Improving Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates at UMass Boston

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Improving Undergraduate Retention and Graduation
Rates at UMass Boston

• Building a Culture and Systems that Support
  Student Success

Presentation to the FA Advisory Committee April
27, 2011
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Retention and Graduation Rates Committee

• Joan Becker, Vice Provost, Academic Support
  Services and Undergraduate Studies, chair
• Kathleen Teehan, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment
  Management, co-chair
• Andrew Grosovsky, Dean, College of Science and
  Mathematics, co-chair
• Donna Kuizenga, Dean CLA
• Janet DiPaolo, Coordinator, Library Instruction
• Cheryl Aaron, Assistant Director, Athletics
• Deborah Mahony, Clinical Associate Professor,
  Nursing
• Neal Bruss, Associate Professor, English Chair,
  General Education Committee
• Maura Mast, Associate Prof., Math Associate Vice
  Provost, VPASS/Undergraduate Studies
• Amy Mei, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, CM
• Kevin Murphy, Associate Director, OIRP
• Patrick Day, Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs
• Gail Stubbs, Director, University Advising Center
• Judy Keyes, Director of Financial Aid
• Liliana Mickle, Special Assistant for Retention,
  VPASS/Undergraduate Studies
• Sam Museus, Assistant Professor, College of
  Education and Human Development
• Alan Christian, Director, Environmental Science
  Program, EEOS
• Lorna Rivera, Associate Professor, Womens
  Studies
• Lisa Buenaventura, Assistant Vice Chancellor,
  Co-Curricular Learning and Assessment, Student
  Affairs

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Some Definitions

• Retention rates measure the percent of students
  in an entering cohort who complete the first year
  and return for a second.
• Persistence is the ongoing progression from
  semester to semester and year to year.
• Graduation rates are determined by the percent of
  students who complete a degree within a specified
  time period.
• Retention and graduation rates are publicly
  reported for first-time, full-time freshmen.
  Graduation rates are calculated based on students
  who graduate within six years from initial
  enrollment (150 of time).
• Retention and graduation rates for transfers are
  not publicly reported, but are important for
  UMass Boston as 60 of our students are
  transfers.

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Why Retention and Graduation Rates Matter

• Retention rates are early indicators of student
  success and important predictors of future
  graduation rates. Key measures of effectiveness
  and quality in higher education, graduation and
  retention rates are also increasingly part of
  accountability systems.
• High attrition is not cost-effective. Recruiting
  and orienting new students is costly.
• Graduation rates are now reported to students and
  their parents through the Federal financial aid
  process.
• UMass Bostons low graduation rate was singled
  out to a national readership in last years New
  York Times article reviewing the William Bowen
  book, Crossing the Finish Line Completing
  College at Americas Public Universities. UMass
  Boston was cited in a recent Chronicle of Higher
  Education article on the colleges with the lowest
  graduation rates.

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Enrollment Trends
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The Problem
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The Problem
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Sample Peer Comparisons
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The Problem
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Many Students Who Leave Transfer to Other
Institutions

• First-Time Freshmen Of the 987 first-time full
  or part-time freshmen who entered UMass Boston in
  fall 2009, 253 did not return to UMass Boston for
  fall 2010.
• 49 of those who did not return, enrolled
  elsewhere 38 first enrolled at a two-year
  school and 62 first enrolled at another
  four-year school, including 19 at another UMass
  campuses.
• Transfer Students Of the 1,756 new transfer
  students formally matriculated at UMass Boston in
  fall 2009, 25 graduated before fall 2010 and 385
  did not return in fall 2010.
• 35 of those who did not return, enrolled
  elsewhere 38 first enrolled at a two-year
  school and 62 first enrolled at another
  four-year school, including 13 at another UMass
  campuses.
• Data source National Student Clearinghouse OIRP

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Starting On Track Matters

• Students who continue into the second year
  on-track based on credit accumulation and grade
  point average are far more likely to graduate
  than students who do not.

