PROACTIVE ADVISING AND RETENTION FOR FRESHMAN STUDENTS What’s Working and What Do We Need to Do Differently? PRESENTED BY: CODY BAILEY-CROW, RYAN FERRANTE, AND DAWN NIEDERMILLER

2017 GREAT LAKES REGIONAL STUDENT SUCCESS CONFERENCE

Effective Academic Advising

Student Buy-In

Increased Student Retention

Edward Anderson (1997). Academic advising for student success and retention.

“Advising is a key to student retention. The best way to keep students enrolled is to keep them stimulated, challenged and progressing toward a meaningful goal. The best way to do that--especially among new students--is through informed academic advising.”

POLL RESPONSE From year one to year two, what would you estimate the retention rate is for students at your institution?

SETTING THE STAGE Average freshman retention rates:

College

Freshman Retention Rate

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

97%



Wayne State University – 76%

Michigan State University

92%



Michigan 4-year Publics (Average) – 78.6%

Michigan Technological University

84%

Grand Valley State University

83%

University of Michigan – Dearborn

82%

Central Michigan University

77%

Oakland University

76%

Wayne State University

76%

Western Michigan University

76%

Ferris State University

75%

University of Michigan – Flint

75%

Eastern Michigan University

74%

Northern Michigan University

73%

Saginaw Valley State University

71%

Lake Superior State University

68%

Data source: US News & World Report on Higher Education

PURPOSE Primary Goal: Understand what advisors do well and where we need to improve in regards to proactively advising freshmen students during their first year We pursued this project for three reasons: 1. To better understand best practices already being utilized by our peers; 2. To identify shortcomings in advising practices; and, 3. To provide recommendations for more effective academic advising.

PROCESS 1. Advisor interviews 2. Data conversion and analysis ◦ Qualitative data ◦ Data coding and conversion ◦ Quantitative analysis

3. Review of literature

FIRST OBSERVATION DISTRIBUTION OF ADVISING “ACTIONS” THROUGHOUT THE FIRST YEAR

WHAT THE DATA SHOWS US: # of Advisor “Actions” by Semester 120

109

100 79

80

57

60 39

40 23 20

17

51

37

37

15

7

7

0 Pre-Arrival Actions

Fall Semester Actions

Winter Semester Actions

Cody's Interviewees (n=5)

Ryan's Interviewees (n=7)

Dawn's Interviewees (n=9)

Sum of Actions

Linear (Cody's Interviewees (n=5))

Linear (Ryan's Interviewees (n=7))

Linear (Dawn's Interviewees (n=9))

Linear (Sum of Actions)

EFFECTS ON RETENTION? GRS Students (First-time, full-time)

Fall 2015 Enrollment

University-wide

Retained

Stop-Outs/ Drop-Outs

2320

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Retained

Stop-Outs/ Drop-Outs

1477

(1st semester)

Winter 2016 Enrollment

2152

92.76%

168 (-7.24%)

1368

92.62%

109 (-7.38%)

1892

81.55%

260 (-12.08%)

1203

81.45%

165 (-12.06%)

(2nd semester)

Fall 2016 Enrollment (3rd semester)

EFFECTS ON RETENTION? RETENTION RATES FOR FALL 2015 FTIAC STUDENTS University-wide

2500

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

2320

2152 1892

2000 1477 1500

1368 1203

1000

500

0 FALL 2015 ENROLLMENT

WINTER 2016 ENROLLMENT

FALL 2016 ENROLLMENT

TAKE AWAY POINTS What We Found Recommendations for Improvement ◦ Examples from DEEP (Documenting Effective Education Practice) Institutions: ◦ Connect students with faculty members in their department early ◦ Advocate for students to map out their own path to success (with assistance)

◦ Examples from the GLRSSC ◦ Are there clear and high expectations for students ◦ Are we enhancing our students’ self-efficacy ◦ Are programs in place that are designed to help students who struggle during their first semester?

What are your institutions doing well? ◦ How can we learn from one another?

SECOND OBSERVATION SUCCESSFUL ADVISING IN DIFFERENT-SIZED DEPARTMENTS

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS Theatre & Dance Department (smaller advisor-advisee ratio) ◦ Students work with peer mentors to produce and participate in 10 minute plays during their 2nd semester

Honors College (mid-sized advisor-advisee ratio) ◦ 2nd semester email to all students and probation meetings for students not meeting GPA requirements

Department of Psychology (large advisor-advisee ratio) ◦ Specialized mandatory informational meetings for FTIAC students during their 2nd semester

THIRD OBSERVATION STUDENTS IN LEARNING COMMUNITIES & OTHER UNIQUE POPULATIONS

EFFECTS OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES Important Aspects ◦ Emphasis on Student Learning Objectives ◦ Fostering a Sense of Community ◦ Students feel a sense of “belonging” – become active members of the group

Alignment with Student Success Goals 1. First-year experience and transition into college 2. Success of under-represented, minority, first-generation, or socioeconomically-disadvantaged students 3. Transfer students, and/or, 4. Transition into/success in a major or program

WHAT THE DATA SHOWS US: Students in Learning Communities: ◦ Increased their grades 10% (on average) ◦ Will have fun and meet other science and math student (WIDER Community) ◦ Will find out about more opportunities at WSU ◦ Discover that graduate and professional schools are looking for students with team-based experiences ◦ Those who join a Learning Community can apply to be a team manager ◦ This builds leadership skills, has positive effect on students’ resumes, and increases their chances of becoming a paid mentor

◦ It is expected that students will join, unless there is a good reason they cannot

SOME ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: Does a physical space have an effect on student retention? How can departments create a space that may have an effect on retention? WSU STUDENT CENTER COMMONS

0319 LAB, GEOLOGY DEPARTMENT

CHEMISTRY BUILDING ATRIUM

DISCUSSION TOPIC: How can your department utilize its space to affect student retention?

