Retention
101 is a professional development program
sponsored by the Educational Policy Institute.
The program is designed to support the
knowledge development and planning by
institutional professionals of all levels
in the area of student retention and
success.
Retention 101 is based around a series
of retreats offered in the US and Canada
each year. The retreats are led by internationally-recognized
experts Drs. Watson Scott Swail (Educational
Policy Institute) and Peter Dietsche
(Mohawk College) and is designed for
institutions who are either at the initial
stages of planning for student retention
or need to enhance an existing program.
During the retreat, teams will:
-
learn why students fail or succeed;
-
learn about best practices for student
retention at institutions like
them;
-
share experiences from their own
campuses about what works and
what doesn’t;
-
see why data matters and how
it is the center of any retention
effort;
-
design
or revise an institutional plan to
increase student retention
and success
at their institution.
 The Retention
101 Retreat is designed for institutional
teams and individuals
from two-year, four-year, and proprietary
institutions seriously interested
in changing how students are served.
It
offers professionals an opportunity
to get away from the campus in
order to
focus exclusively on creating tangible
plans for success. When participants
return to their campuses from Lake
Louise, they will be equipped with
the tools
necessary to begin implementing an
effective retention program.
The
next Retention 101 retreat is scheduled
for:
April 19-21, 2007 Lake Louise, Alberta,
Canada
In addition to the Retention 101 retreats,
EPI also provides other information and
support to institutional professionals
in the area of student success. These
include:
Institutional
Student Retention Assessment (ISRA).
Developed with support from Lumina
Foundation for Education, the Institutional
Student Retention Assessment (ISRA) is
a web-based self-assessment
for institutions of higher education.
The ISRA is intended to help the institution
assess its status with regard to serving
students and, ultimately, keeping undergraduate
students on course to degree and curbing
the dropout dilemma encountered by many
of our postsecondary institutions. The
ISRA queries campus-based stakeholders
about their current use of resources,
retention strategies and programs, institution-wide
characteristics, and policies and practices.
Effective
Practices for Student Success (EPSS). Developed with support from TG
(Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation),
EPI’s web-based database houses information
on programs and strategies that have
exhibited success in helping students
in postsecondary education. The database
will go live on the web in April 2007.
Programs can register their programs
or strategies for consideration now at
http://www.educationalpolicy.org/epss.html.
FastTrack. Designed, developed, and
validated over the past 15 years, the
FastTrack™ software system tracks and
integrates student information, such
as high school grades, basic skills/aptitude
test scores, academic performance, and
FastTrack™ student survey data, allowing
counselors, faculty, and administrators
to pinpoint what individual students
need to persist and succeed.
International Conference on
Student Retention. This year’s conference, Retention
2007, will be held May 22-24 in San Antonio,
TX at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel.
Student Success. Student Success is
our regular newsletter on student retention
and success. Each issue has an interview
with a selected researcher, practitioner,
or person of interest; a best practice
story; a book review; and a lead essay,
plus other information. Visit our publications
page at www.educationalpolicy.org/publications.html
for the free downloads.
Please see our
list of events under Upcoming
Events.
Please
read
more to get answers to key
questions facing practitioners
about student retention.
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