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Faculty Contributions to Student Retention
About 50% of students fail to complete the higher educational experience they begin. The reasons for this are many: financial, emotional, and academic, and there are no easy solutions to helping students achieve their goals when circumstances make it difficult to stay in school. As an instructor, it can be too easy to assume the student just “didn’t have what it takes.” Sometimes that is true, but other times there are actions that instructors can take that will make a difference in whether a student stays in school or not.
For more information about what you can do to help retain the students who can benefit from Fontbonne's programs, please check out our calendar for workshops and seminars on this topic.
The following Internet sites also address this issue:
- The Center for the Study of College Student Retention (CSCSR), web site was initially launched in 1996 by Dr. Alan Seidman, an expert in college student retention issues. The vision of the site is to provide retention resources to individuals and the educational community with the latest research findings regarding the retention of students in higher education. The center also provides an exhaustive list of references on this topic.
- Gregory, L. D. Student Retention Through Teaching: Teacher Immediacy in the Enrollment Management Funnel Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New York City, NY.
- Student Retention: Why Do We Keep Losing Them? An article by Jane Arnold, an adjunct instructor at Middlesex Community College.
- Retaining Students in Classes: Putting Theory into Everyday Practice, by Laura Saret, EdD, Professor, Computer Technologies and Information Systems, Oakton Community College
- Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice
- Seven Guiding Questions for Student Retention from the Educational Policy Institute
- Caveat Emptor: Is There a Relationship between Part-Time Faculty Utilization and Student Learning Outcomes and Retention? A paper presented by Charles Harrington and Timothy Schibik at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, Long Beach, California, June 2001. updated 17 September 2008