SMART

Welcome! Alice Camuti, Ph.D. Director, Career Services Tennessee 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

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

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

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%

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

April 2012 – National Survey  Population: 2800 Career Services Directors  220 respondents 7.9% response rate   84% Centralized  53.8% public  65.2% 0-10,000 FTE …….13.4% > 25,000 FTE

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)

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

Programs/Practices Across the U.S. Retention Program% Utilizing First Year Seminar – Mandatory49% First Year Seminar – Not Mandatory31% Freshman Orientation – Required72% Freshman Orientation – Not required24% Early Warning System81.4% Career Exploration Course48.2% Student Mentor Programs42.7% Faculty Mentor Program13.6% Living and Learning Communities50% Learning Commons Area24.1%

Career Services Participation ProgramPercent 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%

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

TTU Initiatives (continued)  Communication with “at risk” students  Contact during the summer: non-enrollees  Learning Commons in Library  Living/Learning Villages

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

Which Cohort had the Higher Retention Rates?  Cohort A – psychosocial Cohort A – psychosocial  Cohort B – academic skills Cohort B – academic skills

Psychosocial Sorry, You are Wrong Link Back

Academic Skill-Building Yes, you are correct Link Back

Experiment Results  Probability that a student will LEAVE within Three (3) semesters:  Psychosocial27%  Academic21% Logistical Regression, p=.0371, 95% significance

Academic Skill-Building  Time management  Study Skills  Career Plan  Career Assessment  ‘Structured’ classroom environment

Where Do We Fit In  Skill building workshops focusing on freshmen  Resume for freshmen  Co-op /internship exposure  Career assessment  Assist with majors fairs

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

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

Questions…Discussion…

Alice Camuti Thank You!

REFERENCES  Derby, D. & Smith, T.(2004). An orientation course and community college retention. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 28,  Glass, J. (1995). Student participation in college orientation course, retention, and gpa. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 19,  Kuth, G. (2006). Student Success in College. Jossey-Base.  Noel-Levitz (2011) Student retention practices at four-year and two-year institutions. Retrieved January 10, 2012 from  Swail, W. (2006). Seven guiding questions for student retention. Student Success, January Retrieved from  Tinto, V. (2006/2007). Research and practice of student retention: what next? Journal College Student Retention, 8(1),  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,  Tinto, V. (July/August 1988). Stages of student departure: reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. Journal of Higher Education, 59(4),