Retention is the most prominent area of concern in academic advising departments. Retention strategies are always learned and never mastered; student services professionals are constantly searching for effective techniques to enhance student retention. From an academic advising standpoint, supporting online learners is best achieved by establishing solid, meaningful student-advisor relationships. Thus, retention strategies can be conceptualized as relationship-building strategies.
Ideally, distance learners should have a single point of contact; a representative of the institution who specifically works with the online student population. Adding distance advising responsibilities to the already full workload for which faculty-and campus-based advisors are responsible is inappropriate and ineffective. Distance learners deserve the same level of consideration (if not more) as their face-to-face counterparts. Hence, distance advising should not be treated as an auxiliary activity, but rather a primary responsibility. Distance learners will need ongoing, regular contact if they are to feel connected to the institution.
From a departmental perspective, creating a sense of community and engaging learners in the academic advising process is crucial for supporting student success. A tight budget and limited resources can impede the realization of these goals. Depending on the capabilities of the technological infrastructure the institution has established (e.g. the LMS, student services platform, etc.), academic advisors may be restricted or liberated by it; with a sophisticated infrastructure, the capabilities are enhanced. For example, institutions may wish to consider creating an academic/social engagement network in order to create an online community for their distance learners (and even campus-based students). Student Relationship Management (SRM) software is also essential. Effective SRM platforms should be implemented as an enterprise-wide information system to share student profile information (e.g. GPA, program of study, etc.) across all contact-points.
Low-budget strategies include establishing strategic points of contact to offer support throughout the entire student life-cycle. The following strategies have been gleaned from various resources: (see references)
- Student Success Webinars: Engage students by hosting live webinars! This can be a meet and greet opportunity in which students meet their support team (academic advisors, faculty, etc.) or learn tips and strategies for success. Webinars can occur prior to the beginning of the program or throughout the entire program in order to enhance student preparedness by offering relevant and useful information about campus resources, policies, or procedures. (AnyMeeting is a free tool for this!)
- Supportive Calls and Emails: Advisors can contact students for telephonic advising sessions, use email templates with succinct messages that offer useful information, or send motivational messages.
- Social Media: Meet students where they are by creating a Facebook page, Twitter account, or Youtube channel to broadcast messages about campus news and events, remind students of important deadlines, or inform students of certain opportunities. Create a blog that addresses strategies for success (see Grade First Aid).
- Orientation: Design an orientation for students that provides them with a list of resources and contacts prior to their start date. Address expectations and orient students to the online environment and the resources available to them
- Chat/IM: Designate specific times when students can chat with their advisor using a Chat/IM client for basic questions and answers (be mindful of FERPA).
- Resource Portal: Develop a portal that enables students to get the latest information or access to resources; a central location that is easy to find and use.
- Establish Learning Communities: Learning communities can be integrated into existing LMS or academic/social engagement network.
- Mine Data: Measure as much as you can and use the data to make informed decisions. Track course completion rates, satisfaction measures, etc.
Resources (web links):
With a former employer, proprietary trade college, I put together a retention team whose sole responsibility was to track “attendance”. Because I had complete support from the CEO all segments of the institution were “encouraged” to work with us. Individual team members were assigned “cohorts” to track student activity. If a student wasn’t seen, heard, or logged in once every three days the team member went looking. The process was designed to be fairly aggressive.
One of the strategies I implemented as an online campus director was use of a degree map. The student was assigned to a personal advisor at the time of registration for the first course. The advisor would contact the student within the first 3 weeks of the first course, provide an introduction & orientation to the school and degree program and then lay out a course sequence for completing the degree, so the student would have a clear picture of success. After midterm, the advisor would call the student to check on progress and sign the student up for the next course in the agreed-upon sequence. The advisor would continue the twice per session phone contact throughout the student’s curriculum to keep the student motivated or provide necessary support, if the student needed to step out for a session and then adjust the course sequence for eventual program resumption. This twice per session personal phone contact built strong relationships between the student and advisor and resulted in session-to-session retention rates consistently over 90%. The tuition stream from the retention program more than offset the cost of the advisors and communication expenses.
About 90% of my graduate students are onboard the ships .At first I had difficulties in keeping them as students in my master’s degree program. Instead of very formal exchange of communication, I decided to establish a personal communication with each of them and allowed them to express their difficulty in following the courses of the program and how their work aboard the ship deter them to send their coursework on time. At first,it has been tedious and tiresome because they are about 30 students per course. We exchange emails and sometimes cellphone communications when coursework are not submitted on time. They appreciate very much this strategy and I can safely conclude that currently the retention rate is between 95-97%.
I think that everything you have written is definitely on target. The key is to build relationships with your students earlier in their educational experience. Among traditional 2 and 4 year institutions, First Year Experience (FYE) seminars attempt to do just that. They work with students and build that ever important relationship from the moment they set foot on campus. Research suggests that early engagement of students improves retention. Distance education can implement a similar model using technology. Early alert platforms such as the one offered by Campus Labs, among others, offer the opportunity to build a virtual relationship. They also provide an institution with an opportunity to communicate with all the stakeholders that influence a particular student. While many institutions are starting to recognize the value of these platforms, I believe and absolutely agree “that student services professionals are constantly searching for effective techniques to enhance student retention” – this statement is all about the fact that if you haven’t established a culture of retention and don’t have everyone aligned behind the goal then retention as a practice is never mastered.