Disproportionately impacted students have lower retention and success rates versus the reference population due to a lack of in-course preparation for online education, course design that does not account for cultural difference, and a failure to create meaningful student to student interaction that also allows for flexibility. The research involves a redesign of online sections of introductory English composition to include in-course preparation for success within the course, awareness of cultural difference, and a new Incoming Student Questionnaire. The teacher intervention of the added questionnaire is correlated to retention and success. Data were compared regarding retention and success in the study population to data for retention and success in my own past sections of online introductory English composition. Data for the questionnaires are studied and tracked for each student in relation to retention and success. Along with introducing the concepts that the students’ need to feel directed, focused, nurtured, engaged, connected, and valued (via a response-driven survey), I recommend course redesign to respond to students’ stated needs for direction, connection, and empathy and flexibility in course design.