Five Year Retention Plan:
The Action Plan and Recommendations

The Retention Plan is an action agenda of programs for near-term impact and, concurrently, studies of student groups for whom we will develop programs for long-term impact. Our method is represented as three variations of identifying student groups and of programming for those groups. The purposes of deploying these variations are to ensure the fit of assessment method to the student group studied and to maximize our assessment opportunities across a broad range of groups and experiences. We provide a full discussion of the plan in Appendix D. The Retention Council and Steering Committee members have identified four major issues, action items that respond to the issues, and recommendations for implementing the action items. Issue 1: A number of good students perceive that there is insufficient academic challenge to their degree programs. Issue 2: Some students perceive that there is insufficient opportunity to build or enhance their degree programs through coursework in other schools and colleges and through out-of-classroom experiences. Action Item A: We must improve the quality of the Syracuse academic experience by revising and expanding curricular offerings toward the goals of increased rigor and opportunity in academic options. Recommendations: A-1: Curriculum   A-1.1. Implement a system of ongoing assessment that encourages faculty and professional staff, in collaboration with the Assessment Council, to state explicitly and to monitor continuously the learning outcomes of courses and programs. These learning outcomes must require students, both individually and collectively, to extend themselves significantly. The activities that engage students toward these outcomes must be designed for the achievement of appropriate skills and understandings. If the learning opportunities proposed by faculty and staff involve and engage students' energies, students will grow as a result of these experiences. It is this directed growth that binds students within the learning community. We recommend that the Assessment Council, Retention Council, and Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) collaborate with faculty and professional staff to enhance the learning challenge for the Syracuse University community.   A-1.2. Allocate the appropriate resources to expand the instructional capacities of departments with in-demand courses particularly for students enrolled in other schools and colleges.   A-1.3. Increase the opportunities for students to participate in faculty research, internships, public service, and study abroad. Review degree programs with the goal of revising requirements or, at a minimum, setting the expectation that students will make one or more of these experiences a part of their degree programs.   A-1.4. Establish a third track within the Honors Program. Currently, resource constraints prevent the Honors Program from accommodating a large number of students who were not identified as especially able in high school but demonstrate solid academic success at Syracuse in their first year. We recommend that the Honors Program take responsibility for this item by providing the Vice Chancellor with a third-track, cost-benefit analysis including potential number of students served, resource requirements, and anticipated outcomes. A-2: Instruction   A-2.1. Provide encouragement, developmental support, and incentives for and recognition to faculty who implement different instructional models, such as linked courses, service learning, co-curricular experiences that engage and challenge students, particularly in lower-division, large-enrollment courses. Provide similar support and recognition for faculty who develop inclusive curricula in response to the cultural and academic interests of students of color and to the goal of enriching the intellectual climate for all students. These efforts must include part-time faculty, who teach 29% of 100/200-level classes, and 27% of 300 to 500-level classes. (Ad-Hoc Committee on Part-time Teaching at Syracuse University, "Part-time, Adjunct/Temporary and Full-time Non-tenure Track Faculty Study," February 2001, p. 1).   A-2.2. Develop University-wide criteria defining the instructional roles of undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants that include departmental accountability for their training and support. We recognize curriculum and instruction issues as crucial to offering academic programs of substance and challenge that meet the expectations of our diverse student population. We acknowledge that they are areas of focus in the Academic Plan, and we support all efforts to make them high priority for their impact on retention. Many other aspects of the Academic Plan, such as recruiting faculty of color, will have an impact on retention, but we have focused our work on the issues for which members of the Retention Council and Steering Committee are responsible. A-3: Students   A-3.1. Reconsider the minimum Advance Placement (AP) scores required to earn Syracuse University credit. Move both the course drop and withdraw deadlines to earlier time points in the semester. This recommendation should be considered only in concert with recommendations in section A-1. We should not raise AP scores until we are sure the basic courses we will be asking students to take are more challenging than they are currently. However, the purpose of changing these two standards is to send the message that we expect more of our students. We recommend that the Academic Coordinating Committee (ACC) take responsibility for this item.   A-3.2. Recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our lower-division students. We can accomplish this through venues such as financial incentives, eligibility for more challenging academic experiences, or leadership opportunities. We recommend that the Academic Coordinating Committee (ACC) take responsibility for this item by coordinating the efforts among schools, colleges, and other units (e.g., Financial Aid, Student Affairs). Issue 3: Students do not always view the University as student-centered. Action Item B: We must create a shared Syracuse University experience designed to engage students in their environment, build good citizens, and create lifelong connection to the University. Recommendations: B-1: Community Building   B-1.1. Expand and strengthen Learning Communities supported by the Division of Undergraduate Studies in collaboration with the Office of Residence Life. Learning Communities allow students to live and learn within a small community with a diverse group of students who share similar interests. The experience is designed to bring the students' academic, professional, and personal interests and pursuits together by connecting formal classroom learning with co-curricular learning. Faculty and staff play a key role in designing these learning communities. We support this dynamic partnership between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs and encourage its further development.   