RETENTION THROUGH FIRST-YEAR PROGRAMMING

HANNAH BRUKARDT AND KALEENA DAVIDSON

HI ED 556

DR. MERSON

I E O

Non-Academic Factors

Academic Factors

RetentionFirst Year Programming

RETENTION● Staying in school until degree completion

● Institutional measure

● “The ability of an institution to successfully graduate students who initially enroll in the institution” (Seidman et al., 2012)

IMPORTANCE OF RETENTION● Institutional importance

○ Reputation and funding levels (Seidman et al., 2012)○ Marketing and money spent on recruitment (Seidman et al., 2012)○ “From the perspective of higher education, the power to retain students remains the most

crucial outcome if students are to be successful in life” (Seidman et al., 2012, p. 81)○ 1913 Gott vs Berea articulated in loco parentis or the fact that colleges were responsible

for the well-being of their students including their transition to college (Tobolowsky, 2005)

● Individual importance

○ Occupational, social, and economic status (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)○ Mediating the influence of an individual's background (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)○ Quality of life after college (Pascarella &Terenzini, 2005)

BY THE NUMBERS...● Less than ⅔ of 70% of enrolled Americans graduate from college (Porter,

2013)

● The majority of student departure occurs in the first year, especially in the first six weeks (Tinto, 1987 & 1993)

● In a NCES (2012) survey, 78.9% of students were retained by 4-year universities.

● By 2022, occupations requiring a masters degree are projected to be the fastest growing at 18.4% (Richards & Terkanian, 2013)

POPULATION AND INPUTS

● We are focusing on first year students entering 4-year universities

● Retention should address both academic and non-academic factors (Lotkowski, Robbins, Noeth, 2004)

PRECOLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPERIENCES

• Academic factors:

○ GPA ○ Test scores○ Prior schooling○ SES

(Lotkowski, Robbins, & Noeth, 2004 ; Seidman et al., 2012 ; Tinto, 1987)

PRECOLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPERIENCES● Non-academic factors

○ Age/race/gender○ Achievement motivation○ Intentions/goals/aspirations○ Self-confidence○ Self-efficacy○ Coping○ Locus of control

(Braxton, 2000; Lotkowski, Robbins, & Noeth, 2004; Seidman et al., 2012, Tinto, 1987 )

POPULATION DIFFERENCES● U.S. Census Bureau (2012) projects

o Hispanic population will more then double between 2012 and 2060

o Black population will increase to about 14.7% by 2060 (from 13.1%)

● Grades and test scores are predictive for white students but inconsistent for black students (Fleming & Garcia, 1998)

● Academic and social measures of efficacy for academic performance - predictor of social integration and persistence in Hispanic students (Solberg et al., 1993)

STUDENT DEPARTURE

There are many reasons for student departure

• financial

• social

• academic

• personal

First-year programs cannot alleviate all these factors, but they can assist with others by easing the transition to college for students

ENVIRONMENTS

Most retention programs are based on Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure or Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement

• Students need to be fully integrated with the institution to be successful (Tinto, 1988)

• To be fully integrated, students need to be involved socially and academically (Astin, 1999)

SUCCESSFUL RETENTION PROGRAMSTinto (1987) argues that successful retention programs focus on education and student welfare, not retention.

This can lead to the “paradox of institutional commitment”

• institutions that are willing to have students leave are more likely to retain them

The earlier the intervention, the better!

SUCCESSFUL RETENTION PROGRAMSSuccessful Retention Programs have common goals:

• encouraging faculty/student relationships

• promoting student/student interactions

• improving academic skills

• fostering personal development

Psychological theories also play a role

• first-year programs increase student’s confidence, coping ability, self-efficacy, and positive attitudes

BENEFITS OF FIRST-YEAR PROGRAMMINGKeup (2005) found significant differences between students who did participate in some sort of first-year programming (seminar, service-learning, learning community) versus those who didn’t

• Greater faculty interaction

• Better academic engagement and performance

• More interaction with peers and the campus community

There was not a strong relationship with grades, but there was an increased self-assessment of problem-solving skills

FIRST-YEAR PROGRAMMING

• Seminars

• Mentoring

• Summer Bridge Programs

FIRST YEAR SEMINARS

• Five types of seminars: extended orientation, academic (uniform), academic (various topics), pre-professional or discipline-linked, basic study skills

• The goals of seminars are: developing academic skills, providing orientation to campus, and easing the transition

• Extended orientation seminars are the most popular (31% at 2 year and 69.5% at 4 year)

• 25 students or less is the average seminar size

(Tobolowsky, 2005)

