Enrollment Management Electronic Newsletter

Retention Initiatives Updates

Mention It for Retention
In the fall semester, we received 130+ referrals through the Mention It for Retention Program. To date, this semester, we have received close to 80! The vast majority of these are from faculty members and the majority of those relate to problems with class attendance. We encourage all Shepherd University community members to refer students who they believe to be at risk for attrition.
FASTPASS (Families And Shepherd Together Promoting Academic Success for Students)
The latest issue of FASTPASS is now available online at http://www.shepherd.edu/university/FASTPASS. This issue focused on Financial Aid and beating the winter doldrums. The March issue will focus on having a safe spring break and mid-term exams and grades.
General Studies Advising Program (Pilot)
A cohort of 80 students participated in the General Studies Advising program last semester. We are beginning to analyze data in regards to their performance and retention vis-à-vis students who did not participate.
Student Readiness Inventory
The Student Readiness Inventory was administered to all entering, first time in college students (FTIC) over the summer advising and registration sessions. Based on students' scores, we identified 268 students as being potentially at-risk for attrition or poor academic performance. Again, as we input the GPAs and current student status of our FTIC students, we will run analyses to determine the validity of this instrument vis-a-vis Shepherd students and their retention and academic performance.