B-1.2. Continue the eventual elimination of first-year student living centers and continue the trend toward a more equal blend of student classes in residence halls. Younger students look to older students as role models. We should encourage this natural inclination by housing first-year students with older students and by providing opportunities for older students to serve as leaders within the student population by mentoring and advising younger students. We recommend that Residence, Dining, & I.D. Card Services and the Office of Residence Life take responsibility for implementing this recommendation.   B-1.3. Build University-wide traditions that engage us all as community members, and make them accessible to all students. Our athletic program and events like our Strawberry Festival demonstrate our understanding of traditions that celebrate community. However, we fail miserably on access when ticket prices are high or the events are held when the majority of the students are gone from campus. Therefore, we recommend expanding our traditions in ways that are accessible to students in terms of cost and timing. The University community should commit itself to offering at least one additional campus-wide event each semester on the scale of the existing College of Arts and Sciences First-Year Lecture, the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, Block Party, and Senior Celebration. A fall carnival and a winter festival would provide opportunities for the University community to celebrate its geographic location, rather than complaining about the cold, and would provide activities in which the entire community could participate. We recommend that the Division of Business, Finance, and Administrative Services, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Office of Special Events take responsibility for this item.   B-1.4. Utilize existing and develop new funding and facilities for more co-curricular events (e.g., lecture series) that emphasize the relationships among learning experiences within and outside the classroom. We should pay particular attention to developing campus-wide programs that are more responsive to the social and cultural expectations of a diverse student population. In addition, we should commit resources to support academic and professional student organizations on campus. For example, the student activity fee could be used to fund more of these activities through an increase in the fee or a reallocation of the money collected. Students who engage in extracurricular activities that supplement their learning, allow them to network with students who have like interests, and provide leadership opportunities are more likely to feel challenged and connected within the University. Further, the University lacks adequate space in which to host many of the lectures, concerts, and other events that students desire but are too large for existing auditoriums and too small for the Carrier Dome. We recommend that the Academic Space Planning process should address the facilities issue by creating a venue for student-generated performances and large-scale events that would be of interest to students and the University community as a whole. We recommend that the Office of University Lectures and the Division of Student Affairs take responsibility for the funding and scheduling issues by inviting schools and colleges into partnership with them. B-2: Services and Support   B-2.1. Package course, network, telephone, cable, Arts Adventure and other fees into tuition or room and board charges, and provide a standard array of services to all students. We recommend that the Division of Business, Finance and Administrative Services take responsibility for this item.   B-2.2. Bring vendors who will accommodate students' popular service requests within walking distance of the campus. Specifically, we encourage the search for vendors for a first-run movie theater and a video rental store. We recommend that the Division of Business, Finance and Administrative Services and Student Affairs take responsibility for this item.   B-2.3. Establish a program of staff training and support on mental and physical health issues. All academic advisers, recorders, department chairs, and Deans' Office student service providers should be trained to recognize the signs of depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, anxiety disorders and then have a clear pathway defined to support students in getting diagnostic and treatment help. We recognize that this recommendation requires careful consideration of students' privacy rights in the context of the institution's desire to provide support. We recommend that the Counseling Center in the Division of Student Affairs take responsibility for this item. Issue 4: Administrators have identified certain student subgroups that are at-risk for leaving this institution. For some of these, we understand the institutional barriers to their success. For others, we need more research to understand the issues. Action Item C: We must identify individual student subgroups at-risk and remove the institutional barriers to their success. Recommendations: C-1: At-risk students for whom we have some answers. In Appendix D, we document the Retention Council study of these student groups, the recommended interventions, and the potential impact of these program(s).   C-1.1. Undecided/Undeclared, Potential Intra-University Transfer (IUT), Alternate Offer (AO) Establish a central advising office that would offer broad consultation and facilitation by professional staff advisers. This office would supplement rather than substitute for faculty advising. The office should focus on the decision-making processes associated with students who are undecided/undeclared, who wish to explore intra-University transfer (IUT), who come to the University with alternate offer (AO) status, who wish to consider options for minors or dual majors, and those who are exploring the potential for coursework in schools or colleges different from their home colleges.     C-1.2. Intra-University Transfer (IUT) Conduct a pilot study of students seeking an IUT who are deemed high-potential, yet are performing poorly in their current programs of study. See Appendix D, section 3 for the IUT Term-Trial pilot program proposed by the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS). We recommend that the Academic Coordinating Committee (ACC) take responsibility for this item.   