Retention Initiatives
The University is engaging in a variety of new retention initiatives for AY 2008-09. Designed to compliment and enhance the many ongoing retention efforts in which faculty and staff are already engaged, these initiatives are highlighted below.
Initiatives geared to all students
• Mention It for Retention
The Mention It for Retention program is ready to roll! Forms are available to submit electronically and hard copy cards are being sent to all faculty and staff. We encourage you to use this program to notify the Office of Enrollment Management of any concerns you may have about particular students or any general retention issues you may have noticed.
• FASTPASS (Families And Shepherd Together Promoting Academic Success for Students)
FASTPASS is our brand new parents' outreach program. All Shepherd families will receive a postcard in the next couple of weeks notifying them of a series of newsletters which will be posted electronically on Shepherd's Web site. The newsletter will address time-sensitive issues for students and offer parents/families resources and information about Shepherd University services, events on campus, etc. The intent is to partner with parents/families early on to ensure that their students have a positive and successful experience at Shepherd.
• Standardized Exit Survey
ACT developed the Withdrawing/Nonreturning Student Survey (Short Form) that will help identify students' reasons for leaving college before completing a degree program.
Initiatives geared to first-time in college (FTIC) freshmen
• Rapid Insight Program
The Rapid Insight Tool is an automated modeling software program that builds statistical models to help figure out which students will enroll, which ones will have the academic skills to succeed, and finally identify the students that are academically or financially at-risk.
• FYEX Course
The orientation to the USA course is required of all new international students on an F1 Visa. American culture will be explored with an eye to making the students' time at Shepherd successful, interesting, and academically satisfying.
• Philosophy 199 Course
This course earns 3 credits and will include a mix of "how to be a successful university student" and "learning to learn" topics. This is an academic class geared toward provisional first-year students.
• General Studies (GS) Advising Program (Pilot)
A cohort of 100-120 students from the incoming freshmen class will be identified based on their ACT/SAT score relative to the median scores of the class and drawn from all majors and schools. The students will meet with a GS adviser a minimum of two times a semester. The GS adviser will work with the academic adviser and the student to guide the student, as needed, to services available. In fall 2009, the academic success and retention of those students will be assessed and compared to the incoming class as a whole.
• Student Readiness Inventory
The Student Readiness Inventory is a paper and pencil survey created by ACT and it will be administered to all entering FTIC freshmen. In addition to questioning students about their study skills and academic discipline, the tool further explores emotional and social intelligence. The survey results will help to identify "at-risk" students for specific outreach interventions.
Initiatives geared to probational students and/or at-risk students
• Writing Specialist
Addition of one part-time writing specialist, which in addition to teaching stretch English, will help coordinate fellow adjuncts and act as a writing tutor.
• Clinical Math Instructor
Addition of one full-time position (9 months) that will be responsible for teaching stretch math and supervising the math labs.
• Philosophy 199 Course
See above, "Initiatives geared to first-time in college students."
• Secondary Advisor for Students on Probation
The Director of Academic Support Services will be assigned as the secondary advisor to all incoming readmit and transfer students coming in on probation. These identified students will be required to meet with the secondary advisor in order to cooperatively work together in the area of academic success and those social aspects that detract from achievement.
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