2016 Retention Excellence Awards | National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention1

Presented at the 2016...

National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and RetentionJULY 26-28, 2016 — DALLAS, TEXAS

2016 WinnersChristopher Newport University—Captains Anchored for Success: A University-Wide Retention Program

Northwest Iowa Community College—Retention Initiatives for Student Educational Success (R.I.S.E.S)

Syracuse University—The WellsLink Leadership Program (WLP)

The Lee Noel-Randi Levitz

Retention Excellence Awards

Awarded by

2016 Retention Excellence Awards | National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention2

Christopher Newport University (Newport News, Virginia)Captains Anchored for Success: A University-Wide Retention Program

n Paul S. Trible, Jr.—Presidentn Lisa Duncan Raines—Vice Provost

Christopher Newport University is a public liberal arts and sciences, residential university offering a private school experience. Through an emphasis on scholarship, leadership, and service, the institution equips 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students to thrive in the classroom while making a positive difference in both their communities and the world.

The ProgramChristopher Newport has implemented institution-wide initiatives for improved retention and graduation rates. Realigning programs and services while creating and strengthening partnerships has improved pathways of student learning. Interactive retention practices provide holistic support services and meaningful engagement in a student success model that offers collaborative opportunities to work with students through graduation and beyond.

Some initiatives contributing to Christopher Newport’s successful retention program include the following:

n Learning Communities (LCs) and Calibrated Scheduling: Thematic LCs consist of two to four common classes while housing assignments place first-year students in close proximity to one another. These LCs connect 15-30 students through courses and living arrangements, foster natural study groups, and ease the transition into college. Calibrated class schedules consider admission information, high school data, and student-created interest profiles; a combination of LCs and customized schedules provide students a strong path toward degree progress.

n Faculty Core Advisor Program: Through early communication and regular meetings, selected faculty advisors help first- and second-year students using a specialized advising approach focusing on academics, engagement, and career and post-graduation aspirations. In their fourth semester, students transition to an advisor affiliated with their intended major.

n Academic Support Services: The Center for Academic Success (CAS) was formed to provide support services such as peer tutoring, writing assistance, success coaching, study

groups, skills workshops, academic recovery programs and courses. The CAS also facilitates a sophisticated Recruit Back initiative for those students at risk of not returning.

n Early Warning Systems: The Captains Care Early Alert Referral System allows faculty and staff to notify support offices (Academic Success, Counseling, Athletics’ Academic Support, or Student Affairs) with student concerns. Three-week and midterm grades provide students with early feedback on academic performance allowing time to adjust study habits, seek support, and allow the CAS to provide intervention to students in jeopardy.

Goals and ObjectivesUsing a holistic approach that fosters independent learning, Christopher Newport seeks to help students identify obstacles to academic success, develop strategies to overcome those challenges, and provide support systems and resources necessary to become academically successful. Specifically, Christopher Newport established the following goals:

n Steadily increase the University’s first-year retention rate through programs and tools that help first-year students thrive academically and engage in the campus community.

n Provide specialized advising and programs targeted at first-year students to address academic transition issues and engage campus support systems.

n Implement interventions to reduce the number of freshmen in academic jeopardy.

n Offer opportunities for second-year students to develop a structured, individualized path to graduation by fostering connections with campus resources, support systems, and academic departments.

n Increase Christopher Newport’s graduation rate through interventions, programs, and resources that put the student on a strong path of degree progress.

While not exhaustive, these goals reflect the University’s commitment to and passion for supporting students, dedication to improving retention programs and services, and keen interest in engaging and collaborating with campus partners to provide exceptional learning experiences for students resulting in improved retention to graduation.

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ResultsThrough the creation and implementation of a progressive, campuswide retention program, Christopher Newport University has been successful in implementing and sustaining a comprehensive, integrated, and highly effective education program focused on the continuous improvement of all aspects of the undergraduate experience. As a result of these institutionwide retention efforts, the University has dramatically improved first-year retention and graduation rates. The overall effectiveness of these initiatives emanates from an intentional and campuswide commitment to the educational needs of students.

Some specific and measurable University outcomes over the past decade include the following:

• First-Year Retention Rate: The University has increased the first-year retention rate from 75.2 percent to 87.5 percent—a more than 12 percent increase.

