Leadership Exchange - Summer 2009

Dear Colleagues:

At the start of this academic year, my president asked me to chair our campus’s latest version of a student retention task force. I appreciated the respect this invitation signified for the work of student affairs, and I share with you some of my key learnings about student retention.

It Takes A Campus. The composition of the task force reflected the fundamental value that retention is one of those challenges that truly involves all elements of a campus community. On our campus, the following offices were represented on the task force by senior leadership: faculty, admissions, academic deans, institutional research, financial aid, academic advising, dean of students, and technology services.

Data Rich and Synthesis Challenged. We found we were rich with retention-related data, but were challenged to effectively synthesize it and apply it to our day-to-day work. Our fall semester weekly meetings were dedicated to synthesizing the data collected over the years.

NSSE Knows. After sifting through a three-inch thick notebook of data and research from numerous sources, we found the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to be the single most useful tool for informing our retention work. It was the most predictive in identifying the variables that differentiated students who persisted from those who did not.

Listen to Students. In spite of our treasure trove of data, we found we needed to employ one more data-gathering tool: focus groups with students who were at risk or had made “ departure gestures,” indicating their intention to transfer, but never transferring. These students’ stories added substance to the raw numbers.

Faculty Members are Central. Our biggest takeaway from those student conversations was the centrality of individual faculty members in students’ decisionmaking processes. For better or worse, the students consistently cited faculty interactions as a critical variable in their learning experiences and their decisions to leave or remain in school. This finding has led us to conversations about better preparation for faculty to advise and refer students.

Not Just About the Money. Contrary to what may be the popular and logical notion, retention was not predominantly about financial aid. Certainly money is an important factor for many students, but rarely did we learn of situations where the increase in financial aid alone would have made the difference in student retention. Engagement was consistently the more critical variable.

Who’s Minding the Store. We found that administrative responsibility for retention does not have to involve more money or staff, but our efforts do need to be monitored. There are many places where this responsibility could reside including student affairs, academic affairs, or enrollment management. A culture of collaboration is critical when it comes to student retention.

In this issue you can read how the University of Pittsburgh is working with under-represented students to boost retention rates. But don’t stop there. Boost your knowledge of management coaching, learn the latest about town–gown relations, and find new ways to serve transfer students. We face many challenges in our jobs, but having resources like NASPA and Leadership Exchange can help improve service to our students and our institutions. I encourage you to take full advantage of what your NASPA membership has to offer. LE

Publisher NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

Executive Editor Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy

Managing Editor Nancy E. Grund

Contributing Editors Melissa Dahne Kevin Kruger Leah Ewing Ross

Designer Sese-Paul Design

Advertising Manager Fred Comparato

Editorial Board James E. Scott Academy Cynthia Cherrey, Chair Dennis Black Brett Campbell James F. Conneely Arthur Costantino Mela Dutka Henry Gee Patrick Lamy John Laws Kathy MacKay Joe Marchetti Gary L. McGrath Cornel Morton Xavier Romano Thomas Shandley Brian Sullivan Eliseo “Cheo” Torres Tracy Tyree Barry L. Wells James F. Vick Jan Winniford

Leadership Exchange is published four times a year for senior student affairs officers in higher education. Letters to the editor are welcome. For subscription information and advertising opportunities, please contact the NASPA office.

Leadership Exchange
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Sincerely,

Mike Segawa

NASPA President

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