MENTOR PROGRAMS

• Can be student-to-student or faculty-to-student relationships

• Mentors act as advisors and counselors to individual students

• Empowering to students

• Leads to a higher institutional satisfaction

• Low-cost, low-intervention program

SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAMS

• Participating in summer bridge programs ease the transition to college and increase student involvement

• Many bridge programs target underprepared and underrepresented students

• Many summer bridge programs can be considered learning communities

• “Students participating in learning communities experience greater social connection and, if the courses are conceptually linked, less academic fragmentation than their peers who don’t participate in learning communities.” (Barefoot, 2000)

I E O

Age/race/gender

Achievement/motivation

Intentions/goals/aspirations

Self-confidence

Self-efficacy

Coping

Locus of control

GPATest scores

Prior SchoolingSES

Retention

First Year Seminars

Mentor Programs

Summer Bridge Programs

WHAT CAN UNIVERSITIES DO TO FOSTER RETENTION WITHIN THESE PROGRAMS?● First-year programming should be mandatory for all incoming

students

● Link curricular and co-curricular experiences through learning communities and service-learning

● Foster stronger faculty-student relationships via programming

RECOMMENDATIONS● Promote inter-office collaboration

o Administrationo Admissionso Faculty

● Apply to various groups

o Minority studentso International studentso Adult learners

REFERENCESAstin, A. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, (July). Retrieved from http://kvccdocs.com/KVCC/2013-Spring/FY125-OLA/content/L-17/Student Involvement Article.pdf

Bean, J., & Eaton, S. (2001). The psychology underlying successful retention practices. Journal of College Student Retention, 3(1), 73–89. Retrieved from http://baywood.metapress.com/index/6R554B3028XGL8U0.pdf

Braxton, J.M. (Ed.). (2000). Reworking the student departure puzzle. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press

Fleming, J., & Garcia, N. (). Are standardized tests fair to african americans?: Predictive validity of the SAT in black and white institutions . The Journal of Higher Education, 69, 471-495.

Keup, J. (2005). The impact of curricular interventions on intended second year re-enrollment. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, …, 7, 61–89. Retrieved from http://baywood.metapress.com/index/2dcukabywvqh2f8j.pdfPorter, S. R., & Swing, R. L. (2006). Understanding How First-year Seminars Affect Persistence. Research in Higher Education, 47(1), 89–109. doi:10.1007/s11162-005-8153-6

Keup, J., & Barefoot, B. (2005). Learning how to be a successful student: exploring the impact of first-year seminars on student outcomes. … of The First-Year Experience & Students in …, 17(1), 11–47. Retrieved from http://fyesit.metapress.com/index/27663446616173W8.pdf

Lotkowski, V.A, Robbins, S.B., & Noeth, R.J. (2004). The role of academic and non-academic factors in improving college retention. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED485476.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Retention of first-time degree-seeking undergraduates at degree-granting institutions, by attendance status, level and control of institution, and percentage of applications accepted: 2006 to 2011. (Table 378). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_378.asp

REFERENCES (CONTINUED)Pascarella, Ernest T, Terenzini,Patrick T. (2005). How college affects students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Richards, E., & Terkanian, D. (2013, December). Occupational employment projections to 2022. Monthly Labor Review, 136(12). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/occupational-employment-projections-to-2022.htm

Seidman, Alan; Astin, Alexander W.; Berger, Joseph B.; Bibo, Erin W.; Burkum, Kurt R.; Cabrera, Alberto F.; Crisp, Gloria; Gansemer-Topf, Ann; Hagedorn, Linda Serra; LaNasa, Steven M.; Lyons, Susan; Mina, Liliana; Morrison, Lonnie; Mortenson, Thomas G.; Nora, Amaury; Oseguera, Leticia; Ramírez, Geraldo Blanco; Salter, Daniel W.; Schuh, John H.; Silverman, Loretta; Seidman, Alan; Tinto, Vincent (2012). College Student Retention : Formula for Student Success. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com

Solberg, V., O'Brien, K., Villareal, P., Kennel, R., & Davis, B. (). Self-efficacy and hispanic college students: Validation of the college self-efficacy instrument. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 15, 80-95.

Tinto, V. (1987). The Principles of Effective Retention.

Tinto, V. (1988). Stages of student departure: Reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. The Journal of Higher Education, 59(4), 438–455. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1981920

United States Census Bureau. (2012). U.S census bureau projections show a slower growing, older, more diverse nation a half century from now. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-243.html

Tobolowsky, B. F., Mamrick, M., & Cox, B. E. (2003). The The 2003 2003 National National Survey Survey on on First-Year Seminars Seminars Curriculum The 2003 National Survey on First-Year Seminars Continuing.

Thank you

Questions????