Developing a Student Retention Plan

Dr Jim Elliott START Manager (Student Transition and Retention Team) Curtin University of Technology

Some important quotes

 “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” – Joni Mitchell  “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille” Kenny Rogers  “There must be 50 ways to leave your university” - apologies to Paul Simon  I’m leavin’ on a jet plane – John Denver

Even more important quotes

 Where are those happy days, they seem so far away?” – Abba  “God help me, I was only 19” – Redgum  Turn on, tune in, drop out” – Timothy Leary

Retention is important to the University

  Money money money: Losing our students means   recruitment costs are wasted PLUS a loss of future fee and other income Our jobs can be on the line:  recruit too few or lose too many students, and suddenly you don’t need so many teachers and other staff

Retention is important to the University

 Reputation – students who leave without completing a degree may not have good stories to tell

Retention is important to the University

 Duty of Care and ethical considerations –   Offering a place means we think the student has the potential to succeed. We should ensure the educational setting gives them the best chance.   Some students (especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds) will need additional resources.

Any student can become an “at-risk” student at any time for reasons beyond their control.

What do the retention data mean?

 Retained by whom? There are different figures depending on whether the measure is:  retention by the whole university,  the faculty, or  the enrolling school within the faculty.

What do the retention data mean?

 Retained over what time period?    The traditional measure is the proportion of students enrolled in the subsequent calendar year (excluding those who have completed.) BUT - the date that the measure is taken will lead to a different figure. E.G. A measure in late January will yield different data than one taken immediately after the census date. The calendar year measure implies that the quickest possible progression through a degree is the most desirable. That may not be so for all students.

What do the retention data mean?

 Retaining whom?  There are different figures for:  commencing, continuing, domestic, international, male and female, part-time, full-time, mature-aged, school leaver, standard entry, non-standard entry, and so forth.  Measures of some potential target groups are very hard to come by.

 If ATSI, Rural/isolated, students with disabilities do not self-identify, we have no information about them

How much retention is good enough anyway?

     100% retention is neither possible or desirable Nonetheless –we believe that some of those who do not persist could have continued if only there had been a timely and appropriate intervention.

But we have little idea what the target should be So we tend to set arbitrary targets.

And then start thinking what a “timely and appropriate intervention” might be.

We do know something about our retention rates…

   We retain more International than Domestic students – but it is not a huge difference. The highest attrition is in Humanities, Engineering and Science and the Centre for Aboriginal Studies (CAS) plus some specific courses elsewhere. The schools which show higher levels of attrition for International students do not necessarily coincide with areas of high attrition for domestic students.

We do know something about our retention rates…

   External students generally have higher attrition than Internal. The disparity is worst in Humanities and Curtin Business School.

Gender: Where there is a large disparity between male and female enrolments, the minority group appears at greater risk of attrition. Otherwise, there appear to be few obvious marked gender differences Age: Older students are very clearly more at risk than younger students. This applies across all divisions, all campuses and nearly all courses. The higher level of risk of attrition for mature aged students is the clearest variable in the retention data.

We do know something about our retention rates…

   Commencing students versus continuing students: There is significant attrition amongst students from 2nd year onwards –retention is not simply a 1st year issue. 1st year is still the biggest single source of loss. Entry via standard TER versus non standard TER: Non standard TER students appear at greater risk of attrition. The biggest disparity between the two entry modes is in Engineering and Science and Humanities.

We do know something about our retention rates…

   Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): Students admitted with significant RPL are often placed into the 2nd year of a course after completion of study elsewhere. The data indicate that there is little difference in retention rates between the two groups.  However, strong anecdotal evidence seems to support an opposite conclusion. Rural versus metro : The commonly held view that rural students may be at greater risk is not shown. ATSI students not enrolled in the CAS: Attrition rates are higher than other students – but are better than CAS students.

What do these data suggest?

    There is no single retention issue, and therefore no single intervention that will “fix’ things Student retention is a multi-variable interacting issue By having a big proportion of mature-aged students, Curtin has a larger number of at-risk students. Recruiting a different kind of student population is very unlikely to be an effective strategy. Retention interventions have to work with the student population that we actually have.

We should consider:  Generalised interventions that benefit all students   Targeted interventions aimed at specific populations Specific student retention initiatives at enrolling area level

We need to get organised

 Addressing student retention should be tackled systemically  The role of Student Retention Manager (now retitled START manager) was established in late 2006 to oversee the development of a retention plan.

Engaging key stakeholders in support of the process

 Retention is an issue for the whole university community.  Retention should not be seen to be a function of a specialist support area.  To engage the wider university community, a Retention Plan Steering Committee was established

Retention Plan Steering Committee

           Student Transition and Retention Team (START) Manager as chairperson University Support Services Director First Year Experience/Transition Coordinator Faculty Deans of Teaching and Learning Regional Campus representative Student Services Director International Office representative Pro-Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning representative Student Learning Support Centre representative The Student Guild President Guild Student Assist Department representative

The tasks of the Steering Group

  Task One: Overview Curtin Retention data in context of a wider theoretical understanding of student retention   What characteristics are shown in the retention data?

