Toward a Comprehensive Enrollment Model

Panel Don HosslerDavid KalsbeekGeorge Kuh

Jim McCoy, moderator

CERPP Conference: Defining Enrollment in the 21st Century

Los Angeles, CAAugust 4-6,2008

Outline

Introduction – Jim McCoy Panel Comments

Don Hossler David Kalsbeek George Kuh

Q&A

We Are Grappling With….

What policies and practices do institutions enact to try to enhance student persistence?

How committed are institutions to student persistence and graduation?

3

Is There Some Beef?

Mixed evidence of institutional emphasis on persistence?

Little evidence that institutions are systematically studying patterns of persistence and success on their own campuses

4

Retention Coordinator and Institutional Retention Committee

59.1% report having an administrator charged with tracking and improving retention & persistence

Mean FTE reported for this position was .29 Only 42.9% of all campuses have an administrator

who has the authority to implement policies or programs related to student persistence.

Only 25.4% of all campuses have an administrator who has independent authority to fund policies or initiatives.

43.1% of these report that retention coordinator has some or a great deal of authority to fund new initiatives

73.9% have a retention committee

The Analog

Imagine an enrollment organization with no policy making authority or budget for the offices of admissions and financial aid.

6

Policies for Faculty Interaction & Early Warning

58.1% report they collect mid-term grade information for first-year students

However…

52.9% report they do not flag specific courses with high percentages of Ds, Fs, or Withdrawals

61.0% report average class size for courses primarily taken by 1st year students is between 1-30 students

However…

69.2% report that incentives for full-time faculty to teach first-year classes were non-existent or small

Early Warning Faculty Interaction Practices

7

Academic Advising

82.6% require first-year students to meet with an academic advisor every term

70.0% report that incentives for full-time faculty to serve as academic advisors were non-existent or small

57.1% estimate that more than three-quarters of their first-year students were advised by full-time faculty

28.4% estimate that more than three-quarters of first-year students were advised by professional advisors

Advising Practices Advising Roles

8

An Intriguing Finding

Institutions with retention rates are doing more

……….but still not much

9

Next Steps

Seeking funding to administer national survey to 2- and 4-year institutions every 2-3 years.

Develop benchmarking indicators for peer groups of institutions

Large sample to explore the relationship between efforts, policies, and persistence and graduation.

10

Dave’s Top Ten List

Why We Fail to Effectively Mobilize Retention Strategy

#1 Assuming Attributes are Achievements

#2 Perseveration on Persistence#3 Obsession with Outliers#4 Socialism of Strategy#5 Obfuscation of Outcomes

© David H. Kalsbeek, all rights reserved

© David H. Kalsbeek, all rights reserved

The 4 PsTM of Retention Strategy

Profile Progress Process Promise

© David H. Kalsbeek, all rights reserved

© David H. Kalsbeek, all rights reserved

George’s Gripes & Lamentations

The Student Success Industry and Why Colleges and Universities Buy Their Products and Service

© David H. Kalsbeek, all rights reserved

Why do institutions typically ignore the research about “what matters” and “what works” and instead pay for re-packaged material and advice?

NPEC Student Success Symposium

AAC&U LEAP

14

Outsourcing Student Success

National Postsecondary Education National Postsecondary Education Cooperative Student Success SymposiumCooperative Student Success Symposium

Kuh, G.D., et al. (2007). Piecing together the student success puzzle: Research, propositions, and recommendations. ASHE Higher Education Report, 32(5). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Commissioned papers at:http://nces.ed.gov/npec/papers.asphttp://nces.ed.gov/npec/papers.asp

Association of American Colleges and Universities

Narrow Learning is Not EnoughNarrow Learning is Not Enough——The Essential Learning OutcomesThe Essential Learning Outcomes

Knowledge of Human Cultures Knowledge of Human Cultures and and the Physical & Natural Worldthe Physical & Natural World

Intellectual and Practical SkillsIntellectual and Practical Skills

Personal and Social ResponsibilityPersonal and Social Responsibility

““Deep”/Integrative LearningDeep”/Integrative Learning

Employers On Accountability Challenge – December 2007 – Hart Research for

7%

33%

35%

46%

69%

Supervised internship/community-based project83%

79%

60%

56%

32%

Senior project (e.g., thesis, project)