• Six-Year Graduation Rate: The six-year graduation rate has dramatically increased from 44.7 percent to 70 percent—a more than 25 percent increase.

• Five-Year Graduation Rate: The five-year graduation rate has improved from 47.3 percent to 73.7 percent—a 26 percent increase.

• Four-Year Graduation Rate: Finally, the four-year graduation rate has increased from 30.5 percent to 63.5 percent—an increase of 33 percent.

Additional outcomes Christopher Newport’s students have experienced include the following:

• Freshmen in Academic Jeopardy: In the past three years, the number of freshmen in academic jeopardy at the end of their first semester has decreased from nearly 20 percent to 14 percent.

• Freshman Grade Point Average: Over the past decade, the average grade point average (GPA) for new freshmen at the end of their first semester increased from 2.72 to 3.05—a 12 percent increase.

• Academic Honors for New Freshmen: The number of new freshmen with academic honors at the end of their first semester increased from 185 to 321—a more than 73 percent increase.

• Academic Honors for All Undergraduates: The number of undergraduates with academic honors at the end of fall semester increased from 850 to 1,399—a 65 percent increase.

• Post-Graduation Outcomes: The early relationships formed with advisors combined with specialized intervention programs have contributed to over 85 percent of recent graduates being employed full time in their chosen career or enrolled in graduate/professional school six months after graduation from Christopher Newport.

These metrics are evidence of the effectiveness of Christopher Newport’s student success model. In addition, these data also reflect the University’s ongoing commitment to creating student learning opportunities and providing services that inspire and support intellectual, personal, and civic growth for leadership in a diverse and complex world.

Northwest Iowa Community College (Sheldon, Iowa)Retention Initiatives for Student Educational Success (R.I.S.E.S)

n Dr. Aletha Stubbe—Presidentn Susan Schmidt—Director, Learning Center

Northwest Iowa Community College is a small, public, two-year postsecondary institution located in rural Iowa. NCC serves a four-and-one-half-county area in the extreme corner of the state, an area twice the size of Rhode Island, with a population of 69,590. Students are served on campus, at regional centers, and online.

The ProgramAt NCC, student success begins and ends with a commitment to meeting individual needs rather than focusing on administrative priorities. College faculty and staff know students by name, and recognize that ‘individuals’ graduate and those individuals need appropriate support services. In 2014 the college formed the Retention Committee with a chair and eight members representing all areas of the campus. The committee leads student success initiatives to create a persuasive, student-centered culture to encourage persistence, retention, goal attainment, and timely graduation. Key components to student success include: Intervention Strategies, Advising, Communities of Learning, and Academic Support.

Intervention Strategies: NCC is moving from traditional academic intervention processes to intensive weekly intervention by advisors and faculty. All college faculty are required to maintain an electronic gradebook in the campus Learning

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Management System (LMS). Each week a report merges data from the gradebooks with data from the MIS, identifying students who are earning less than 75 percent in an individual course. Academic advisors then contact the students to intervene.

Advising: Each program of study has a dedicated professional advisor. This approach to advising guarantees that advisors are fully prepared to answer student questions appropriately, while providing students with a go-to contact who knows them well.

Communities of Learners: A growing body of research shows students who connect with a community of students and college staff/faculty are more likely to be successful. NCC career and technical programs utilize block scheduling which provides a natural environment for bonding quickly with classmates and instructors. NCC has also established learning communities to help associate of arts students build this connection.

Academic Support: All students have free tutoring services online and on-campus. Developmental (Mastery) courses are delivered in the Learning Center. The Academic Center partner to offer Lunch and Learn Workshops and Hot Topics.

Goals and Objectives1. Overall Goal: Achieve an overall retention

rate of 66 percent for new full- and part-time freshmen intending to obtain an associate degree who entered college in fall 2013, and 68 percent for new freshmen intending to obtain an associate degree who enter the college in fall 2014. Achieved with a 1 percent increase.

2. Low High School GPA Goal: Achieve a retention rate of 50 percent for fall 2013 entering students with a high school GPA of 2.3 or less and a retention rate of 53 percent for fall 2014 entering students with a GPA of 2.3 or less. Achieved with a 1.5 percent increase.

