Before students make their final decision to attend your institution, your admissions team has invested a significant amount of time building relationships with them and collecting valuable information while recruiting them to the campus.  Unfortunately, both qualitative and quantitative data is left behind when a prospective student becomes an enrolled student.  Thus, an enrollment-to-retention chasm is created, impacting the immediate effectiveness of retention plans and interventions.

The presentation explored the connection between enrollment and retention and the importance of establishing a cohesive persistence model that utilizes the data and relationships that are developed during the enrollment process.

We highlighted the effective use of retention tools such as: predictive modeling, identifying at-risk students based on admissions counselors, direct and personal involvement, and creating early interventions to address transitional and engagement issues from the moment they arrive on campus.  Finally, we discussed how Pharos 360 and Pharos Insight support your institution as you collect and analyze information about at-risk students, the bridge-building practice that enabled a private university to increase Fall-to-Spring retention of admissions identified at-risk students.

We look forward to continuing our relationships with the great people we met at NASPAtech.

We highly value Christian higher education, so it was a huge blessing for us to share our passion with these schools.  Sessions included the following information:

Session I: Do you have Retention Intelligence?
We established a basic understanding of what retention intelligence is and how it can change your campus. We covered the importance of knowing as much you can about your students so that you can quickly identifying those who are most at-risk and provide the best support for them, as well as, the specific kind of resources and intervention that students need. Institutions learned how to become more effective in supporting students by focusing on enhancing the most crucial support services and establishing new partnerships and practices. We explored the appropriate role of technology, either as the primary resource for retention or as an effective tool in a systemic and comprehensive approach, in supporting and empowering the greatest resource on campuses—people. Finally, we presented information that shows when you provide students with meaningful relationships and well-timed interventions, you can ensure that they overcome challenges and persist through to graduation.

Session II: Assess your Campus
During this time, we helped participants assess what is currently happening on their campus in relation to retention. Participants analyzed campus practice, technology and services that help them identify and manage at-risk students. They also pinpointed strengths and weakness in each of their targeted programs. Questions supplied provided insight on factors such as, what student population their retention efforts are currently serving, the Retention Impact and quality rating for each service, and how those services relate to the greater retention vision set by the President.  We provided resources to help campuses prioritize which campus practices, technology and services need to be addressed immediately.

Session III: Tools and Best Practices that can Change your Campus Today
In this session, we presented some of the tools that we have found most helpful to identifying, assessing and improving processes and plans on campuses. Participants were exposed briefly to the following tools: Early Alert, Service Blueprinting, SERV*OR and Pharos 360.  The presentation also included a discussion and specific examples of innovative and creative practices that have been successfully implemented on campuses in the areas of retention, at-risk populations, and student support.  We presented some best practices where technology and human intelligence are connected and complimentary. And finally, we empowered participants to think about how they can adapt their practices to fit within the systems they have on their campuses as soon as possible.

Please contact shawna.hicks@pharosresources.com for information about Retention Intelligence or go to info.pharosresources.com/demorequest.

“ACU is one of only 18 institutions in the nation saluted by U.S. News for having a stellar First-Year Experience, including Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University. In that research conducted by U.S. News, Abilene Christian was one of the most-mentioned colleges and universities in a survey of college presidents, chief academic officers, deans of students, and deans of admissions from more than 1,500 schools.

The university’s First-Year Program is directed by Dr. Eric Gumm (’97 M.S.) and includes Passport student/parent orientation and Welcome Week, among a campus-wide, year-long commitment to help new students succeed intellectually, socially and spiritually. ACU reported a 4.6 percent increase in the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate this fall, an excellent indicator that first-year students like what they find in their new college home.” (http://blogs.acu.edu/acutoday/2011/09/16/innovation-value-draw-kudos-from-u-s-news/)

We enjoy working with Dr. Gumm and look forward to future collaboration as ACU continues to excell in student success efforts!

Dr. Kimberly Thornbury
VP for Student Success / Dean of Students
Union University
Jackson, TN

Dr. Royce Money
Chancellor & Former President
Abilene Christian University

Dr. Cole Bennett
Associate Professor of English
Abilene Christian University

Faustina Abrahams
First Year Advising Coordinator
Missouri Southern State University

-Sara Taylor
former Career and Academic Counselor and coordinator of the SOS program
Abilene Christian University

Deon Botha
Director of Education
Krist Samaritan Center