Integrated Enrollment Solutions Best Practices Retention

Schools spend a great deal of time, effort and resources on recruiting. Once you have them in your classrooms, how much time and effort are you putting in to keeping them? Average completion rates range from 30% to 70%. Of course, increasing retention would be much easier if all students left at a particular time in their program, but that is not the case. Some students leave within the first week or so, but most leave after the traditional withdrawal period—some within months or weeks of completion!

Who’s Responsible? If everyone at your school is “in charge” of retention, then no one is! There needs to be someone specifically tasked with retention efforts. True, everyone impacts retention…but you need to have one ‘champion’ with ultimate responsibility and accountability. Otherwise, it is just one more thing added to the plate of already busy individuals and it will not get the attention it deserves.

Who should this be? There is no one ‘right’ answer to this question. The solution lies with the culture and operational processes in place at each school. Many institutions include this in the job description of faculty or the director of education. That model works well, provided this is a focus of someone rather than an ‘add on’ responsibility. Faculty interacts with students more often than anyone else on campus. They also need to be focused on ‘turning them on’ in the classroom and assisting students to master course competencies. Some schools have reassigned an admissions person to this role because they are experienced at performing the type of follow up necessary for proactive student retention. Regardless of structure, your champion needs to be willing and able to work across all departmental boundaries.

"...track issues in a methodical way."

A Systems Approach. One solution that is easily implemented is an Early Alert system. This can be as simple as a paper form or email sent to a centralized point. Why a central point? It is important to track all the issues for one particular student in a methodical way. What may seem like a minor issue could be a much larger one when you have all the pieces to the puzzle. Is the student consistently missing a particular class or all their classes? Are they having academic problems as well as transportation issues? You will only see these trends if the information is funneled to one place.

While there does need to be one person designated responsibility for retention, everyone at your school needs to be involved and committed to this process! If a student misses class, expresses a concern, or articulates a potential barrier such as child care or transportation…this information needs to be reported and followed up on immediately. Students tell this type of information to a variety of individuals…faculty, staff…including the janitor!

Keep it Simple and Personal. The follow up doesn’t have to be fancy—in fact the simpler the better. But it must be done immediately and in a personal manner. A letter or postcard won’t do! Waiting until they’ve been out a week won’t do! They need to be treated and handled the same way they were during the admissions process. You expect admissions representatives to pick up the phone immediately if the prospective student misses an admissions step. The same should be true about students missing or struggling in classes!

Once you have them on the phone, you may find out the student simply missed the bus. Perhaps they or their child were ill that day. Or, they may be extremely frustrated with a class (or classes) and feel like they cannot succeed. Your retention champion needs to be ready and able to offer suggestions and/or community resources to help resolve all these issues. The sooner you identify ALL the issues…and help resolve them…the more likely they are to stay at your school.

Circular Benefits. Imagine the impact that personal touch makes to the student! What wonderful things they will say about your school to their friends and family…the kind of advertising you can’t possibly buy!

Keeping more of your students has many benefits including fewer student loan defaults, increased revenue, larger enrollment base, and a more positive community reputation that helps lead to new student enrollment!

Susan Backofen serves as President of Integrated Enrollment Solutions and is one of the founding partners. She has experience with short-term, for-profit career schools, 2-year private, non-profit institutions as well as Masters level universities. Her professional experiences include front-line roles such as high school recruiting, inside admissions, advising, job placement and corporate relations. She has held administrative and senior level management roles in higher education for 16 years including positions as Associate Dean for Enrollment, Campus Dean, and Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services at both single location and multi-campus entities. Prior to working full-time for IES, Susan oversaw all recruiting, retention and student service functions for a 15,000 student, 30 campus university offering both in-seat and online classes. During her tenure the institution experienced significant increases in retention and student re-enrollment.