A Workshop to Improve
Retention and Graduation
Larry Abele
Provost Emeritus
Director, Institute for Academic Leadership
Florida State University
1
In the midst of a recession education
remains a huge advantage
2
60.0%
50.0%
10.0%
59.1%
37.5%
17.3%
20.0%
22.1%
30.0%
52.9%
40.0%
12.4%
% Children Attaining Bachelor’s
Degree or Better
The advantages of parents’ education are
transferred to their children
0.0%
No H.S.
Diploma
H.S. Graduate
Voc/Tech
Some College
Earned
Bachelor's
Earned
Advanced
Degree
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, August 27, 1999
Educational Level of Parents
3
Institutions Have a Large Effect
on Retention and Graduation
4
Why are Attrition Rates High and
Graduation Rates Low?
Lack of Policy Focus or Attention:
 Almost all states fund enrollment or student
credit hours.
 Rankings either do not include graduation
rates or give them little weight.
 Focusing on Retention/Graduation has not
been part of our culture.
5
Why Students SAY They’re Withdrawing
“I’m going surfing
in California.”
“I want to follow
my boyfriend;
he is going to a Christian
college in Texas and
we want to
live together.”
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Three Critical Elements of a
Retention/Graduation Program
(Creating a Culture of Success)
1.
An individual, by status or personality, must drive
the process and have access to human and financial
resources.
2.
A process based on detailed data must be
established and maintained for at least five years.
3.
There must be a team of individuals from across
campus committed to student success who meet
weekly to assess progress.
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Do we have
the right
people
involved?
Are we
using data?
People
Data
Strategies
Are we doing the
right things?
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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Effective student success efforts are
dependent on having the right people
•Elements to Increase Student Success
Do we have
the right
people in
place?
PEOPLE
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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10
The team operate differently from typical committees
by focusing on analysis, action, and accountability
Typical Committee
Formal Charge
Composition
Function
Accountability
Routines
Overall
Perspective
Cross-Campus Team
▪ Provide analysis and/or identify
▪ Remove institutional barriers
▪ Senior-level administrators,
▪ Rich mix of people who work day-
▪ Advisory in nature; outlines the
▪ Operates as a true workgroup,
recommendations for an
institutional priority or issue
usually several levels removed
from students
work others on campus are to
undertake
▪ Vaguely defined, if at all
▪ Convene on an intermittent
basis, usually for a finite period
of time
▪ Not well-defined
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
hindering student success
to-day serving students, includes
front-line practitioners
defining tasks to be done and
completing them
▪ Defined by measurable and specific
changes in student outcomes and
performance
▪ Weekly, on-going meetings where
▪
progress is assessed continuously
Data-driven
▪ Driven by the mindset that all
students can succeed; studentcentered in their thinking
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Every member of the team has specific
responsibilities to move the student success
work forward
Leader
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Institutional
Research
▪
▪
▪
Team
Member
▪
▪
Convene the team on a regular and frequent basis
Ensure institutional research capacity and facilitate access to data
Provide continuous push for improvement in practices, policies, and
programs
Model the mindset that every student is worth saving
Ensure that the cross-campus team has the data it needs in the
appropriate formats
Provide guidance on how to interpret data when needed
Help team members assess the efficacy of their interventions and
strategies
Work continuously to identify institutional barriers that impede student
success
Devise and implement specific strategies and interventions to remove
barriers
Provide regular updates on progress of their efforts and tasks completed
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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The team met weekly to address key questions,
make decisions, and sustain momentum
Diagnose
Problems
ProblemSolve
▪ Which students are progressing as planned?
▪
Which students are not? Why?
What seems to be impeding student progress or
performance?
▪ Where should we intervene?
▪ What can we do that might make a difference?
Plan
▪ What additional supports can we put in place?
▪ What changes to our policies, programs or
Evaluate
▪ Are our efforts having the impact we intended?
▪ Do we have the right strategies and supports in
Report
practices might we make that would be helpful?
place?
▪ What have we accomplished since our last
▪
meeting?
What achievements or accomplishments can we
celebrate?
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
Followed by an
ACTION-oriented line
of questioning
WHO will take
responsibility for
intervening?
WHEN will that
happen?
HOW will our
progress be assessed?
WHERE we will see
results?
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Data analyses to understand progress and
underscore decision-making were integral to the
team’s work
•Moving Florida State Students with 110+ credits to Graduation
Diagnose
Problem
Institutional researcher conducts analyses and discovers that in
year 2000 the campus had 7,000 students with more than 110 credit
hours who have not filed their intent to graduate.
