Our institution has been fortunate enough to partner with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and InsideTrack to improve student enrollment, completion, and career readiness, and foster equitable pathways to employment. This HBCU Transformation Project is the first-of-its-kind collaboration that aims to increase Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) health and sustainability, improve student outcomes in retention and graduation rates, expand enrollment, and increase capacity building with faculty and staff.
This support seamlessly aligns with the institution’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Miles College’s QEP, Student Retention: Stepping Stones to Success, was derived from the institution’s data-driven, ongoing, comprehensive planning and evaluation process, and reflects and affirms a commitment to enhancing overall institutional quality, effectiveness, and student success. As a direct result, the institution’s defined QEP objectives to increase retention will equip students with life-long skills needed to academically impact student performance in school, employability skills, and future career endeavors.
In Chart 1, the desired student retention results over five years provide an intentional focus and hold all constituents accountable to ensure academic and student success among freshmen and sophomore cohorts. As indicated in the institution’s QEP plan, the desired target is for Miles College to improve student retention by 10% where the ultimate goal is to retain and graduate students.
We know that experiences during the first and second years of college affect retention rates, and ultimately, graduation rates. Studies have shown that many factors affect persistence to graduation including satisfaction with the college experience and advising (Fountain, 2021). According to the Education Data Initiative (2023), at four-year institutions, 24.4% of first-time, full-time, first-year college students dropped out between 2022 and 2023. In addition, undergraduate first-year students have a 12-month dropout rate of 24.1%.
As a solution, InsideTrack will provide retention coaching to a random group of freshmen and
sophomores to support student persistence despite internal and/or external barriers. The coaching will empower students to clarify goals, identify challenges, organize priorities, and stay connected to their reasons for pursuing their educational dreams. With personalized retention coaching, institutions can keep more students on track because the ultimate impact is for students to remain enrolled in school until completion. The individualized coaching methods involve using:
- Emails
- Video meetings
- Phone calls
- Texts
As a part of our institution’s Quality Enhancement Plan, Table 1 lists the effective practices and strategies we are currently implementing that have proven to contribute to increasing student retention at four-year private colleges and universities.
Private Colleges and Universities
After year one of implementing Inside Track retention coaching, we are going to do a comparative data analysis of the persistence and retention rate of students receiving retention coaching versus the freshmen and sophomore students not selected for the random group. Table 2 shows the institution’s five-year trend of the average first-year and second-year retention rates.
As we know, the key to student retention is to act before students leave, and continually evaluate, assess, and alter how the institution approaches its best practices for student retention. A good way to get started is by developing a plan for each student, which involves gathering information about each student’s background, interests, and goals, as well as their academic performance. With our UNCF and InSideTrack partnerships, we are looking forward to helping our students persist, graduate, and become gainfully employed.
Dr. Dimple J. Martin is the director of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Miles College. Martin is a former early childhood education lecturer at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, a former assistant professor of early childhood education, and a faculty professional development coordinator at Miles College. She also has over 18 years of administrative K-5 literacy leadership.
References
Fountain, C. (Ed.). (2021). Academic Advising as a tool for student success and educational equity. University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Student Transition.
Hanson, Melanie (2023). “College Dropout Rates” EducationData.org., https://educationdata.org/college-dropout-rates
HBCU Transformation Project (2023). UNCF.
InsideTrack Transformative Change (2023 C.E.). insidetrack.org
RNL (2021). 2021 Effective Practices for Student Success, Retention, and Completion Report. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Retrieved from RuffaloNL.com/Retention Practices.
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