3. Associate of Arts Goal: Acheive a retention rate of 45 percent for fall 2013 entering Associate of Arts students and 46 percent for fall 2014 in associate of arts students. Achieved.

4. Financial Need Goal: Achieve a retention rate of 61 percent for fall 2013 entering students who have financial need demonstrated by Pell eligibility and a retention rate of 63 percent for fall 2014 students who have financial need demonstrated by Pell eligibility. Achieved with a 2 percent increase.

ResultsNCC achieved all of the goals identified in the retention plan for the 2014-15 academic year by implementing a systematic approach to improving retention rates.

Intervention Strategies: Implemented an automated report to identify students at risk while there is still time to intervene; and replaced a slower, manual process where instructors had to inform the registrar of at-risk students.

Advising: Developed more systematic, intentional, and seamless advising interactions for all students, especially for new freshmen, that emphasize relationship-building and high expectation.

Communities of Learners: Developed and implemented a required first-year experience seminar for all new students during their first enrollment term, inclusive of opportunities for mentoring and “college” knowledge topics such as improving financial literacy, time management, and life skills.

Academic Support: The Academic Center (TRIO, the Library, and the Learning Center) has been working in conjunction with faculty to present Lunch and Learns and Hot Topics to students. Topics covered include: Using Your Calculator, Test Taking Anxiety, Budgeting, Resumes, Plagiarism, and others. Faculty support these sessions and encourage students to attend. Sessions are identified by students from a survey taken at orientation.

Developmental Education: Enrolled students in the required math or communications class and a side-along, one- or two-credit credit mastery course to provide one-on-one support. This innovative method allows students to remain in their program cohort, keeping them on the path to completion and allows for customization to fit the specific needs of the student. This has proven to be an extremely successful method for handling developmental needs of students. In the fall 2015 math developmental course, 86 percent of students enrolled passed the co-requisite math class required for their program of study. During the same academic term, 85 percent of students enrolled in the communications brush-up course passed the required communication class. This far exceeds the national math completion rate of 31 percent.

Additional FactorsWhile NCC believes everyone on campus plays a role in student retention, having a Retention Committee to coordinate, facilitate, and direct data-informed strategies has greatly enhanced the ability of the college to help students be successful.

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This dedicated committee is nimble and able to implement strategies quickly. The committee also has a designated budget with spending authority.

Administration supports the use of good data by all decision makers on the campus. Institutionally collected and disseminated information from multiple agreed upon sources are collected, merged and when appropriate, shared with and used by key stakeholders systematically. Daily dashboards, weekly (biweekly), monthly, and annual reports are electronically distributed. This way people are working from the same data sources, and therefore can develop systematic approaches and solutions. This data on student outcomes are used by faculty, deans, advisors, student services, and administration to continuously improve student success.

Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)The WellsLink Leadership Program (WLP)

n Kent Kyverud—Chancellor and Presidentn Huey Hsiao—Associate Director,

Office of Multicultural Affairsn Shannon Andre—Communications

Manager, Division of Student Affairsn James Duah-Agyeman—Director,

Office of Multicultural AffairsChartered in 1870, Syracuse University is a private, coeducational, urban institution located in Central New York. Today the university has 13 schools and colleges. Total university enrollment for fall 2015 is 21,789 with 14,566 full-time undergraduate students. Students of color represent 25.4 percent of the of the total student population.

The ProgramThe WellsLink Leadership Program (WLP) was established in 2003 in response to growing demands for a new and expanded academic support program for first-year students of color not already receiving support through state or federal opportunity programs or the department of athletics. WellsLink scholars are trained for academic success and leadership through a multi-layered mentoring system of peers, peer leaders, academic consultants, and staff, and a series of structured academic, social, and cultural enrichment activities. Peer leaders—sophomore through senior “graduates” of WellsLink—assist students to transition socially to college. Academic

consultants—graduate students and staff—help participants create personalized action plans and develop academic accountability skills. In addition, the program provides high school to college transition seminars in the fall semester and a leadership development program in the spring, as well as sponsors motivational, cultural enrichment, and community-building programs to reinforce high academic achievement, accountability, and positive racial attachment. One motivational program is the Transitions Ceremony, which includes a nationally recognized speaker, to honor the WellsLink scholars from the previous year who have successfully transitioned to their second year.