Team discusses how to move these students to graduate. What
can we do to change this situation?
ProblemSolve
Plan
Team develops policy that: (1) Places a hold on students’ registration;
(2) Mandates students meet with an advisor to have hold removed; and
(3) Has students attend workshop on choosing a major.
Regular progress check shows the policy change to be effective.
By 2006, the number of students with more than 110 credit hours is
reduced to 3,011. By 2009, the number of students drops to 1,540.
Evaluate
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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Weekly meetings are a powerful routine that can drive
progress on student success goals forward
•Benefits of Florida State’s Weekly
•Team Meeting
Intensive Focus: Everyone comes together to
focus on student outcomes and the larger goal of
student success
Excerpts from Weekly Agenda
Drives Performance: Work is clearly defined
so team members know what they have to do on
a day-to-day basis
Advising First: Jane reported that advisors
are busy finishing registration. Exploratory
students have a mandatory advising hold. The
Coaching Center is occupied with last meetings.
Meeting rates are high.
Provides Discipline: Weekly updates on
progress made or tasks completed helps to hold
the team accountable for their efforts
Ensures Consistent Engagement: Team does
not go for long periods of time without checking
in on progress
Builds Momentum: Achievements or gains
reported in the meeting help the team stay
committed
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
Office of National Fellowships: Bill
reported that 2 more sophomore Hollings
Scholars have been chosen in addition to 3
juniors already receiving the scholarship. Bill
also noted that 3 graduating students have
been awarded $100,000 from the National
Science Foundation for graduate study. All of
these students were URCAA winners.
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Our team developed a series of 93+
action steps aligned with every month of
the academic calendar
Month
Timeframe
Action
Responsibility
January
By end of
January
Emails to students with 35 attempted hours who
have not been accepted into a major
Individual Responsible
January
Ongoing
Update department Degree Audit reports
Individual Responsible
January
Ongoing
Individual contact with students who have been
placed on probation
Academic Section
January
Ongoing
Individual contact with students who have been
placed on warning
Academic Section
February
1st week
Offer Workshop: Students Taking Exploratory Paths
to Success
Advising First
February
1st week in
the month
Email to all F coded students w/100+ hours inquiring
about graduation plans; email to all H coded
students w/100+ hours inquiring about
finishing/graduation plans
Individual Responsible
February
6th week of
term
New transfer—How are you doing— deadlines
Individual Responsible
It is important to know when, where and how much
contact advisors had with students
Extent of advising
outreach activity
per month
Advising activity and
where it took place
on campus
Number of student
contacts made by
advisors
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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Effective student success efforts are also
dependent on having the right information
•Elements to Increase Student Success
DATA
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
Are we
collecting the
right
information?
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It is helpful to identify the drivers of performance to better
understand the root causes of attrition
“What do I think
the root cause of
the problem is?”
Hypotheses
“What information
do I need?”
“What do I think
the solution is?”
“Where can I get
it?”
“What would I
have to believe in
order to take
action?”
“Based on what I
learned, can I
confirm or reject
the hypothesis?”
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
Data
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TYPICAL ATTRITION TABLE
LOSS OF STUDENTS OVER NINE YEARS
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In looking at attrition rates, there is a range of rates
at different points in time related to student
background characteristics.
Yearly Attrition Rates by Cohort: White, Female, First-Time In-State Students
1995-2005
•
Traditional students experience the
largest attrition rates in the first year.
MIN
MAX
10.2%
17.1%
6.7%
9.8%
2.1%
3.9%
0.9%
3.3%
0.5%
1.6%
Hispanic female Pell recipients exhibited very different attrition rate
patterns, suggesting the need for close interaction
with the students and their families.
Yearly Attrition Rates by Cohort: Hispanic, Female, Pell Recipient, First-Time In-State
Students
MIN
MAX
6.3%
17.6%
6.9%
17.7%
-1.2%
10.5%
0%
4.1%
-1.4%
3.9%
Black male Pell recipients also exhibited very different attrition rate
patterns, suggesting the need for continued support over time
to avoid dropouts.
Yearly Attrition Rates by Cohort: Black, Male, Pell Recipient, First-Time In-State
Students
1995-2005
MIN
MAX
6.0%
14.0%
3.3%
15.3%
-0.9%
13.6%
0%
11.0%
0%
11.1%
Status of students six years after withdrawing*
GPA
No Record
AA/Cert.
