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Faculty Encouraged to Take Active Role in Student Retention |
| By
Kimyette Finley |
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Sep 10, 2003 |
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When it comes to retaining students, the role faculty plays is imperative because teaching and learning are the core of institutions of higher education, some UT faculty were told recently.
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| Bob TenBrook talked about how faculty can help retain freshmen at the Center for Teaching and Learning luncheon. |
Bob TenBrook, director of orientation and retention and co-chair of the University Retention Committee, and Richard Eastop, interim vice president for enrollment services, presided over the topic of “Recruiting the Sophomore Class — The Faculty’s Role in Retention.” The presentation was part of the Center for Teaching and Learning’s first fall faculty and teaching assistant luncheon seminar.
“Students may like what they see and the campus is beautiful, but the first person they may have contact with is a faculty member. We know you are the most important factor in the retention of students,” TenBrook told the group of faculty last week.
The national average for public institutions comparable to UT in retaining students between the freshman and sophomore year is between 64 to 68 percent. According to TenBrook, UT’s retention rate is 75 percent. “That ranks us above all [open-admission institutions] in Ohio [and two selective ones]. We do an excellent job in retaining our students,” he said.
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| Dick Eastop also spoke at the luncheon. |
Eastop said although the statistic is good and has improved in the last three years from 70 percent to 75 percent, “Our goal at this University is to achieve an 85 percent first- to second-year retention rate,” which could translate into a higher graduation rate, he added.
Eastop and TenBrook noted the spring 2003 Student Satisfaction Survey, which included some 80 items and charted the top 25 in order of importance to UT students. Of those, it was concluded faculty have a direct or indirect impact on 19 of the 25 most important items. They also mentioned that many students are not involved in activities outside the classroom or that some are first-generation students, making the classroom experience and interaction with professors even more improtant in retention.
Faculty were encouraged to make first-year students a high priority, to be aware of resources that could help students, and to support the University’s new First-Year Experience initiatives. In addition, creating opportunities for out-of-class contact between professors and students and implementing an “early alert” system for students who appear to be having difficulty also were mentioned. Eastop added that although contacting absentee students “isn’t in your job description, is this one of the most important things faculty can do? Yes!”
In addition to being the “right thing to do,” Eastop said faculty taking a more active role in student retention would increase UT’s operating budget. If each of the 698 full-time faculty members saved just one full-time student from becoming an attrition statistic, UT’s budget would increase in one year by more than $7 million; if only half the faculty each saved one student from dropping out, the institution’s budget would still increase by almost $4 million.
Some students will choose to leave no matter what is being done or offered by the University, and some will stay no matter what, Eastop and TenBrook acknowledged. “We want to concentrate on the [vast majority of] students where we can make a difference. It’s a big task and it’s an important task,” Eastop said.
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