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List of all Retention Council Agendas & Minutes
Agenda & Minutes for October 31, 2001
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Agenda of the Retention Council
Bartlet Room, Newhouse II 10:00am - Noon
| I. |
Welcome and Announcements |
Horace Smith |
| II. |
Leavers 2000 - Revised Data and Update |
Bobbi Yonai, Anne Shelly |
| III. |
Identified Residential Students in Jeopardy of Leaving |
Steve St. Onge |
| IV. |
Identifying and Interviewing with at-risk SOM Students |
Sandra Hurd, Hanna Richardson |
Minutes of the Retention Council
In Attendance: Marlene Blumin, Ronald Cavanagh, Luvenia Cowart, James Duah-Agyeman, Rosanna Grassi, Sandra Hurd, Rosemary Kelly, David Kohr, JoAnn May, Lena Rose Orlando, Hanna Richardson, Steve St. Onge, Barbara Settel, Anne Shelly, Horace Smith, Martha Sutter, Seth Tucker, Anastasia Urtz, Michael Wasylenko, Barry Wells, Barbara Yonai,
I. Announcements
Horace Smith distributed graduation rates for major institutions published in Black Issues in Higher Education. For those interested:
Black Issues in Higher Education, October 25, 2001
Vol.18, No. 18
"It Takes a Campus to Graduate a Student"
Pp. 34 - 41
Bobbi Yonai presented excerpts of the Attrition and Graduation Report to provide a context for the Leavers Study update with special attention to 1st and 2nd year attrition rates.
II. Update of Leaver's Study - Barbara Yonai/Anne Shelly
Bobbi Yonai presented the status of the 1999 leaver cohort as of Fall 2001. With N=278, 248 are not presently enrolled while 30 are at the University
Ron Cavanagh pointed out the volatility of the "missing" ethnicity category and its potential impact on ethnicity data from year to year.
Anne Shelly and Bobbi Yonai distributed an update of their October 3, 2001 Leavers report. This document, dated October 31, should replace the 10/3 version.
Anne Shelly presented data on the group with no registration for Fall 2001.
Anne Shelly noted that those with particularly strong GPAs (3.5 - 4.0) tended to make their decision to leave by early spring and in some cases over the December break. They expressed a variety of reasons for their departure with some stated emphasis on the quality of the academic experience.
Mike Wasylenko suggested the need to channel high achievers earlier; track them into higher level courses earlier. What courses in particular do they feel don't challenge them? Isn't this an advising problem? Shouldn't they perhaps be tracked into higher level courses? Could we identify tracks of challenging courses for those students that need them?
Ronald Cavanagh wanted to know how much time these students spent in academic related activity. Writing? Working in groups? Studying?
Mike Wasylenko opposes ratcheting up all courses. This would leave a different level of student at risk. Rather, track the higher achieving students into higher level courses.
Anastasia Urtz and Rosanna Grassi expressed concern about quality in entry-level courses.
James Duah-Agyeman advocated a review of the math placement process.
Mike Wasylenko asked about surveying students with a 3.0 - 4.0 what their issues are. Why do they stay?
Anne Shelly indicated that the Study was following through with this group.
A majority of the Council present expressed support for the idea of contacting those students from the cohort that have left and offer to work through their issues while encouraging them to return (note this group does not include judicial cases).
JoAnn May argued that the quality of advising is key. Advocates a program to bond students with their advisors as a part of the freshman program. Personal contact is key.
Anne Shelly stated that 60% of those that do not register for fall during the preceding spring do not come back (also noted that 122 students who did register for fall also did not come back).
Steve St. Onge will provide data to Anne/Bobbi and Schools and College about potential leavers, this year and in subsequent years.
III. School of Management Retention Initiatives - Hanna Richardson/Sandra Hurd
Hanna Richardson will follow up with School of Management leavers
Sandra Hurd - Will poll SOM faculty who had leavers in freshmen courses. What do they remember? Will also send letter to all freshmen parents. What are we doing well? What should we improve?
Hanna Richardson will follow up with SOM peer mentors who identified some potential leavers.
Barry Wells - We need alternatives to Greek social activity - Students at this age need to fit in. We need alternative activities particularly with an intellectual focus.
Horace Smith acknowledged the contribution of Anne Shelly and Bobbi Yonai
Horace Smith announced that we will be hiring a consultant to assess our plan for its effectiveness in reaching our targets.
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