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Framework for On Track Indicators
Milestones On-Track Indicators
Return for subsequent terms (retention) Complete needed remediation Begin college-level coursework in math and English Earn one year of college-level credits Complete general education coursework Complete a community-college transfer curriculum Transfer from community college to a university after completing transfer curriculum without completing transfer curriculum Complete a certificate or degree Remediation Begin remedial coursework in first term, if needed Gateway Courses Complete college-level math and/or English in the first or second year Complete a college-success course or other first-year experience program Credit Accumulation and Related Academic Behaviors Complete high percentage of courses attempted (low rate of course dropping and/or failure) Complete 20-30 credits in the first year Earn summer credits Enroll full time Enroll continuously, without stop-outs Register on time for courses Maintain adequate grade-point average
Source OFFENSTEIN, J. MOORE, C. AND SHULOCK, N. (2010) Source OFFENSTEIN, J. MOORE, C. AND SHULOCK, N. (2010)
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Freshman Graduation Rates by On Track Status
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Transfer Graduation Rates by Entry Level and On
Track Status
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Characteristics of High-Performing Institutions

• Strong Networking Values
• A Commitment to Targeted Support
• Cultivate Early Connections
• Maintain Continuous Connections
• Foster Integrated Connections
• A Belief in Humanizing the Educational Experience
• An Ethos of Institutional Responsibility

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Both Academic and Social Connections Matter

• Integration into campus academic and social
  systems
• Quality and quantity of involvement
• Educationally purposeful engagement
• Connections to collective and individual cultural
  agents who value academic achievement and engage
  cultural backgrounds

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Recommendations

• Start on Track, Stay on Track
• Early and Often Connect, Engage, and Build
  Community

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Recommendation 1 Build a culture and systems
that enable students to start on track and stay
on track.

• Develop and implement a system of on track
  indicators by college for freshmen and transfer
  students.
• Use technology to identify students who are
  off-track.
• Prioritize the class schedule. Ensure a
  sufficient number of sections of the courses
  students need to stay on-track are offered when
  they are needed.
• Significantly increase the capacity of
  departments to provide advising for declared
  majors. Hire professional advisors to augment
  faculty advising.

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• Placement Testing. Develop a better placement
  testing system for all incoming students--earlier
  and more targeted, convenient, and available for
  students and more accurately places them into the
  appropriate coursework.
•  
• Academic Support Services. Provide college-based
  and centralized resources to provide academic
  support needed by students identified as not on
  track.
•  
• Targeted Services for Off Track Students. Develop
  and implement a course for re-admission,
  financial aid, and transfers in jeopardy.

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Recommendation 2 Implement the UMass Boston
Freshman Commitment aimed at increasing the
success of students who enter as Freshmen.

• Develop an intentional first year experience
  including orientation and college-based learning
  communities.
• Identify and support teaching and learning that
  promotes the retention of freshmen
• Increase opportunities to extend learning and
  engagement (undergraduate research, study abroad,
  service learning, civic engagement, co- and
  extra-curricular activities)

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Recommendation 3 Implement programs specifically
tailored for Transfer Students to support their
academic and social transition and success at the
University.

• Develop programming that connects transfer
  students to the university community
• Develop programming aimed at increasing transfer
  student engagement and success (undergraduate
  research, study abroad, service learning, civic
  engagement, co- and extra-curricular activities)

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Additional Recommendations

• Address informational and customer service
  issues.
• Increase need-based financial aid, on campus
  employment opportunities, and college-sensitive
  off-campus employment opportunities.
• Build residence halls
• Data analysis and evaluation.

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Challenges

• Ensuring that all units and departments of the
  university understand the importance of and have
  the capacity to advance student success.
• Building a system of accountabilitymaking sure
  that we all have to own it doesnt translate
  into no one is accountable.
• The deficits, especially in terms of
  college-based success programs, major advising,
  and structures and programming that connect and
  engage students, are significant. These deficits
  are financial and cultural.
• Major investments are needed!