Essay tests

Electronic portfolio & faculty assessments

Multiple-choice tests

Evidence of College Graduates Skills/Knowledge

Very effective Fairly effective

High Impact ActivitiesHigh Impact Activities

First-Year Seminars and Experiences First-Year Seminars and Experiences  Common Intellectual ExperiencesCommon Intellectual Experiences Learning CommunitiesLearning Communities Writing-Intensive CoursesWriting-Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and ProjectsCollaborative Assignments and Projects “ “Science as Science Is Done”; Science as Science Is Done”;

Undergraduate Research Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global LearningDiversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community-Based Service Learning, Community-Based LearningLearning InternshipsInternships Capstone Courses and ProjectsCapstone Courses and Projects

Effects of Participating in High-Impact Practices Effects of Participating in High-Impact Practices on Student Engagementon Student Engagement

Level of Academic Challenge

Active and Collab.

Learning

Student-Faculty

Interaction

Supportive Campus

Env.

First-Year Learning Communities ++ +++ +++ ++ Service Learning ++ +++ +++ ++

Senior Study Abroad ++ ++ ++ + Student-Faculty Research +++ +++ +++ ++ Internship ++ +++ +++ ++

Service Learning ++ +++ +++ ++ Senior Culminating Experience ++ ++ +++ ++ + p < .001, ++ p < .001 & Unstd B > .10, +++ p < .001 & Unstd B > .30

Effects of Participating in High-Impact Practices Effects of Participating in High-Impact Practices on Deep/Integrative Learning and Gainson Deep/Integrative Learning and Gains

Deep

Learning Gains

General Gains

Personal Gains

Practical

First-Year

Learning Communities +++ ++ ++ ++ Service Learning +++ ++ +++ ++

Senior

Study Abroad ++ + ++ Student-Faculty Research +++ ++ ++ ++ Internship ++ ++ ++ ++

Service Learning +++ ++ +++ ++ Senior Culminating Experience ++ ++ ++ ++ + p < .001, ++ p < .001 & Unstd B > .10, +++ p < .001 & Unstd B > .30

It’s more complicated than this…It’s more complicated than this…

Many of the effects of college Many of the effects of college are “conditional”are “conditional”

Some are compensatorySome are compensatory

Invest time and effort Invest time and effort Interact with faculty and peers Interact with faculty and peers

about substantive mattersabout substantive matters Experience diversityExperience diversity Get more frequent feedbackGet more frequent feedback Reflect & integrate learningReflect & integrate learning Discover relevance of learning Discover relevance of learning

through real-world applicationsthrough real-world applications

26

High Impact ActivitiesHigh Impact Activities Increase Odds Students Will:Increase Odds Students Will:

Make it possible for Make it possible for every every student student to do at least one to do at least one “high-impact” experience in “high-impact” experience in the first year and another the first year and another later linked to the major later linked to the major 

27

If We Could Do One Thing…If We Could Do One Thing…

Why do institutions typically ignore the research about “what matters” and “what works” and instead pay for re-packaged material and advice?

Does a desire for “risk reduction” trump demonstrated expertise?

Why are we reluctant to internally share the information we do have?

What keeps us from moving from “facts to action?”

28

Outsourcing Student Success

Researchers focus on esoteric topics and use quasi-indecipherable prose

Institutional leaders attend to the crisis de jour.

Governing boards uninformed about what matters to student success

Policy makers who fail to hold institutions accountable for student success

Campus cultures resistant to innovation

29

Some Answers

What must colleges and universities do to become better at organizational learning?

Do we need guidelines for something akin to a “seal of approval” to help institutions determine the legitimacy of student success vendors?

What might be the role of the USC Center for Enrollment, Research, Policy and Practice in answering these and related questions?

30

More Questions

Best Practices in Enrollment Management

IPI (Institutional Paralysis Index): ratio of data-informed actions to overall changes in policies and practices

BPI (Best Practices Index): ratio of policies and practices consistent with BPEMs

CERPP Rankings of IPIs and BPIs

31

Some Ideas for CERPP

Last WordLast Word

We cannot change the lineage of our students.

Campus cultures do not change easily or willingly.

But we can counter both by using promising policies and practices more consistently throughout the institution to increase the odds that students will succeed.

Do we have the will to do so?

Toward a Comprehensive Enrollment Model

Panel Don HosslerDavid KalsbeekGeorge Kuh

Jim McCoy, moderator

CERPP Conference: Defining Enrollment in the 21st Century

Los Angeles, CAAugust 4-6,2008