Walden University’s First Year Student Progress strategic plan established a systematic approach to studying barriers and improvements to the student experience. Five years and over thirty initiatives later, FYSP is now the standard by which innovation in student progress is methodically tested, leading to significant advances in retention and satisfaction.
Context
It is well-documented that post-secondary institutions struggle with students’ competing demands on time, focus, ability, and commitment to persist (Swail, 2004; Titus, 2004; Seidman, 2005; Layne, Boston, & Ice, 2013; Jobe & Lenio, 2014) and many retention strategies have been introduced to better support early-term students with academic preparation, socialization, and expectation-setting to facilitate a successful start. However, persistence and retention continue to be a problem.
Walden University is an online institution with over 50,000 students across undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs (with >80% in graduate programs). Prior to 2011, Walden had little structure in place to specifically address attrition issues and as a result, had difficulty isolating the impact of various efforts across the organization to improve retention. Further, without a centralized approach to retention research and development, communication of effective practices and barriers to the student experience was insufficient. In brief, there was retention activity in pockets of the institution, but there lacked a controlled, systematic approach to clearly inform process and policy changes. The purpose of this proposed session is to detail Walden University’s cultural shift towards establishing a clear student progress strategy (with particular focus on the first year), and the methodological approach that laid the foundation for a multi-year study of initiatives that resulted in improved student satisfaction, performance, and retention (Jobe, Spencer, Hinkle, & Kaplan, 2016). Specifically, presenters will discuss the organizational commitment and the charge of the University President to develop a strategic plan around the first year experience. The five-stage frameworkthat was established will be introduced, as well as the cross-functional, collaborative process by which to develop and execute initiatives within the plan. Discussion around prioritization of initiatives, projections of impact, and issues related to implementation will inform attendees of the approach. Finally, an interactive discussion with the audience about institutional change and evidence-based decision-making will allow for deeper understanding of how various institutions are approaching student progress improvements.
Supporting Materials
Presenters will share the First Year Student Progress (FYSP) strategic research and development framework that serves as the foundation for retention activity in the University. Handouts that illustrate this framework, as well as the large bucket areas of focus and the mapping of initiatives for prioritization will be included. The process by which initiative core teams work through the creation and execution of projects will be discussed in detail. Copies of the recent publication highlighting this work (Jobe, Spencer, Hinkle, & Kaplan, 2016) also will be available for attendees.
Outcomes/Application
Attendees of this presentation will learn about the First Year Student Progress (FYSP) strategy that was developed to drive student progress improvements. Specifically, the presenters will discuss the foundation of the plan, detail the execution of each stage, and highlight some of the key piloted initiatives that have resulted in positive retention improvements and have therefore been broadly implemented across the institution.This session will be interactive, prompting a broader discussion of how other institutions are approaching student progress improvements and how scientific approaches are being utilized to drive evidence-based organizational change.
Jobe, R. L., & Lenio, J. (2014). Common ground: Addressing attrition across diverse institutions in higher education. Higher Learning Research Communications, 4(2), 11-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v4i2.209
Jobe, R. L., Spencer, M., Hinkle, J. P., & Kaplan, J. A. (2016). The first year: A cultural shift towards improving student progress. Higher Learning Research Communications, 6(1), 10-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v6i1.305
Layne, M., Boston, W. E., & Ice, P. (2013). A longitudinal study of online learners: Shoppers, swirlers, stoppers, and succeeders as a function of demographic characteristics. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 16(2). Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/
Seidman, A. (2005). College student retention: Formula for student success. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Swail, W. S. (2004). The art of student retention: A handbook for practitioners and administrators. Austin, TX: Texas State Higher Education Coordinating Board. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED485498)
Titus, M. A. (2004). An examination of the influence of institutional context on student persistence at four-year colleges and universities: A multilevel approach. Research in Higher Education, 45(7), 673-699. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:RIHE.0000044227.17161.fa