BA/BS +
Cohort %
0-1.99
66.1%
23.2%
10.7%
NA
2.0-2.99
46.4%
16.1%
37.5%
67%
3.0-4.0
16.3%
9.7%
74.0%
82%
Total
45.4%
16.9%
37.5%
74%
*2004, 2005 Entering Cohorts, Student Data Clearinghouse, n=3115
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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Benefits of first year residence on campus
persist to graduation
High risk living on
campus
Low Risk living off
campus
First Year Retention
93.3%
83.4%
Four-year Retention/
Graduation
81.1%
73.9%
Grade Point Average
2.82
2.62
Avg of 2004,05,06,07 cohorts; Housing Study
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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The data identified chokepoints and bottlenecks on student
progress and illuminated steps for active intervention
Change Implemented
Student Patterns
110+ credits
Students amassing more credits than
needed; not declaring their intent to
graduate in a timely manner
High Enrollment
courses/Low
Pass Rates
Low pass rates prevented students from
being able to move into a major or take on
higher level coursework
Undeclared
Majors
Students not declaring a major in a timely
matter; losing out on the benefits of having
an academic home and connections to
faculty
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
POLICY
CHANGE
Hold Registration
PROGRAM
CHANGE
Add more help
sessions
CHANGE IN
PRACTICE
Academic Mapping
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Top Ten Enrolled Courses
Courses with High D/F Grades
Focus on high enrollment low success courses
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Effective student success efforts are also dependent on
the right institutional strategies
•Elements to Increase Student Success
Are we
doing the
right things?
Strategies
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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There is no silver bullet.
You increase retention literally
one student at a time.
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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The team used data to identify strategies ensuring they covered
students from the time they entered until they graduated
•Overview of Student Success Strategies
Type of
Strategy
BridgeBuilding
Description
Focus
Example of Strategy
Programs that help students
successfully make the transition from
high school to college
1st year
of college
Charting a
Course
Efforts that help students successfully
navigate the process of declaring a
major in a timely manner
2nd year
of college;
sophomore
status


Academic Mapping
Choosing a Major
Workshop
Consistent
Support
Support services that aid students in
continuing to meet academic
requirements of the institution
On-going basis,
throughout time
in college



Advising & Tutoring
CARE
Success Coaching
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute


Living Learning
Communities
Freshmen Interest
Groups
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Every strategy was regularly monitored and evaluated for
its overall impact on student success.
Living Learning Communities & Freshman Interest
Groups
Improve Student Retention & Graduation
Every strategy was measured against important
progress metrics such as term-to-term attrition, grade
point average, and major selection rate
•Impact of a Success Coaching Program
Program Description
Overall Impact
Program that provides support for
students around these 7 “soft”
factors that influence retention
and graduation:







Commitment to graduation
Managing commitments
Finances
School community
Academics
Effectiveness
Health & Support
Source: Florida State University
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Distribution of Excess Hours by
Student Type*
n
Type
Mean Median
Range
1785 FTIC
135.5
131
120-254
1037 AA
135.9
131
120-269
261
137.6
133
120-254
135.9
131
120-269
3,083
Transfer**
*None of these students have applied for graduation.
** Transferred from another university without a degree.
Every Major is Given a Term by Term
Course Schedule
Source: http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/
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Academic Maps consist of three essential components – the
narrative, sample schedule, and milestones
The narrative explains the use
of academic maps and any
specific information about
degree requirements,
including admissions
requirements
The sample schedule outlines
which courses should be
taken in which specific term
in order to satisfy all
requirements
Source: http://www.academicguide.fsu.edu/Maps/Mapaccounting.html
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
The Milestones identify critical
courses for timely progress and the
last semester in which they can be
completed for on-time graduation
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Students Must Complete Milestone Courses
or a Hold is Place on their Registration
Source: http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/Maps/Mapaccounting.html
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The Academic Map template included in your binder can be
used as a guide for further developing Maps for your
institution
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Academic Maps are more than academic schedules; they must be
accompanied by key policy changes
1. Require early declaration of interest area or major
2. Take account of general education requirements
3. Establish Milestones (key courses, factors, or events that must be
completed by a specific time in order to stay on track)
 Have Milestones for each semester
 Hold registration and require advising if students miss
Milestone
 Require change of major if students miss Milestones for two
semesters
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Academic Maps provide significant benefits for students as well as
institutions
 Students save time and money by avoiding unnecessary
courses and reducing time to degree
 Departments know the number of majors and progress toward
degree
 Institutions can predict student demand for major level and
prerequisite courses
 Institutions can effectively allocate advisors
 Classrooms can be scheduled optimally
 Faculty can plan two-year teaching schedules
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Academic Maps and associated policies effectively
reduced the number of students with excess hours
Year
Students with Excess
Hours
Graduation Rate
2000
7382
70.8%
2006
3011
-------
2009
1540
73.9%
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The team did retrospective analysis to better understand how
different groups of students progressed to graduation
•Example of Retrospective Analyses
Retrospective
analysis of all
non-retained
students,
term by term
Retrospective
analysis of all
possible
subgroups of
students
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
Matched the
two analyses
and designed
interventions
to address
the observed
patterns
Discovered
summer
students who
have a GPA of
2.0 or below
have an
attrition rate
greater than
50% during
the next two
terms
Randomly
assigning half
of the
students to a
mandatory
“success”
course
improved
term to term
retention by
12.3% and
year to year
by 9.1%
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What happens to students who perform poorly
their first term?