C-1.3. First-Year The offices of the Registrar and Housing have formed a partnership to identify first-year students who, in the spring semester, do not register and do not select housing for the up-coming fall semester. We will follow up with these students to understand their issues and to offer assistance, as it is appropriate. This is an opportunity to influence an in-progress stay/leave decision. We have the opportunity to send the message of partnership and support at a time when a student is most likely to hear it and to benefit by it. If this proves to be a successful strategy, we will expand it to all students who, in the fall or spring, do not register for the subsequent semester. We recommend that the partnership of Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) and Center for Retention Studies (CRS) take responsibility for this item in cooperation with the schools, colleges, the offices of the Registrar and Housing, and other campus offices as appropriate.   C-1.4. Sophomores We recommend the creation of a sophomore-to-junior transition program designed to address the issues of transition from preparatory or general studies to a focus on upper-division course work and degree requirements. The goal of the program is to ensure that all students consider how to incorporate specific resources, tools, and experiences into enhancing their academic performance. Proposed components of the program include: a) decision-making processes on majors/minors, service learning, volunteer or internship experiences, study abroad, leadership opportunities; and b) skills/tools development in resume writing, interviewing, time management, portfolio development, and mentoring relationships. We recommend that the Division of Undergraduate Studies, the Academic Coordinating Committee (ACC), and the Career Coordinating Committee take responsibility for designing and implementing this program.   C-1.5. Seniors School and colleges are connecting with seniors who are close to completing degree requirements but have left the University. The goal is to work with each student individually to facilitate degree completion. This may include approval of transfer credit, partnership with University College's Unfinished Business program, or use of the University's Last Semester Senior Rate Exception policy. In addition, it is necessary to review the rate-exception policy for the possibility of expanding student eligibility for using it. We recommend that individual schools and colleges take responsibility for this item.   C-1.6. Part-time Dependents University College has formed a partnership with the Syracuse Academic Improvement Program (SAIP), a retention-focused intervention program, to provide year-around academic support services and structured opportunities for involvement in campus activities for part-time dependents. As we increase the quality of students' academic performance and their involvement in the campus community, we increase student and employee satisfaction. C-2: At-risk students for whom we need more information. In Appendix D, we document the Retention Council request for information about these student groups:   C-2.1. Students who leave the institution, emphasizing on-track achievers and students of color.   C-2.2. Students with high financial need or emergency financial support needs.   C-2.3. The relationships among students who are alternate offers, intra-university transfer, undecided.   C-2.4. Students who transfer to this institution.   C-2.5. Students entering the institution on special admission. We recommend that the partnership of Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) and Center for Retention Studies (CRS) continue to take responsibility for the study of these subgroups. They will report their findings to the Retention Council for their recommendations for action items. Issue 5: Administrative requests have been frustrated by the lack of institutional research to support good decision-making. Action Item D: We must invest in research and evaluation as tools for understanding the scope of issues requiring attention, for setting targets for improvement based on institutional and national data, for knowing if we have reached our targets, and for understanding the factors that influenced our success or failure. Recommendations: D-1: Research Support   D-1.1. Establish an institutional research office on campus to study retention issues and other aspects of campus life. The office will be charged with the responsibility to track our evolving status, the impact of programs, and the factors influencing our efforts. We emphasize the need for data that informs us about process and outcomes so that we understand not only what works but why it works. We note the valuable aspects of the decentralized model, putting the research closest to the operational unit that needs the information (for example, admitted student data in Enrollment Management, or alumni research in the Division of Institutional Advancement). We do need more resources and better coordination for student retention research, building on what is done currently in CSTL and the Center for Retention Studies. We recommend that the Vice Chancellor and Provost for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Student Affairs take responsibility for this item.   D-1.2. Improve the existing technical infrastructure that supports research carried out by individual units on campus (e.g., BrioQuery, Data Warehouse, PeopleSoft). Currently, data collected through these mechanisms simply are not reliable to the extent they must be. We recommend that the offices currently charged with this responsibility receive additional resource allocation to move the project forward more quickly. D-2: Research Studies, Student Tracking, Program Evaluation   D-2.1. Establish procedures by which each school or college documents the loss of every student leaving the institution. We need to train faculty and staff to capture this information systematically, and we need a central resource, i.e., an institutional research office, that disseminates meaningful data back for an action response.   D-2.2. Conduct research studies to identify the factors that put specific subgroups of students at-risk for leaving the institution. These studies should address the possible interaction of factors influencing students' decisions, and they should address the students' perceptions of the issues.   D-2.3. Conduct program evaluations to identify what works, under what conditions, with what outcomes. We want to know what works, what does not work, and why. We recommend that the partnership of Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) and Center for Retention Studies (CRS) take responsibility for these three items. They will report their findings to the Retention Council for their recommendations for action items.

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