The program aims to sponsor 65-75 students per year. Participation is voluntary, and students are recruited based on eligibility. The program is promoted through the recruiting efforts of the Offices of Admissions and First-Year and Transfer Programs; targeted recruitment over the summer via email; presentations to incoming students; and word of mouth of students, faculty, and staff.

WLP stands out because of its established institutional support and strong partnerships, including a collaboration with Academic Affairs. The program relies primarily on co-curricular funding, combines academics and social engagement, embeds the Necessary Components Retention Program Assessment (NCRPA) Model (Taylor and Miller, 2002), and collaborates across the university with a variety of offices.

Goals and ObjectivesThe overarching goal of WLP is to retain first-year students of color not already affiliated with existing campus support programs at rates equal to or greater than that of all university rates. WLP focuses on two specific goals: (a) narrowing/eliminating the retention gap between white students and students of color, and (b) providing a retention program that meets the cultural needs of students so they remain engaged with their academic programs and the university. The program aims to achieve these goals by providing mentoring for participants through peer leaders and academic consultants; high school to college transition seminars for six consecutive weeks in the fall semester; weekly leadership development workshops in the spring semester; and motivational, cultural enrichment, and community building programs to reinforce high academic achievement, accountability, and positive racial attachment.

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ResultsFrom 2003-2013, WLP has served 641 students. After their first-year with WellsLink, these scholars earned an average cumulative GPA of 3.16. Ninety-six percent of these scholars returned to Syracuse University for their second year, compared with the remainder of the university, which had a 91 percent persistence rate. In addition, the six-year graduation rate for WellsLink scholars (during the period 2003-2008) was 83 percent, compared to a rate of 81 percent for the remainder of the university.

A longitudinal study (fall 2003—fall 2009 cohorts) that utilized the propensity score matching methodology was conducted by the university’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to measure long-term program effectiveness. The study compared the cumulative persistence of WellsLink scholars with two other control groups (a non-WellsLink comparison group and the remainder of the university population). According to the study, WellsLink students possessed lower high school GPAs, had combined SAT Math and Verbal score means that were 80 points lower than the general student body, and were twice as likely to qualify as high-financial need. In addition, close to one third were first-generation college goers and spoke English as a second language. In other words, students of color who participated in WLP or who qualified to be in WLP were predisposed to higher levels of attrition compared to other university students.

The study revealed that year-one and year-two retention rates for WellsLink students were six percentage points higher when compared with the non-WellsLink comparison group and five percentage points higher than the remainder of the university. Additionally, the six-year graduation rate for WellsLink participants was seven percentage points higher than that of non-WellsLink counterparts and two percentage points higher than the remainder of the university.

Another finding of the study revealed that the retention of Asian American WellsLink males was five percentage points higher than Asian American non-Wellslink males and four points higher than the remainder of the university. African American WellsLink males were retained 11 percentage points higher than African American non-WellsLink males, and nine points higher than the remainder of the university. Also, the retention rate in the second year for African American males was 98 percent, whereas their non-WellsLink counterparts dropped to 81 percent, and the remainder of the university rate was 84 percent

Predominately white institutions with a students of color population not supported by other programs, that face environmental factors negatively impacting their achievement, could use the WLP’s framework to “link” their students of color to their institution, outweigh these environmental factors, and improve retention. The academic, social, and cultural enrichment activities can be tailored to the scholars’ interests, as well as the offices involved in the program.

The Lee Noel-Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Awards Program was established in 1989 to honor the retention achievements of post-secondary institutions throughout North America.Each year, awards are given to recognize the most successful, state-of-the-art retention programs in use at many kinds of institutions, with many different target groups of students. Nominees for awards are judged on identifiable and measurable

institutional outcomes, originality and creativity, use of resources, and adaptability for use at other institutions. Winners are selected by a national panel comprised of leading retention practitioners. Since the program began, 174 public and private colleges and universities have been honored with Retention Excellence Awards. As a result of this national exposure, these award-winning programs

have served as models of retention excellence to stimulate the creativity and energy of hundreds of two-year and four-year institutions.

For more information about the Retention Excellence Awards Program:800.876.1117 ContactUs@RuffaloNL.com www.RuffaloNL.com

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