LOSS OF STUDENTS AFTER A POOR TERM
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Overview of the Course
• Course Topics:
– Choosing Success (HS vs. college & resources)
– Memory & Learning
– Time Management & Procrastination
– Note Making
– Learning Styles & Test Prep
– Grades & Other Feedback
– Active Reading
– Critical Thinking
Impact of A Student
Success Course
• Among course completers, the first-year
retention rate is increasing over time.
First-Year Retention Rate of Course Completers
2007-2010 Cohorts
Cohort
%
+/-
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
54% 63% 65% 71% TBD
--
--
2%
6%
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The Center for Academic Retention and
Enhancement Program
– Recruits First Generation students primarily of
low socioeconomic status
– Operates Summer Bridge Program
– Early arrival a week before classes
– Mandatory activities
– On-campus housing with CARE counselors as
well as traditional RAs
– Tracks, assists and mentors students
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Key Strategies for CARE
1.
Early and continuous contact with students during
Middle School
2.
Large (>200) and diverse cohorts, including academic
diversity
3.
Financial aid to cover 100% of costs at least initially
4.
Start College during Summer with
– A pre-classes week of introductory programs
– Mandatory participation in
•
Academic advising
•
Study Hall
•
Tutoring
•
Social Activities
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Key Strategies for CARE
(continued)
5.
Campus-wide Knowledge and Support
6.
Constant contact throughout college using paid
mentors and tutors
7.
Immediate and Aggressive Follow-up for any
Student having difficulties
8.
Honor societies focused on underrepresented
students, e.g., W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society and
Oscar Arias Sanchez Honor Society
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Center for Academic Retention and
Enhancement (CARE)
– CARE Retention Rate
94.2%
– All FTIC Retention Rate
90.7%
– CARE Graduation Rate
74.0%
– All FTIC Graduation Rate
69.7%
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Low Cost Effective Strategies - I
• Academic Mapping for each Degree: term
by term course schedule with must take
courses required: +3.1%
• Action steps with student contact aligned
with the academic calendar
• Moving Advisors to where the students
are at the time when they are there;
recording all interactions/questions by
time-of-day by day-of-week.
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Low Cost Effective Strategies - II
•
•
•
•
•
•
Place High Risk Students in Residence Halls
W.E.B. Du Bois Honor Society
Oscar Arias Honor Society
Freshmen Interest Groups (FIGS): + 3.9%
Learning Communities in Residence Halls: +3.8%
Encourage strong attendance policies in courses
with high percentages of D and F grades; quarter
term and mid-term reports to advisors
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Higher Cost Effective Strategies
• Re-engineer Low Success Courses
• Add programs for High Risk students: +3.5%
• Add Advisors
• Add Tutors in selected courses
– Drop in tutoring
– Tutoring by appointment
• Add “Successful Learning Strategy” course: +
• Add Success Coaches: +2.3%
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Strategies for high end students
 Expanded Honors Program
 Expansion of Undergraduate Research
 Undergraduate Research Symposia
 Competitive Grants Program
 Office of National Fellowships
 Campus Lecture Series Run by Students
©2013 U.S. Education Delivery Institute
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Significant gains in student success are possible
but require sustained commitment over time.
Implementation Timeline of Strategies
FSU's Ten-Year Graduation Trend
2004 COHORT
AFRICAN AMERICAN
ALL
FIRST GENERATION, PELL
HISPANIC
77%
74%
72%
70.4%
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Improving Retention Will Yield a
Significant Increase in Degrees
+47.6%
Additional
degrees =
2,544
+31.2%
+176.2%
Additional minority
degrees =
783
Source: Florida State University.
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