What do these data suggest for key target areas for retention planning?

Task Two: Review of the resources and programs that Curtin already has in place to address retention

The tasks of the Steering Group

   Task Three: Identification of critical gaps in retention resources and programs Task Four: Development of a Draft Retention Plan Task Five: Identification of key goals for implementation 2008-2010  At the time of writing, the Steering Group is at Task Four in this process.

Assessing existing retention strategies

     There are already many activities/programs that impact on retention These had never been formally assessed as a cohesive group. Some were not widely known at all within the University They were mapped against the variables in Tinto’s (1993) model See examples at http://retention.curtin.edu.au/goodpractice/ This process suggested the gaps that needed addressing

Identifying potential new student retention strategies

  A large number of potential strategies were listed by the Steering Group These were ranked on    Potential Impact: whether the proposed retention strategy would make a significant difference to retention.

Difficulty in Implementation: the complexity of the strategy/intervention and the level of resourcing required.

Urgency: how soon the university should make a start on implementing the proposed retention strategy.

The “short listed” strategies

 A group of highest ranked strategies have been assembled.

 They are publicised to staff at http://retention.curtin.edu.au/retentionplan/  After wider staff and student input, these will be developed into a formal plan

Meanwhile – we have not been sitting on our hands

2007 gave us an opportunity to try out some retention strategies.

  Development of a “New-to-Curtin” web site: This site is now functional at http://www.unilife.curtin.edu.au/newtocurtin/index.cfm

transition to university.

. It carries information specifically relevant to new students in their A Timed E-Newsletter to new students: Eight Newsletters (hosted on the New-to-Curtin site) are delivered at various appropriate times during Semester.

Trial retention strategies

  A Revised Orientation Program: There was significant revision of what is delivered as a central program and what is delivered at enrolling school level. An Orientation and Transition Best Practice Checklist has been established for staff at http://retention.curtin.edu.au/programs/orientation.cfm

Trial retention strategies

  Collaborative programs with specific schools: Occupational Therapy, Multimedia Design, Social Work, Art, Education and Nursing & Midwifery. The pilot programs include       mentoring, regular email contact with new students, early alert and referral by staff of at-risk students, drop-ins by retention staff, contact with students on Conditional status, in-house workshops and forums.

Trial retention strategies

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An on-line process for staff to refer at risk students

to staff of the Retention Project: The on-line referral form allows staff to refer students who appear to be struggling to staff in the Retention Project with the intention of connecting students to the appropriate source of help within the University. Further details are at http://retention.curtin.edu.au/programs/referral.cfm

Trial retention strategies

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The “Don’t Drop Out, Drop In” Campaign:

The slogan, web button (leading to a portal of all support services at http://unilife.curtin.edu.au/ ) and poster campaign was launched in week three of Semester One just before the census date.  Aims to raise awareness of sources of help for students and staff

Trial retention strategies

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Addressing the needs of students on Conditional

status: Students who are placed on Conditional status have already demonstrated a significant level of risk in their studies.  An information resource for these students has been created at http://counselling.curtin.edu.au/conditional.html

.  This has contributed to University-wide plans to introduce a new process in 2008 which will aim to require these students to submit a “Returning to Good Standing” action plan.

Trial retention strategies

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Making contact with students who left the University in

2006 without completing a qualification: A letter was sent all domestic students who did not re-enrol (other than those who were terminated) by letter in July. The letter offered contact and advice to facilitate re-entry to the University. In addition, this process requested students to complete an on-line survey giving their reasons for not re-enrolling. Unfortunately, this process got almost no response. We will try a different approach in 2008 to contact these former students.

Trial retention strategies

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Creating a Retention Resource web site for

staff: a dedicated website which includes a function as an information portal has been created for staff at http://retention.curtin.edu.au/

Performance Indicators

 How would we know if we are making any difference?  The obvious candidate is to re-examine retention statistics  Because the retention rate is a lagging statistic with all the weakness previously mentioned, we also need other measures

Performance Indicators

  We can use measures from the various retention interventions Examples include:    Evaluation data from mentor programs (both from mentors and mentees) O Week evaluation data Usage rates of retention websites   Data from support service areas contacts with new students and at-risk students.

Evaluation data and participation rates in specific retention programs

It’s all very complicated!

 Dealing with a multi-variable issue with multiple interventions whilst aiming at a fuzzily-defined target ain’t so easy…

2008 Priorities

 Widen the mentor programs  Consolidate the New-to-Curtin E Newsletter and related transition activities  Focus on early identification and intervention with at-risk students