FUTURE GOALS Continue identifying best practices for 2nd semester interactions aimed at first-year students Examine similar best-practices and deficiencies related to sophomore, junior, and senior advisor/advisee interactions Promote continued interaction among advisors on campus ◦ To identify shortcomings you may not see ◦ To learn new strategies for advising students ◦ To build a strong network to reinforce advising practices across the institution

TAKE HOME POINTS A student’s Sense of Belonging seems utterly important with regards to retention ◦ Dr. Strayhorn, Ohio State University

Identify 1-2 new “actions” you can take to assist your first-year students during their 2nd semester

We recognize that size of department does matter -- keep this in mind when determining what will work best for your unique student populations Not just advisor-to-student interactions; advisor-to-advisor interactions are important ◦ Importance of dialogue ◦ Second semester advising activities will be posted to Conference website

OUR CONTACT INFORMATION Cody Bailey-Crow

Ryan Ferrante

Dawn Niedermiller

Academic Advisor II Geology & Environmental Science

Academic Advisor II Political Science & Public Affairs

Academic Advisor II Physics & Astronomy

(313) 577-2295 [email protected]

(313) 577-3170 [email protected]

(313) 577-0180 [email protected]

REFERENCES Baier, S. T., Markman, B. S., & Pernice-Duca, F. M. (2016). Intent to persist in college freshmen: The role of selfefficacy and mentorship. Journal of College Student Development, 57 (5), 614-619. DOI: 10.1353/csd.2016.0056 Drake, J., Jordan, P., & Miller, M. (2013). Proactive advising. In J. Varney (Ed.), Academic advising approaches: Strategies that teach students to make the most of college (pp. 173-175). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gordon, V. N., Habley, W. R., Grites, T. J., & Associates. (2000). Academic advising: a comprehensive handbook (Second ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E. J., & Associates. (2005). Student success in college: creating conditions that matter (First ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ort. E. K. (2016). Proactive advising with first-generation students: Suggestions for practice. The Mentor. Retrieved September 30, 2016 from https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/ (n.d.). Retention and student success: Implementing strategies that make a difference. Ellucian. Retrieved September 30, 2016 from http://www.ellucian.com/Insights/

Proactive Advising for Freshman Students.pdf

Page 2 of 21. “Advising is a key to student retention. The best way to keep students enrolled is to keep them. stimulated,challenged and progressing toward a ...

1MB Sizes 2 Downloads 296 Views

Recommend Documents

Guide for Freshman admissions.pdf
SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) scores or ACT (American College Test) scores: ... Foundation for International Services, Inc. -- https://www.fis-web.com/.

Guide for Freshman admissions.pdf
Union, New Jersey 07083. Whoops! There was a problem loading this page. Guide for Freshman admissions.pdf. Guide for Freshman admissions.pdf. Open.

getting credit for proactive behavior:supervisor ...
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. SHARON PARKER ... lowing each use, thus risking the already precarious health of patients using the same ...

Freshman Handbook.pdf
Encourage your student to set up a My CFNC account at CFNC.org and enter 9th grade courses into the. online High School Planner (Student Planner).

Proactive Project Management
but project management often takes ... management, including planning and ... and by adapting the level of effort and the tools for the project's degree of ...

Freshman Counselor Contact.pdf
There was a problem previewing this document. Retrying... Download. Connect more apps... Try one of the apps below to open or edit this item. Freshman ...

Academic Advising for High-Achieving College Students
including academic and career issues, which are two common topics discussed in ... on curriculum and admissions criteria rather than on academic advising. (Gerrity ... explore the various terminologies used to describe this group of students. .... an

2018 Freshman Letter.pdf
A-G requirement in mathematics. In addition, about one-fourth of the graduating seniors will complete either. Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus or AP Statistics. In order to complete AP Calculus, a student must finish the. following sequence of course

IGS Advising for Spring 2017 Registration.pdf
There was a problem previewing this document. Retrying... Download. Connect more apps... Try one of the apps below to open or edit this item. IGS Advising for ...

Using the ePortfolio for Advising, First-Year Programs ...
... an ePortfolio may appear to be little more than an electronic filing system—an ..... department assessment committee, the Portfolio office or advisor during the ...

FAQs for Freshman Students and Parents.pdf
schools, weighted-grade​ systems are used in GPA calculations, and they give students. a numerical advantage for grades earned in higher-level courses, such ...

PDF The Freshman Survival Guide: Soulful Advice for ...
However, much has changed on campuses. The explosion of technology, ubiquity of social media, and culture changes have all added new layers of complexity ... that readers need to keep from drinking, sleeping, or skipping their way out of.

Improving Digital Human Modeling for Proactive ...
Invited Keynote Address, International Ergonomics Association Conference, Seoul,. Korea 2003. This paper presents the need to improve existing Digital Human ... attempting to improve the physical design of vehicle interiors and manufacturing workplac

pdf-1872\proactive-ppm-with-microsoft-project-2013-for-project ...
Try one of the apps below to open or edit this item. pdf-1872\proactive-ppm-with-microsoft-project-2013-for-project-server-and-project-online.pdf.

Proactive Instruction Fetch
99.5% instruction-cache hit rate, improving server throughput by. 27% and ..... simplicity, simulating completely independent dedicated predictor hardware for ...