Retention and persistence in the online environment continues to prove challenging. Two policies were developed and enacted to help student achieve academic success: an early-open policy and an automatic drop policy. Experiences and findings will be explored.
Retention and persistence in the online environment can be particularly challenging. Research indicates a gap between retention and persistence rates found for campus-based students and those choosing online courses and degree programs. Additionally, Title IV funding and satisfactory academic progress needs to be monitored closely. To this end, two policies where created framed in the concept of student academic success. The first policy was an early-open policy where faculty were asked to make their courses available one week prior to the official start of the term, displaying the syllabus and week one activities only. The intent here was to allow the student to review course requirements, conceptualize necessary time management, and purchase the textbook. The student could decide to withdraw from the course without any financial repercussions during this period. The second policy--automatic drop--stated student would be dropped on day 15 of a fourteen week offering or day 10 of a 7.5 week offering for non-academic or no participation. A major unanticipated result from this policy found most students in this category were new-to-the institution and new-to-online, leading to the development of additional student support strategies and campus stakeholder education. This policy also aided in the formation of a stable and engaged learning community within the individual online courses; and it was subsequently adopted across all modalities.