smart. welcome! alice camuti, ph.d. director, career services tennessee technological university

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STRATEGIES FOR STUDENT RETENTION

SMART

Welcome!Alice Camuti, Ph.D.

Director, Career ServicesTennessee Technological University

Agenda

Student Retention – Why It’s Important Strategies That Influence Retention Results of National Survey TTU Retention Efforts

TTU Retention Experiment Making a Difference in Your Programs Developing Campus Partnerships

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Why Care?

Governing Agencies are moving from enrollment based to outcomes based formula’s

States are pushing for higher college graduation rates of their constituents

It’s the right thing to do

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Points About Student Retention

Student departure has little to do with flunking out (only 10-15%)

Social isolation is primary cause for departure

75% of most students leave within the first two years of college

Source: Tinto, 1987, 2007

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Retention and Graduation

What percentage of first-time freshmen in Fall return for their . . .

. . . spring semester TTU: 91% UTK: 86.2%

. . . second year TTU: 73% UTK: 71.7%

What percentage of students graduate……within five years? TTU: 41% UTK: 58.5%…within six years? TTU: 48% UTK: 60.5%

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Tennessee Change in Focus

Moving to a productivity-driven funding formula

Graduation rates Degree production Student Retention

“Complete College Tennessee Act”

National Survey Results

Of 220 respondents…

49% Did not know if they had a graduation requirement goal

49% Did not know if they had a retention rate requirement goal

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April 2012 – National Survey Population: 2800 Career Services

Directors 220 respondents 7.9% response rate www.SurveyMonkey

84% Centralized 53.8% public 65.2% 0-10,000 FTE …….13.4% >

25,000 FTE

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Retention Strategies

Predictors of persistence include: Coordinated Studies Program

(first-year seminar) College GPA Hours studied per week Perceptions of faculty Involvement with other students

(Tinto, 1997)

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Effective Practices Identified in the

Literature Honors programs for academically advanced students

Academic support program or services

Programs designed specifically for at-risk students

Mandatory advising, one-on-one and face-to-face between faculty and students

Programs designed specifically for first-year students

Source: Noel-Levitz 2011

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Programs/Practices Across the U.S.

Retention Program % Utilizing

First Year Seminar – Mandatory 49%

First Year Seminar – Not Mandatory

31%

Freshman Orientation – Required

72%

Freshman Orientation – Not required

24%

Early Warning System 81.4%

Career Exploration Course 48.2%

Student Mentor Programs 42.7%

Faculty Mentor Program 13.6%

Living and Learning Communities

50%

Learning Commons Area 24.1%

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Career Services Participation

Program Percent Participation

CS Representative on Retention Committee

26.5%

Coordinate/facilitate Career Assessments for first year students

62.7%

Present career programs in first year seminar courses

73.5%

Participates in Parents Association programming

18.1%

Participate in Week of Welcome or new first year student social activities

70.6%

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TTU Campus Retention Initiatives

Retention Committee

First-year Connections 1 hr. Seminar

Freshmen Mentors – 2 semesters

Freshmen “Majors” fair; Engineering majors fair, Business majors and clubs fair

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TTU Initiatives (continued) Communication with “at risk”

students Contact during the summer: non-

enrollees Learning Commons in Library Living/Learning Villages

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TTU Retention Committee Experiment

28 freshmen class sections/587 students

Psychosocial teaching method = 14 Academic skill-building method = 14

Fall of 2009 implemented, Fall of 2010 results

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Which Cohort had the Higher Retention Rates? Cohort A – psychosocial

Cohort B – academic skills

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Psychosocial

Sorry, You are Wrong

Link Back

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Academic Skill-Building

Yes, you are correct

Link Back

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Experiment Results

Probability that a student will LEAVE within Three (3) semesters:

Psychosocial 27%

Academic 21%

Logistical Regression, p=.0371, 95% significance

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Academic Skill-Building

Time management Study Skills Career Plan Career Assessment ‘Structured’ classroom environment

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Where Do We Fit In

Skill building workshops focusing on freshmen

Resume for freshmen Co-op /internship exposure Career assessment Assist with majors fairs

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Become a Retention Champion Campus Retention Initiatives

Week of welcome, fall semester activities Not always related

Develop Partnerships with on-campus departments involved in student success i.e. first-year seminar classes

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First Year Seminars

Invite freshmen classes in for tours

Offer to come to the freshmen classes with “deal or no deal” interactive trivia game

Create career content/career components for first year seminars

Instructor newsletter:events/workshops/pre-packaged PowerPoint presentations

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YOUR IDEASQuestions…Discussion…

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Alice Camutiacamuti@tntech.edu

931-372-3232

Thank You!SMART

REFERENCES Derby, D. & Smith, T.(2004). An orientation course and community college

retention. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 28, 763-773. Glass, J. (1995). Student participation in college orientation course, retention,

and gpa. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 19, 117-132. Kuth, G. (2006). Student Success in College. Jossey-Base. Noel-Levitz (2011). 2011 Student retention practices at four-year and two-year

institutions. Retrieved January 10, 2012 from www.noellevitz.com Swail, W. (2006). Seven guiding questions for student retention. Student

Success, January 2006. Retrieved from www.educationalpolicy.org Tinto, V. (2006/2007). Research and practice of student retention: what next?

Journal College Student Retention, 8(1), 1-19. Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student

attrition. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago. Tinto, V. (Nov/Dec 1997). Classrooms as communities: Exploring the

educational characteristics of student persistence. The Journal of Higher Education, 68, 599-623.

Tinto, V. (July/August 1988). Stages of student departure: reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. Journal of Higher Education, 59(4), 438-455.

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