generation parents are not supportive; I'm certain that they are.

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But they're not going to be supportive in the same way that someone who's been through the process and understands

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the process will be. So then why is retention important to us?

00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.000
And this is specific to WOU. So I saw this stat and I

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totally stole it from Sue Monahan's presentation.

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Well, that's my last slide, so April eleventh is Sylvia

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Valdez-Fernandez and she'll be talking about math as the new social justice.

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And then we have Rob Courrier in May and he will be talking about